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Do  not  assume  content  reflects  current 
scientific  knowledge,  policies,  or  practices. 


my-' 

V 


1 


A  fi  G  of  fififi  Gaiisa^fi: 


A  Gv]cIop5eSia  of  fiVervj  Si2li2g 


Pertai[2ii2g  to  tl^e  Gare  oj"  tl^e  Hoi^evj-fiee; 


Bees,  Hoi2ev],  HiVes,  In2plenpei2t5,  Hoi2e\/]-Plai2t5,  £itc., 


A.|"teK\A/ai'^  Y'ei'i]"ie^  bv]  Practical  Worl^  I12  Oar  0\vi2  i\piar\^. 


BY  A.  I.  ROOT. 
REVISED  BY  E.  R.  ROOT. 

75th  Thousand. 


MEDINA,  OHIO: 

THK  A.  I.  ROOT  COMPANY. 


1901. 


tlqe 

rop^gs  of  es.gej?,  g_ne8tior]^irig  lj']?ot"t]er8  ax^d  cpisteps; 
lr|  i\e  i^j?t  of  Bee  (Bnlt-ure, 
3x1    (piij?   0wii^    aiid    (ptbjer  (Bonr|tj?ies, 

]js  !!^es;geGtfnlly  l^edies.teci  "by 


^  Preface  to  the  1 90 1  Edition,  or  75th  Thousand.  | 

As  will  be  seen,  it  is  now  nearly  twenty-five  years  since  the  first  copy  of  this  work  was 
put  ont.  Little  did  A.  I.  Koot  dream,  when  he  launched  forth  a  volume  bearing  the  mod- 
est title.  A  B  C  of  Bee  Culture,  that  it  would  run  through  so  many  editions.  AVith  each 
one  it  has  been  enlarged  and  revised  until  now  the  book  aggregates  500  pages,  and  the 
number  of  copies  printed  reaches  the  large  figure  of  75,000.  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  But 
during  recent  years  the  task  of  revising  has  almost  entirely  fallen  to  another.  For  more 
than  ten  years  A.  I.  Koot  has  had  comparatively  little  to  do  with  bees.  Ill  health,  and  in- 
terest in  other  matters,  have  caused  him  to  drop  bee  culture  so  that  of  late  years  he  has 
confined  his  writings  almost  entirely  to  other  lines  with  which  he  is  more  actively  connect- 
ed. As  a  natural  result,  the  editorial  work  of  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  our  illustrated 
semimonthly,  so  far  as  bee  culture  is  concerned,  and  the  re-writing  of  this  book,  have 
devolved  on  his  son. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  1901  edition  contains  more  new  matter  than  any  previous  one, 
even  exceeding  that  of  the  1S99  edition,  which  was  so  extensively  revised  that  2000  copies 
were  sold  before  it  had  actually  come  from  the  press ;  and  already  of  this  edition  1000  are 
sold,  even  before  the  ink  is  fairly  dry. 

There  has  been  such  a  rapid  advancement  in  bee  culture  it  has  been  necessary  for  the 
reviser,  in  most  cases,  to  throw  out  whole  subjects  and  re-write  others  entirely.  Some  of 
the  shorter  ones  and  especially  those  relating  to  honey-plants,  have  been  left  just  as 
they  were  written  by  A.  I.  Root  himself  over  twentv  years  ago.  and  they  are  as  up-to-date 
now  as  they  were  then  or  ever  will  be.  But  all  other  subjects  relating  to  methods,  de- 
vices, tools,  bees  and  their  manipulations,  have  been  in  most  cases  re-cast,  and  in  the 
others  very  largely  revised.  Besides  the  extensive  revisions,  there  have  been  a  large  num" 
ber  of  new  subjects  incorporated.  These,  together  with  the  old  subjects  revised  and  re- 
written, make  the  A  B  C  of  to-day  in^every  sense  a  new  book,  bearing  the  brand  of  1901, 
from  cover  to  cover.  So  great  has  been  the  advancement,  that  methods  that  were  in  vogue 
some  twenty-five  years  ago  have  either  been  entirely  abandoned  or  very  greatly  changed. 
While  it  is  true,  foi  example,  that  liquid  honey  is  taken  with  the  extractor  as  it  was  two 
decades  ago,  yet  the  extractors  themselves  have  been  greatly  improved.  During  recent 
years  the  methods  of  queen-rearing  and  the  manufacture  of  foundation  have  been  revolu- 
tionized. Comb  honey,  while  built  in  sections  twenty  years  ago.  as  now.  yet  the  styles  of 
supers,  styles  of  sections,  and  styles  of  separators  to-day  are  almost  entirely  diiferent— so 
different  that  new  systems  of  management  are  required.  The  patterns  of  hives  of  the  pres- 
ent day  as  compared  with  those  of  former  days  are  simpler  in  design,  more  expansive, 
more  portable,  and  capable  of  greater  speed  in  handling.  Diseases  that  formerly  were 
unknown  have  been  discovered  and  named.  The  result  of  all  these  changes  and  advances 
in  the  industry  is  that  three-fourths  of  the  present  volume  is  now  the  work  of  the  writer 
and  reviser. 

In  order  to  give  the  identity  of  authorship.  I  have  thought  best  to  give  here  a  list  of 
the  subjects  written  by  A.  I.  Root ;  a  list  of  those  that  have  fallen  to  my  lot  to  write,  and 
also  a  list  originally  written  by  A.  I.  Root,  and  which  I  have  very  largely  re-written.  The 
lists  as  they  stand  appear  below : 

ARTICLES  WRITXEy  BV  A.  I.  ROOT. 

Absconding  Swarms,  After-swarming-,  Age  of  Bees.  Anger  of  Bees,  Artificial  Fertilization.  Artificial 
Pasturage,  Asters,  Bee-bread,  Blue  Thistle,  Borage,  Catnip,  Clover  iSweet  and  Crimson),  Dandelion,  Gill- 
over- the-g  round,  Goldenrcd,  Horsemint,  Hytrids,  Italianizing,  Locust. Milkweed,  Mustard.  Propolis,  Rape, 
Raspberry,  Rocky-Mountain  Bee-plant.  Sage,  Sourwood.  Spider  Plant,  Sumac,  Suntiower,  Turnip,  Uniting, 
Ventilation,  Wbitewood. 


PEEFACE. 


ARTICLES  WRITTEN  BY  E.  R.  ROOT. 

Alfalfa  (Lucerne),  Anatomy  of  the  Bee,  Ants,  Apiary  (House-apiary),  Artificial  Comb,  Barrels,  Bees  and 
Grapes,  Bee-paralysis,  Bees  on  Shares,  Bleaching-  Comb  Honey,  Box  Hives,  Buckwheat,  Buying-  Bees^ 
Candy  for  Bees,  Candied  Honey,  Comb  Foundation,  Comb  Honej%  Contraction,  Diseases,  Dividing-,  En- 
trances to  Hives,  Extractors,  Fairs,  Feeding  and  Feeders,  Fixed  Frames,  Foul  Brood,  Brood  (Black  and 
Pickled),  Frames  (To  Manipulate),  Fruit-blossoms,  Heartsease,  Hive-making,  Hives,  Honey,  Honeys  and 
their  Colors,  Honey  Adulteration,  Hoaey-dew,  Honey  (Peddling),  Introducing,  Nucleus,  Overstocking, 
Poisonous  Honey,  Queen-rearing,  Record-keeping  of  Hives,  Reversing,  Skep,  Smoke  and  Smokers,  Spac- 
ing Frames,  Spanish  Needle,  Spreading  Brood,  Tongue  of  Worker  Bee,  Transferring,  Veils,  Vinegar,  "Wa-^ 
ter,  Wax,  Weight  of  Bees,  Willows,  Willow-herb,  and  some  of  the  Biographies. 

ARTICLES  WRITTEN  CONJOINTS Y. 

Basswood,  Bee-hunting,  Bee-moth,  Bees,  Clover,  Drones,  Dysentery,  Enemies  of  Bees,  Extracted  Hon- 
ey, Figwort,  Honey -comb,  Italian  Bees,  Laying  Workers,  Moving  Bees,  Pollen,  Queens,  Robbing,  Stings, 
Swarming,  Wintering. 

ARTICLES  WRITTEN  BY  DR.  C.  C.  MILLER. 

Honey  as  Food,  Honey-plants,  Out-apiaries,  and  many  of  the  biographies. 

The  short  sketches  describing  the  pictures  in  the  biographical  part  were  written  by  Mr. 
W.  P.  Root  (not  a  relative),  who  has  proof-read  the  entire  work,  and  knows  better,  per- 
haps, than  any  one  else  its  failings,  if  any,  in  the  typographical  line.  It  was  through  his 
stenographic  pen  that  all  the  new  matter  as  well  as  that  of  the  revised  portion  passed. 
He,  together  with  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller  and  Prof.  A.  J.  Cook,  have  rendered  the  reviser  much 
assistance.  Both  Dr.  Miller  and  Prof.  Cook  read  thoroughly  the  1899  edition,  making 
many  suggestion  and  some  corrections  for  this  present  one.  Dr.  Miller,  as  will  be  seen 
elsewhere,  prepared  an  entirely  new  set  of  comments,  such  comments  being  based  on  the 
new  matter  as  well  as  on  the  old.  He  also  read  every  line  of  the  new  matter  for  this 
edition  before  it  went  to  press,  and  it  is  no  little  satisfaction  to  me  to  know  that  his  criti- 
cal eye  has  seen  every  line  of  it. 

The  Glossary  is  the  w^ork  of  Dr.  W.  B.  House,  of  Detour,  Mich.,  and  of  the  writer. 
The  index  has  been  gone  over  from  beginning  to  end,  thoroughly  and  carefully,  by  W.  P. 
Root  and  myself.  We  have  added  two  pages,  and  corrected  many  defects  in  the  old  index 
that  crept  in  during  the  numerous  revisions. 

In  conclusion,  it  is  but  fair  to  say  that  father  has  given  me  a  free  hand  to  strike  out, 
re-write  any  and  all  matter  that  he  wrote,  wherever,  in  my  judgment,  the  spirit  of  true 
advancement  demanded  it.  It  is  doubtful  if  many  men  would,  under  like  circumstances, 
have  accorded  their  sons  an  equal  privilege.  But  he  has  ever  been  in  at  the  fore  front  in 
any  material  progress,  even  at  the  cost  of  upsetting  some  of  his  own  teachings,  or  of  cast- 
ing aside  some  of  his  own  inventions.  In  the  matter  of  new  developments  he  still  retains 
the  enthusiasm  of  youth,  in  spite  of  advancing  years ;  and  his  sons  and  sons-in-law,  in 
the  conduct  of  the  great  business  which  he  founded,  have  often  been  told,  when  his  ad- 
vice was  asked,  "  Do  as  you  like,  boys."  Ernest  R.  Root. 

Medina,  Ohio,  Jan.  1, 1901. 


I  Introduction.  1 

About  the  year  1865,  during  the  month  of  August,  a  swarm  of  bees  passed  overhead 
where  we  were  at  work;  and  my  fellow-workman,  in  answer  to  some  of  my  inquiries  re- 
specting their  habits,  asked  what  I  would  give  for  them.  I,  not  dreaming  he  could  by  any 
means  call  them  down,  offered  him  a  dollar,  and  he  started  after  them.  To  my  astonish- 
ment, he,  in  a  short  time,  returned  with  them  hived  in  a  rough  box  he  had  hastily  picked 
up,  and,  at  that  moment,  I  commenced  learning  my  A  B  C  in  bee  culture.  Before  night  I 
had  questioned  not  only  the  bees,  but  every  one  I  knew,  who  could  tell  me  any  thing  about 
these  strange  new  acquaintances  of  mine.  Our  books  and  papers  were  overhauled  that 
evening;  but  the  little  that  I  found  only  puzzled  me  the  more,  and  kindled  anew  the  de- 
sire to  explore  and  follow  out  this  new  hobby  of  mine ;  for,  dear  reader,  I  have  been  all 
my  life  much  given  to  hobbies  and  new  projects. 

Farmers  who  had  kept  bees  assured  me  that  they  once  paid,  when  the  country  was  new^ 
but  of  late  years  they  were  of  no  profit,  and  everybody  was  abandoning  the  business.  1 
had  some  headstrong  views  in  the  matter,  and  in  a  few  days  I  visited  Cleveland,  ostensibly 
on  other  business,  but  I  had  really  little  interest  in  any  thing  until  I  could  visit  the  book- 
stores and  look  over  the  books  on  bees.  I  found  but  two,  and  I  very  quickly  chose  Lang- 
stroth.  May  God  reward  and  for  ever  bless  Mr.  Langstroth  for  the  kind  and  pleasant  way 
in  which  he  unfolds  to  his  readers  the  truths  and  wonders  of  creation  to  be  found  inside 
of  a  bee-hive. 

What  a  gold-mine  that  book  seemed  to  me,  as  I  looked  it  over  on  my  journey  home  I 
never  was  romance  so  enticing ;  no,  not  even  Robinson  Crusoe ;  and,  best  of  all,  right  at 
my  own  home  I  could  live  out  and  verify  all  the  wonderful  things  told  therein.  Late  as  it 
was,  I  yet  made  an  observatory-hive,  and  raised  queens  from  worker-eggs  before  winter, 
and  wound  up  by  purchasing  a  queen  of  Mr.  L.  for  $20.00.  I  should,  in  fact,  have  wound 
up  the  whole  business,  queen  and  all,  most  effectually,  had  it  not  been  for  some  timely 
advice  toward  Christmas,  from  a  plain  practical  farmer  near  by.  With  his  assistance,  and 
by  the  purchase  of  some  more  bees,  I  brought  all  safely  through  the  winter.  Through  Mr. 
L.,  I  learned  of  Mr.  Wagner ;  shortly  afterward  he  was  induced  to  re-commence  the  pub- 
lication of  the  American  Bee  Journal ;  and  through  this  I  gave  accounts  monthly  of  my 
blunders  and  occasional  successes. 

In  1867,  news  came  across  the  ocean  from  Germany,  of  the  honey-extractor  ;  and  with 
the  aid  of  a  simple  home-made  machine  I  took  1000  lbs.  of  honey  from  20  stocks,  and 
increased  them  to  35.  This  made  quite  a  sensation,  and  numbers  embarked  in  the  new" 
business  ;  but  when  I  lost  all  but  11  of  the  35  the  next  winter,  many  said,  There  !  I 
told  you  how  it  would  turn  out." 

I  said  nothing,  but  went  to  work  quietly,  and  increased  the  11  to  48,  during  the  one  sea  - 
son, not  using  the  extractor  at  all.  The  48  were  wintered  entirely  without  loss,  and  I 
think  it  was,  mainly,  because  I  took  care  and  pains  with  each  individual  colony.  From  the 
48,  I  secured  6162  lbs.  of  extracted  honey,  and  sold  almost  the  entire  crop  for  25c.  per  lb. 
This  capped  the  climax,  and  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  new  industry  began  to  come  in  from 
all  sides ;  beginners  were  eager  to  know  what  hives  to  adopt,  and  where  to  get  honey- 
extractors.  As  the  hives  in  use  seemed  very  poorly  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  extractor, 
and  as  the  machines  offered  for  sale  were  heavy  and  poorly  adapted  to  the  purpose,  be- 
sides being  patented,"  there  really  seemed  to  be  no  other  way  before  me  than  to  manufac- 
ture these  implements.  Unless  I  did  this,  I  should  be  compelled  to  undertake  a  correspond- 
ence that  would  occupy  a  great  part  of  my  time,  without  affording  any  compensation  of 


INTliODUCTIOJS^. 


any  account. i  The  fullest  directions  I  knew  how  to  give  for  making  plain  simple  hives, 
etc.,  were  from  time  to  time  published  in  the  American  Bee  Journal;  but  the  demand  for 
further  particulars  was  such  that  a  circular  was  printed,  and,  shortly  after,  a  second 
edition ;  then  another,  and  another.  These  were  intended  to  answer  the  greater  part  of 
the  queries ;  and  from  the  cheering  words  received  in  regard  to  them,  it  seemed  the  idea 
was  a  happy  one. 

Until  1873,  all  these  circulars  were  sent  out  gratuitously ;  but  at  that  time  it  was  deem- 
ed best  to  issue  a  quarterly  at  25c  per  year,  for  the  purpose  of  answering  these  inquiries. 
The  very  first  number  was  received  with  such  favor  that  it  was  immediately  changed  to  a 
monthly,  at  75  c.  TJie  name  given  it  was  Gleaxixgs  Bee  Culture,''  and  it  was 
gradually  enlarged  until,  in  1876,  the  price  was  changed  to  $1.00.  During  all  this  time,  it 
has  served  the  purpose  excellently  of  answering  questions  as  they  come  up,  both  old  and 
new  ;  and  even  if  some  new  subscriber  should  ask  in  regard  to  something  that  had  been 
•discussed  at  length  but  a  short  time  before,  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  refer  him  to  it,  or  send 
him  the  number  containing  the  subject  in  question. 

After  Gleanixgs  was  about  commencing  its  fifth  year,  inquirers  began  to  dislike  be- 
ing referred  to  something  that  was  published  a  half-dozen  years  ago.  Besides,  the  deci- 
sions that  were  then  arrived  at  peihaps  needed  to  be  considerably  modified  to  meet 
present  wants.  Now,  if  we  go  over  the  whole  matter  again  every  year  or  two,  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  have  recently  subscribed,  we  shall  do  our  regular  subscribers  injust- 
ice, for  they  will  justly  complain  that  Gueanings  is  the  same  thing  over  and  over  again, 
year  after  year. 

Now  you  can  see  whence  the  necessity  for  this  ABC  book,  its  office,  and  the  place  we 
purpose  to  have  it  fill.  In  writing  it  I  have  taken  pains  to  post  myself  thoroughly  in  re- 
gard to  each  subject  treated,  not  only  by  consulting  all  the  books  and  journals  treating  of 
bee  culture,  which  I  have  always  ready  at  hand,  but  by  going  out  into  the  fields,  writing  to 
those  who  can  furnish  information  in  that  special  direction,  or  by  sacrificing  a  colony  of 
bees,  if  need  be,  until  I  am  perfectly  satisfied.  Still  further :  this  book  is  all  printed  from 
type  kept  constantly  standing ;  and  as  the  sheets  are  printed  only  so  fast  as  wanted,  any 
thing  that  is  discovered,  at  any  future  time,  to  be  an  error,  can  be  promptly  righted.  For 
the  same  reason,  all  new  inventions  and  discoveries  that  may  come  up  —  they  are  coming 
up  constantly  —  can  be  embodied  in  the  work  just  as  soon  as  they  have  been  tested  suffi- 
ciently to  entitle  them  to  a  place  in  such  a  work.  In  other  words,  I  purpose  it  to  be  never 
out  of  date  or  behind  the  times. — Dec,  1878.  A.  I.  Root. 


The  Home  of  the  HoDey-bees,  and  the  Growth  of  the  Bee-keeping  Industry. 

A  glance  at  the  frontispiece  engravings,  showing  the  buildings  and  the  lumber-yards 
that  go  to  make  up  the  Home  of  the  Honey-bees,  covering  over  six  acres  of  ground,  gives 
some  idea  of  the  demands  of  bee-keepers  ;  and  when  it  is  remembered  that  The  A.  I.  Root 
Co.'s  manufacturing  plant  is  only  one,  notwithstanding  it  is  largest  of  several,  one  can  get 
some  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  bee-keeping  industry  as  a  whole. 

In  one  year's  time  there  are  made  and  sold  anywhere  from  40  to  60  millions  of  section 
lioney-boxes  in  the  United  States  alone.  Estimating  that  there  are  about  fourteen 
ounces  of  honey  to  each  section  sold,  on  the  average,  there  is  marketed  annually  in  the 
United  States  something  like  50  million  pounds  of  comb  honey ;  and  as  there  is  twice  as 
much  again  of  extracted  produced  as  comb  honey,  the  total  aggregate  would  reach  100  to 
125  million  pounds  of  honey  all  told,  or  represent  a  money  value  of  from  8  to  1(^  million 
dollars. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  interesting  to  trace  the  development  of  just  one  manufacturing 
plant— a  plant  where  every  thing  is  made  a  bee-keeper  can  possibly  require,  all  the  way 
from  a  queen-cage  to  two,  four,  six,  eight,  and  even  twenty-five  frame  steam-power  honey- 
extractors  ;  bee-hives  by  the  twenty-five  thousands ;  smokers  by  the  tens  of  thousands  ; 
perforated  zinc  by  the  thousands  of  square  feet ;  sections  by  the  tens  of  millions— making 
an  aggregate  of  thousands  of  tons  of  freight  every  year. 

As  already  explained  in  the  Introduction,  the  nucleus  of  this  great  business  was  a 
swarm  of  bees  that  went  over  the  jewelry  shop  of  A.  I.  Root  in  1865.  From  this  one 
swarm  there  developed  a  little  apiary  of  some  fifty  or  sixty  colonies,  and  a  bee-man  who 


li^TR-.ODUqTION. 


was  destined  to  influence  tlie  whole  bee-keeping  world.  This  man  began  ^sTiting  for  the 
Amei-ican  Bee  Journal  undeT  the  nom  de  plume  of  "Novice;"  and  the  result  was,  there 
came  in  inquiries  from  all  over  the  United  States,  asking  how  to  make  hives,  extractors, 
and  where  to  get  them.  At  that  time  there  was  no  factory  devoted  exclusively  to  making 
bee-supplies  in  the  world.  But  A.  I.  Root  at 'his  jewelry  shop  had  a  windmill,  and  pretty 
soon  put  in  operation  a  buzz-saw  which  he  hitched  on  to  the  mill ;  and  well  do  I  remember 
the  time  how  we  waited  and  waited  for  one  of  the  most  uncertain  of  all  things — wind,  just 
a  little  wind — to  fill  pressing  orders  for  hives  and  other  bee-keepers'  appliances  :  also  do  I 
remember  how  we  used  to  sleep  in  the  shop,  father  and  I,  in  order  that  we  might  be  awak- 
ened by  the  rumbling  of  the  shafting  and  creaking  of  the  belting  when  the  wind  did  come, 
so  we  could  make  hives  by  lamplight  while  the  power  lasted,  for  in  those  days  it  was 
not  wise  to  wait  till  daylight,  for  the  breeze  might  go  down.  Later  a  foot-power  buzz-saw 
was  purchased — yes,  two  of  them — to  "  help  us  out."  The  orders  began  to  come  in  until 
a  4i-horse-power  engine  was  ordered;  and  if  ever  a  youth  reached  the  very  height  of  his 
ambition  it  was  when  the  writer  of  this,  then  a  lad  of  about  fifteen,  was  installed  as  engin- 
eer of  the  little  engine.  My  !  but  didn't  the  buzz-saws  whir  ?  and  didn't  ice  get  the  goods 
off  V  By  and  by  even  the  little  engine  began  to  groan  under  its  load,  for  it  had  two  biizz- 
saws  and  a  planer  to  run,  and  it  became  necessary  to  run  the  little  jewelry  shop  "  up 
town"  night  and  day  ;  but  this  shop  had  been  converted  into  a  bee-hive  establishment. 
It  was  easy  to  be  seen  that  a  new  building  would  soon  have  to  be  erected  near  the  depot, 
and  so  plans  were  laid  for  one  40x100,  two  stories  and  basement,  metal  roof.  The  old 
jewelry  stock  was  sold  out  at  auction,  and  the  "up-toT^Ti"  store  sold.  The  undertaking, 
involving  the  purchase  of  18  acres  of  valuable  land  and  the  erection  of  so  large  a  building, 
was  tremendous  for  those  days,  and  it  nearly  exhausted  A.  I.  Root's  good  credit  to  pay 
his  debts,  and  many  were  the  speculations  that  he  would  "go  under."  But  he  did  not. 
The  40-horse-power  engine  that  had  been  installed,  and  the  dozen  or  so  buzz-saws,  planers, 
etc.,  had  all  they  could  do  to  take  care  of  the  trade  that  had  more  than  quadrupled.  This 
was  in  1880.  The  business  continued  to  grow  until  it  became  necessary  to  add  on  a  wing, 
40x85  on  the  west  end.   See  frontispiece  engraving  No.  2. 

About  this  time  the  industry  had  begun  to  assume,  as  we  then  thought,  massive  pro- 
portions. Two  shorthand  writers  were  constantly  employed,  each  one  supplied  with  the 
latest  improved  typewriter.  The  business  continued  to  grow  at  such  a  rate  that  the  pro- 
prietor himself  was  almost  demoralized  by  the  mass  of  business  that  was  poured  down 
upon  him. 

Still  the  little  bee  seemed  to  be  able  to  make  a  bigger  stir  than  ever  throughout  the 
world,  and  in  1886  another  building,  44x96,  was  added  to  the  works.  The  old  40-horfee- 
power  engine  was  supplanted  by  a  new  and  modern  90-horse-power  automatic.  Besides 
that,  there  was  250  feet  of  line  shafting,  with  its  attendant  lot  of  machinery.  Again,  in 
1888  the  works  had  to  be  again  enlarged :  a  smaller  structure  was  put  on.  In  1889  another 
60-horse-power  steam-boiler  was  added,  and  a  90-foot  smoke-stack,  shown  in  Figs.  4, 5,  and 
6  of  the  frontispiece  group.  Besides  this,  a  good  deal  of  additional  machinery  was  put  in. 
Still  again,  in  1890  the  trade  had  nearly  doubled  over  former  years,  and  we  were  compel- 
led to  extend  our  works  by  the  addition  of  another  brick  building,  two  stories  and  base- 
ment, 87x98,  see  Figs.  3  and  4.  In  that  same  year  other  improvements  were  also  introduc- 
ed, such  as  electric  lights,  Grinnell  automatic  sprinklers,  a  huge  fire-pump,  and  another 
large  boiler.  During  that  time  an  east  and  west  railroad  was  also  put  through,  close 
to  our  works— in  fact,  right  through  our  grounds— thus  bringing  more  and  better  ship- 
ping facilities.  Again,  in  1891  a  three-story  warehouse,  in  which  to  store  goods,  was 
erected.  Four  years  later  a  third  story  was  added  to  the  wood-working  building.  See 
Figs.  4,  5,  and  6.  Still  again,  in  1896  a  lumber-shed,  covered  with  iron,  60x120,  t\  as  put 
up.  This  building,  the  largest  of  the  entire  group,  is  of  sufficient  capacity  to  hold  nearly 
a  million  feet  of  basswood  lumber  for  making  section  honey-boxes ;  and  yet,  as  large  as 
it  is,  we  have  used  all  the  lumber  out  of  it  inside  of  three  months,  just  for  section  honey- 
boxes. 

In  1897  we  were  obliged  to  run  night  and  day,  and  yet  we  were  not  able  to  take  all  the 
trade  by  considerable.  We  had  to  refuse  money-orders,  and  turn  away  a  good  deal  of 
other  desirable  trade.  We  hardly  thought  that,  after  such  a  heavy  run  of  business,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  run  again  nights;  but  in  1898  we  were  compelled  to  make  double 


i:^TRODUCTION. 


turns  again,  and  for  a  much  longer  period  of  time,  continuing  clear  up  to  the  middle  of 
July. 

It  became  evident,  by  this  time,  that  there  would  have  to  be  a  substantial  enlargement, 
and  more  machinery,  if  we  would  keep  up  with  our  rapidly  growing  trade.  Accordingly, 
during  the  latter  part  of  1898,  we  installed  about  $20,000  worth  of  improvements  and 
enlargements— a  400-horse-power  engine  and  a  400-horse-power  boiler,  the  latter  of  the 
new  water  tube  type,  a  185-horse-power  electric-transmission  equipment,  the  latter  to. 
carry  power  to  distant  points  in  our  manufacturing  plant.  This,  together  with  the  electric 
apparatus  that  we  already  had  in,  made  an  investment  in  electric  equipment  of  some- 
thing like  $4000.  The  entire  outfit  comprises  two  dynamos,  one  of  100  horse  power,  and 
the  other  35.  There  are  scattered  over  our  plant  19  different  electric  motors,  all  operated 
by  the  two  dynamos  referred  to,  or  what  is  technically  called  generators."  There  are 
several  2,  3,  and  5  horse  power,  one  7i  horse  power,  one  15-horse  power,  and  one  60  horse- 
power motor.  The  machinery  immediately  adjacent  to  the  big  engine  is  operated  by 
belting  and  shafting,  so  that,  all  in  all,  we  now  have  one  of  the  latest  and  best  equipped 
power  plants  of  its  size  that  can  be  found  in  the  world. 

All  of  this  necessitated  the  rebuilding  and  enlarging  and  remodeling  of  the  engine 
and  boiler  rooms.  An  annex,  operated  entirely  by  electricity,  was  also  put  on  to  the  end 
of  one  of  the  big  buildings,  the  sole  purpose  of  which  was  to  take  in  the  big  planer,  cost- 
ing $1000,  and  some  other  special  machinery. 

Something  like  a  dozen  clerks  are  employed  almost  constantly  in  our  main  home  office 
in  taking  care  of  the  general  business,  answering  letters,  keeping  the  books,  and  doing 
general  office  work.  From  three  to  four  stenographers  are  required  to  take  dictation  from 
the  members  of  the  firm ;  and  six  typewriters  are  kept  in  use  the  greater  part  of  the  time. 

There  are  scattered  over  the  various  portions  of  the  United  States  five  branch  offices 
under  the  name  of  "  The  A.  I.  Root  Co."  LJesides  this  there  are  something  like  fourteen 
or  fifteen  large  agencies  that  handle  goods  by  the  carload,  to  say  nothing  of  smaller  agen- 
cies that  handle  supplies  in  smaller  quantities.  All  these  branch  oflices  and  agencies  keep- 
in  close  touch  with  the  home  office ;  and  if  there  is  a  branch  or  agency  that  is  not  conduct- 
ing business  in  accordance  with  the  Golden  Rule,  The  A.  I.  Root  Co.  wishes  to  be  duly 
informed  of  it. 

Some  idea  of  the  manufacturing  plant  as  a  whole  can  be  gained  by  looking  at  the  en- 
gravings just  preceding.   The  buildings  and  the  lumber-piles  now  cover  over  six  acres. 

The  titles  under  the  cuts  will  describe  the  growth  during  the  successive  years ;  and  each 
cut  if  examined  carefully  will  show  some  additions  that  were  incorporated  into  the  gener- 
al picture  as  the  works  continued  to  grow.  There  is  also  another  set  of  engravings  that 
show  rear  views  of  the  plant ;  also  some  interior  views,  among  them  being  a  peep  into  our- 
machine-shop  from  one  corner,  and  a  view  of  two  of  our  large  dynamos,  with  switch- 
boards, etc.  All  of  these  pictures  represent  an  investment  of  some  $200,000 ;  and  dur- 
ing a  portion  of  the  time  there  is  in  the  yard  something  like  $50,000  worth  of  lumber  alone. 
The  requirements  of  bee-keeping  are  so  exacting  that  it  becomes  necessary  to  buy  the  lum- 
ber sometimes  in  advance,  in  order  that  it  may  season  properly  by  the  time  we  require  it. 

In  1891,  the  business  having  grown  so  large,  the  management  was  transferred  to  a 
stock  company— The  A.  I.  Root  Co.— having  a  paid-up  capital  of  $100,000,  with  A.  I.  Root, 
the  founder,  as  President;  E.  R.  Root  as  Vice-president;  J.  T.  Calvert,  a  son-in-law  of" 
A.  I.  Root,  Treasurer ;  and  later,  A.  L.  Boyden,  another  son-in-law,  was  chosen  Secretary. 

At  the  time  the  change  went  into  effect,  no  new  policy  was  brought  forth.  In  fact,,, 
the  business  is  now  managed  the  same  as  before,  and  by  the  same  men.  A.  I.  Root  having 
dropped  a  good  many  of  the  active  duties,  partly  from  ill  health  and  partly  because  his 
attention  was  taken  up  with  other  matters,  the  general  management  and  conduct  of  the 
business  devolves  upon  ''the  boys."  J.  T.  Calvert,  business  manager,  has  general  super- 
vision of  the  manufacturing  departments  ;  is  general  purchasing  agent— in  short,  has  gen- 
eral charge  of  the  commercial  part  of  the  business.  A.  L.  Boyden,  Secretary,  assists  Mr. 
Calvert,  besides  giving  his  special  attention  to  the  general  office  work,  keeping  in  touch 
with  the  branch  offices  and  agencies  scattered  throughout  the  United  States.  E.  R.  Root, 
Vice-president,  is  editor  of  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  and  with  the  other  two  men  has  his 
share  of  the  correspondence.  He  also  has  more  or  less  to  do  with  fixing  the  style  of  goods, 
that  shall  be  put  out  from  season  to  season. 


INT  KODUCTION. 


In  closing  I  can  do  no  better  than  to  give  here  a  paragraph  that  may  prove  helpful  to 
some  blundering  boy  whose  plans  will  not  work.  This  is  what  A.  I.  Root,  the  founder 
of  the  institution,  has  to  say  : 

Now,  dear  reader,  1  do  not  know  how  it  seems  to  you  ;  but  when  I  take  a  look  at 
the  scene  of  activity  as  shown  in  the  engravings  of  the  Home  of  the  Honey-Bees  just  preced- 
ing it  seems  to  me  almost  as  if  it  could  not  be  reality.  It  was  only  a  very  short  time  ago 
that  I  was  a  blundering  boy  —  yes,  a  boy  who  cried  over  his  plans  because  they  did  not 
work  just  as  he  had  figured  out  they  ought  to  work.  When  this  blundering  boy,  however, 
stopped  working  for  himself,  and  began  working  for  ;the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  glory, 
giving  employment  to  those  who  seemed  to  be  in  sad  need  of  it,  etc.,  then,  by  some  strange 
process,  success  seemed  to  crown  his  humble  efforts.  It  seemed  as  if  some  great  and 
irighty  power  had  the  control  and  management ;  and  who  shall  say  that  such  has  not  been 
the  case  while  the  motto  still  remains,  cut  in  the  solid  sandstone  right  over  the  arch,  in  the 
center  of  the  main  building—'  In  God  we  trust '  ^  " 

Thus  far  I  have  made  no  mention  whatever  of  our  journal.  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture ^ 
an  illustrated  semimonthly  magazine  of  some  36  pages.  In  each  issue  there  are  a  number 
of  half-tone  engravings  direct  from  photographs,  which  show  the  various  stages  of  the 
industry  from  A  to  Z.  Many  of  these  have  been  incorporated  into  this  work  ;  but  after 
one  has  gotten  well  into  the  body  of  the  book,  and  has  begun  to  understand  the  main 
principles,  he  will  still  need  the  journal  to  help  him  in  his  work,  for  it  will  save  him 
many  times  its  cost  every  year. 

Jan.  1,1901.  E.  TJ.EooT. 


GOOD  CATCH." 

Photograph  by  W.  Z.  Hutchinson. 


A. 


[Note  — Strangely  enough,  some  of  our  ABC  schol- 
ars have  attempted  to  take  up  each  subject  in  this 
work  in  its  consecutive  order.  As  this  is  a  cyclopedia 
on  bee  culture  it  should  no  more  be  read  in  this  man- 
ner than  a  dictionary  or  any  cyclopedia.  As  a  guide 
to  the  beginner  I  would  suggest  that  he  take  for  his 
course  of  reading  the  following  subjects  in  the  or- 
der named  :  Buying  Bees  ;  Hives  ;  Apiary  ;  Trans- 
ferring; Stings;  Robbing:  Feeding;  Swarming, 
and  Absconding  of  Swarms  ;  Comb  Honey  ;  Ex- 
tracted Honey  ;  Queen-rearing  ;  Uniting  ;  Win- 
tering. Other  subjects'ma^'  be  taken  up  in  any  order 
that  may  suggest  itself,  for  then  the  learner  will  be  able 
to  read  any  thing  in  the  book  understandiuglj-.]  = 

ABSCOiroma  SWAKMS.— Per- 
haps nothing  is  more  aggravating  in  bee 
cultnre  than  to  have  onr  bees  all  on  a  sud- 
den "light  out  for  parts  unknown,  without 
so  much  as  stopping  to  give  uj  a  parting 
word  of  farewell,  or  a  single  token  of  recog- 
nition of  the  debt  they  owe  us,  in  the 
shape  of  gratitude  for  om-  past  kindnesses 
in  providing  them  with  a  home,  shelter,  etc. 
Perhaps  no  part  of  animated  creation  exliib- 
its  a  greater  love  of  home  than  does  the 
honey-bee  ;  no  matter  how  humble  or  unin- 
viting the  surroundings,  l  ees  seem  much 
attached  to  their  home ;  and  as  they  parade 
in  front  of  their  doorway  after  a  hard  day's 
work,3*plainly  indicate  that  they  have  a  keen 
idea  of  the  rights  of  ownership,  and  exhib- 
it a  Willingness  to  give  the  r  lives  ficely. 
if  need  be,  in  defense  of  their  h  nd-eai  ned 
stores.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  how 
they  can  evei'  be  willing  to  abandon  it 
all,  and  with  such  sudden  impulse,  and 
common  consent.  Xo  matter  if  they  have 
never  seen  or  heard  of  such  a  thing  as  a  hol- 
low tree,  but  have  for  innumerable  bee  gen- 
erations been  domesticated  in  hives  made 
by  human  hands,  none  the  less  have  they 
that  iQstinctive  longing  that  prompts  them 
to  seek  the  forest  as  soon  as  they  get  loose 
from  the  chains  of  domestication.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  the  bees,  as  they  go  out  foraging, 
keep  an  eye  out  for  desirable  places  for 
starting  new  homes,  and  it  maybe  that  they 
have  the  hollow  trees  picked  out  some  time 
before  they  decide  to  leave.  Many  incidents 
have  been  reported  that  pretty  clearly 
show  this  to  be  the  case.  We  once  found 
our  bees  working  strongly  on  a  particular 
locality  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the 

^Whenever  these  small  figures  occur,  the  reader 
is  requested  to  turn  to  Doolittle's  and  Miller's  com- 
ments at  the  close  of  this  book. 


apiary,  where  the  white  clover  was  bloom- 
ing with  most  unusual  luxuriance.  Very 
soon  after,  a  colony  swarmed,  and  the  bees, 
I  after  pouring  out  of  the  hive,  took  a  direct 
'  line  for  a  tree  in  this  clover-field,  without  so 
much  as  making  any  attempt  to  cluster  at 
all.  Did  they  not  figiu'e  out  the  advantage 
of  having  only  a  few  rods  instead  of  over  a 
mile  to  carry  their  honey,  after  having  pa- 
tiently gathered  it  from  the  blossoms,  little 
by  little  V  Perhaps  it  ^ill  be  well  to  remark 
here,  that  it  is  very  unusual  for  a  swarm  to 
go  to  the  woods  without  clustering ;  the  bees 
usually  hang  from  15  minutes  to  an  hoiu', 
and  many  times  several  hom'S  ;  in  fact,  I 
liaA'e  known  them  to  hang  over  night :  but 
perhaps  it  would  be  well  to  take  care  of 
them  inside  of  15  or  20  minutes,  if  we  would 
make  sure  of  them.  Long  before  s warming- 
time,  hives  should  all  be  in  readiness,  and 
they  should  also  be  located  near  where  the 
new  colony  is  to  stand.  If  one  is  going  to 
have  a  model  apiary,  he  should  not  think  of 
waiting  until  the  bees  swarm  before  he  lays 
it  out,  but  take  time  by  the  forelock,  and 
with  careful  deliberation  decide  where  ev- 
ery hive  shall  be  before  it  is  peopled  with 
bees,  if  he  would  keep  ahead  and  keep  his 
bees  from  taking  "  French  leave." 

But  they  sometimes  go  olf ,  even  after  they 
h  ive  been  carefully  hived,  some  will  say. 
AVe  are  well  aware  they  do  often  go  of£  after 
being  hived,  sometimes  the  same  and  some- 
times the  next  day;  but  are  we  sure  the 
hiving  was  carefully  done  V  I  never  feel 
satisfied  miless  I  have  given  the  new 
swarm  at  least  one  comb  containing  unseal- 
ed brood,  and  I  have  seldom  had  a  swarm 
desert  a  hive  when  thus  furnished,  nor  do  I 
often  hear  of  one's  doing  so.  With  such 
hives  as  I  shall  describe,  it  is  a  very  simple 
task,  and  takes  but  a  minute  to  open  a  hive 
and  get  such  a  comb.  And,  besides,  if  by 
any  chance  one  should  fail  to  get  the  queen 
when  he  hives  the  swarm,  it  would  be 
supplied  with  the  means  of  rearing  another. 

This  plan  of  giving  the  bees  unsealed 
brood  does  very  well  if  one  can  get  them  into 
the  hive,  but  it  is  necessarily  somewhat  like 
the  one  of  catching  bii'ds  with  a  handful  ot 
salt ;  how  are  we  to  obviate  losing  the  occa- 


absco:ndi]^g  swarms. 


2  ABSCOramG  SWARMS 


sional  swarm  that  goes  off  without  cluster-  ! 
ing  at  all  ?   or  the  quite  frequent  cases  of  j 
coming  out  unobserved,  or  when  no  one  is 
at  home  V   I  am  happy  to  say  there  is  a  I 
very  certain  and  sure  remedy  for  all  cases  of 
first  swarming,  in  having  the  wings  of  the 
queen  clipped  so  she  can  not  fly  ;  this  plan  ' 
is  in  very  general  use,  and  answers  excellent- 
ly for  all  first  swarms  ;  but,  alas!  the  after- 1 
swarms  are  the  very  ones  that  are  most  apt ! 
to  abscond,  and  we  can  not  clip  the  wings  of  j 
their  queens,  because  they  have  not  yet  taken  | 
their  wedding-flight.   What  shall  we  do  V  I 
Candidly,  I  don't  know  of  any  better  way 
than  to" watch  carefully  when  they  are  to  be 
expected,  and  then  chase  after  them,  climb  j 
trees,  etc.,  until  they  are  once  got  safely  into 
a  hive.  If  one  thinks  this  too  much  trouble, 
he  should  prevent  having  after- swarms  as 
I  advise  under  that  head.  j 
Clipping  the  wings  of  the  queen  prevents  j 
losing  first  swarms  by  absconding,  it  is  true;  i 
but  it  does  not  always  prevent  losing  the  | 
queen.   She  goes  out  with  the  bees  as  usual,  : 
and,  after  hopping  about  in  front  of  the  hive,  : 
sometimes  gets  ready  to  go  back  at  about ; 
the  same  time  that  the  bees  do,  after  having  \ 
discovered  she  is  not  in  the  crowd.   Even  if  | 
she  gets  some  little  distance  from  the  hive,  \ 
the  loud  hum  they  make  as  they  return  will  j 
guide  her  home  many  times;  but  unless  the  j 
apiarist  is  at  hand  at  such  times  to  look  aft- 
er affairs,  many  queens  will  be  lost,^  and 
the  bees  will  rear  a  lot  of  young  queens,  and 
go  into  after-swarming  in  good  earnest, 
making  even  the  first  swarm  an  "after- 
swarm."  A  German  friend,  who  knows  lit- 
tle of  bee  culture,  once  told  me  my  bees  were 
swarming,  and    if  I  did  not  ring  the 
bells,  etc.,  they  would  certainly  go  to  the 
woods.   As  I  quietly  picked  up  the  queen  in 
passing  the  hive,  I  told  him  if  they  started 
to  go  away,  I  would  call  them  back.  Sure 
enough,  they  did  start  for  the  woods,  and 
had  gone  so  far  that  I  really  began  to  be 
frightened  myself,  when,  away  in  the  dis- 
tance, we  saw  them  suddenly  wheel  about, 
and  then^return  to  the  hive  at  our  very  feet. 
While  he  gave  me  credit  of  having  some  su- 
pernatural power  over  bees,  I  felt  extremely 
glad  I  had  taken  precautions  to  clip  all  our 
queens'  wings^but  a  few  days  before.  After 
this,  I  felt  a  little  proud  of  my  control  over 
these  wayward  insects,  until  a  fine  swarm  of 
Italians^started  off  under  similar  circum- 
stances, and,  despite  my  very  complacent, 
positive  remarks,  to  the  effect  that  they 
would  soon  come  home,  they  went  off'  and 
stayed  "  off."   In  a  humbler,  and,  I  dare  say. 


wiser  frame  of  mind,  I  investigated,  and 
found  they  had  joined  with  a  very  small 
third  swarm  of  black  bees,  that  had  just 
come  from  one  of  a  neighbor's  hives.  I 
tried  to  "explain,"  but  it  required  a  five- 
dollar  bill  to  make  matters  so  clear  that  I ' 
could  carry  back  my  rousing  swarm  of  yel- 
low bees,  and  sort  out  the  black  unfertile 
queen,  that  they  might  be  made  to  accept 
their  own.  Thus  you  see,  my  friends,  how 
many  a  slip  there  is,  in  bee  culture,  between 
cup  and  lip,  and  how  very  important  it  is 
that  you  keep  posted,  and  also  "post"  your- 
self in  some  conspicuous  place  near  or  in 
the  apiary  if  you  allow  natural  swarming,  and 
do  not  want  your  golden  visions — and  bees 
—to  take  to  themselves  wings  and  fly  away. 

ABSCONDING  FOR  WANT  OF  FOOD. 

Perhaps  bees  oftener  desert  their  hives 
because  they  are  short  of  stores  than  from 
any  other  cause ;  and  many  times,  in  the 
spring,  they  seem  to  desert  because  they  are 
nearly  out.  The  remedy,  or,  rather,  prevent- 
ive, for  this  state  of  affairs,  is  so  plain  that 
I  hardly  need  discuss  it.  After  they  have 
swarmed  out,  and  are  put  back  into  the 
hive,  I  would  give  a  heavy  comb  of  sealed 
stores  if  1  could  ;  if  not,  I  would  feed  them 
a  little  at  a  time,  until  they  have  plenty,  and 
I  would  be  sure  that  they  have  brood  in  the 
combs.  If  necessary,  I  would  give  them  a 
comb  of  unsealed  larvae  from  some  other  hive, 
and  then  feed  them  until  they  have  a  great 
abundance  of  food.  One  should  be  ashamed 
of  having  bees  abscond  for  want  of  food. 

ABSCONDING  IN  EARLY  SPRING. 

This  seems  to  occur  just  at  a  time  when 
we  can  ill  afford  to  lose  a  single  bee ;  and, 
worse  still,  only  when  our  stocks  are,  gener- 
ally, rather  weak,  so  that  we  dislike  the  idea 
of  losing  any  of  them.  In  this  case  they  do 
not,  as  a  general  thing,  seem  to  care  particu- 
larly for  going  to  the  woods,  but  rather  take 
a  fancy  to  pushing  their  way  into  some  of 
the  adjoining  hives,  and,  at  times,  a  whole 
apiary  will  seem  so  crazy  with  the  idea  as 
to  become  utterly  demoralized. 

A  neighbor,  who  made  a  hobby  of  small 
hives — less  than  half  the  usual  size — one  fine 
April  day  had  as  many  as  40  colonies  leave 
their  hives  and  cluster  together  in  all  sorts 
of  promiscuous  combinations.  To  say  that 
their  owner  was  perplexed,  would  be  stating 
the  matter  very  mildly. 

Similar  cases,  though  perhaps  not  as  bad, 
have  been  reported  from  time  to  time,  ever 
since  novices  commenced  to  learn  the  sci- 
ence of  bee  culture ;  and  although  cases  of 


ABSCO^fDmO  SWARMS. 


3  ABSCOi^DING  SWARMS. 


swarming  out  in  the  spring  were  known 
once  in  a  great  while  before  the  recent  im- 
provements, they  were  nothing  like  the  ma- 
nia that  has  seemed  to  possess  entire  apia- 
ries— small  ones — since  the  time  of  artificial 
swarming,  honey-extractors,  etc.  I  would 
by  no  means  discourage  these  improve- 
ments, but  only  warn  beginners  against  mak- 
ing too  much  haste  to  be  rich.  I  would 
not  commence  dividing  my  bees  until  they 
are  abundantly  strong.  They  should  go 
into  winter  quarters  with  an  abundance  of 
sealed  honey  in  tough  old 
combs  as  far  as  may  be ; 
and  should  have  hives  with 
walls  thick  and  warm,  of 
some  porous  material,  such 
as  chaff  or  straw,  with  a 
good  thickness  of  the  same 
above,  and  we  will  have 
little  cause  to  fear  any 
trouble  from  bees  abscond- 
ing in  the  spring. 

ABSCO?^DING  J^TJCLEUS 
S  WARMS. 

This,  like  the  above, 
seems  an  outgrowth  of  the 
artificial  system  of  working 
with  bees,  especially  the 
plan  of  rearing  queens  in 
nuclei  formed  of  two  or 
three  frames  five  or  six 
inches  square.  This  small- 
hive  system  was  much  in 
vogue  about  the  year  1865. 
For  a  while  all  worked 
finely ;  but  soon  complaints 
began  to  be  heard  that  the 
bees  left  their  hives  in  a 
body,  with  the  queen, 
whenever  she  attempted  to 
take  her  flight  to  meet  the 
drones.  Giving  them  un- 
sealed larvae,  to  amuse  and 
console  themselves  with 
while  she  was  absent,  was 
then  advised,  and  it  an- 
swered very  well  for  a 
time;  but  eventually  one 
after  another  began  to  de- 
clare they  wanted  no  frame 
in  the  apiary  for  queen- 
rearing,  smaller  than  the  ordinary  brood- 
frame.  Since  this,  but  little  has  been  heard 
in  the  way  of  complaints  of  this  kind  of  ab- 
sconding. Where  one  has  the  time  to  study 
these  little  colonies,  there  is  something  very 
interesting  and  amusing  about  them.  We 
have  had  them  do  finely  for  several  weeks, 


with  perhaps  no  more  than  a  good  pint  of 
bees.  A  good  day's  work  during  clover- 
bloom  would  fill  the  hive  completely,  and 
the  young  queen,  after  commencing  to  lay, 
would  often  fill  the  combs  by  her  second 
day's  work ;  then  if  she  turned  up  missing 
on  the  third  day,  we  used  to  wonder  what  in 
the  world  was  the  matter.  Sometimes  these 
little  swarms  would  be  found  hanging  on 
a  currant  or  raspberry  bush,  as  quietly  and 
demurely  as  if  that  was  the  way  bees  always 
did ;  at  other  times,  when  we  had  hunted 


AFTER  THE  ABSCONDER. 

—New  South  Wales  Agricultural  Gazette. 

\  through  all  available  places  for  a  truant  col- 
j  ony,  and  given  them  up  in  despair,  they 
:  would  come  circling  back  and  cluster  quiet- 
i  ly  almost  imder  our  very  (inexperienced) 
i  noses. 

!  There  is  still  another  kind  of  absconding 
'  that  seems  to  be  for  no  other  reason  than 


m 


ABSCONDmG  SWAEMS.  4  ABSCONDING  SWARMS. 

that  the  bees  are  displeased  with  their  hive,  entery  in  the  spring.  They  very  often  swarm 
or  its  surroundings,  and,  at  times,  it  seems  out  because  they  are  out  of  stores,  and  this 
rather  difficult  to  assign  any  good  reason  for  .  generally  happens  about  the  first  day  in 
their  having  suddenly  deserted.    I  have  |  spring  that  is  sufficiently  warm  and  sunny. 


A  SMALL,  AFTER  SWARM. 

known  a  colony  to  swarm  out  and  desert  I  have  known  them  to  swarm  out  because 

their  hive  because  it  was  too  cold  and  open,  their  entrance  was  too  large,  and,  if  I  am 

and  I  have  known  them  to  desert  because  not  mistaken,  because  it  was  too  small.  I 

the  combs  were  soiled  and  filthy  from  dys-  have  also  known  them  to  swarm  out  because 


AFTER-SVYARMmG. 


5 


AFTER-SW  ARMIi^  G. 


they  were  so  ''pestered"  with  a  neighboring 
ant-hill— see  Ants— that  they  evidently 
thought  patience  ceased  to  be  a  virtue. 

They  often  swarm  out  in  spring  where 
no  other  cause  can  be  assigned  than  that  j 
they  are  weak  and  discouraged,  and  in  such  j 
cases  they  usually  try  to  make  their  way  in- 
to other  colonies.  While  it  may  not  always 
be  possible  to  assign  a  reason  for  such  be- 
havior with  medium  or  fair  colonies,  we 
may  rest  assured  that  good  strong  colonies, 
with  ample  supplies  of  sealed  stores,  seldom, 
if  ever,  go  into  any  such  foolishness. 

By  way  of  summing  up,  it  may  be  well  to 
say :  If  you  would  not  lose  yom-  bees  by  nat- 
ural swarming,  clip  the  wings  of  all  queens 
as  soon  as  they  commence  laying;  then  look 
to  them  often,  and  know  what  is  going  on  in 
the  apiary  every  day  during  the  swarming 
season  ;  if  you  would  not  have  runaway 
swarms  in  the  spring,  and  while  queens  are 
being  fertilized,  confine  your  experiments  to 
pecks  of  bees  instead  of  pints. 

ADULTERATION  OP  HONEY.  See 
Honey  Adulteration. 

AFTER-SWAB.miN'a.- We  might 
define  this  by  saying  that  all  swarms  that 
come  out,  or  are  led  out  by  a  virgin  queen, 
are  termed  after-swarms  ;  and  all  swarms 
that  come  out  within  eight  or  fifteen  days  aft- 
er the  first  swarm,  are  accompanied  by  such 
queens.  There  may  be  from  one  all  the  way 
up  to  a  half-dozen  or  even  more,  depending 
on  the  yield  of  honey,  amount  of  brood  or 
larvae,  and  the  weather ;  but  whatever 
the  number,  they  are  all  led  off  by  queens 
reared  from  one  lot  of  queen-cells,  and  the 
number  of  bees  accompanying  them  is,  of  a 
necessity,  less  each  time.  The  last  one  fre- 
quently contains  no  more  than  a  pint  of 
bees,  and,  if  hived  in  the  old  way,  would  be 
of  little  use  under  almost  any  circumstances; 
yet  when  supplied  with  combs  already  built 
and  filled  with  honey,  such  as  every  en- 
lightened apiarist  should  always  keep  in 
store,  they  may  be  made  the  very  best  of 
colonies,  for  they  have  young  and  vigorous 
queens,  and  often  are  equal  to  any  in  the 
apiary,  the  next  season. 

There  is  one  very  amusing  feature  in  re- 
gard to  these  after-swarms.  When  they 
have  decided  to  send  out  no  more  swarms, 
all  the  young  queens  in  the  hive  are  sent 
out,  or,  it  may  be,  allowed  to  go  out  with  the 
last  one  ;  and  every  few  days  during  the 
swarming  season,  some  "new  hand"  writes 
us  about  the  wonderful  fact  of  his  having 
found  three  or  fom-,  or  it  may  be  a  half-doz- 
en queens  in  one  swarm. »  On  one  occasion, 


a  friend,  who  weighed  something  over  200^ 
ascended  to  the  top  of  an  apple-tree  during 
a  hot  July  day  to  hive  a  very  small  third 
swarm.  He  soon  came  down,  in  breathless 
haste,  to  inform  us  that  the  swarm  was  all 
queens;  and,  in  proof  of  it,  brought  two  or 
three  in  his  closed-up  hands. 

Years  ago  after-swarming  was  considered 
a  sort  ot:  necessary  evil  that  had  to  be  toler- 
ated because  it  could  not  be  obviated;  but 
in  no  well-regulated  apiary  should  it  be 
allowed.  It  is  good  practice  to  permit  one 
swarm — the  first  one.  After  that  all  others 
should  be  restrained.  Cutting  out  all  the 
queen-cells  but  one  may  have  the  effect  of 
preventing  a  second  swarm ;  but  the  prac- 
tice is  objectionable— first,  because  one  can 
not  he  sure  that  he  destroys  all  but  one.  If 
there  are  two  cells  the  occupant  of  one  of 
them,  when  she  hatches,  is  liable  to  bring 
out  an  after-swarm;  indeed,  we  may  say 
that,  as  long  as  there  are  young  queens  to 
hatch,  there  is  liable  to  be  an  after-swarm 
up  to  the  number  of  three  or  four,  and  pos- 
s  bly  five. 

But  the  practical  honey-producers  of  to- 
day consider  cell-cutting  for  the  prevention 
of  these  little  swarms  as  waste  of  time.  The 
plan  usually  adopted  is  about  as  follows  : 

The  wings  of  all  queens  in  the  apiary 
should  be  clipped,  or  else  there  should  be 
entrance-guards  over  the  colonies.  As  soon 
as  the  first  swarm  comes  forth,  and  while 
the  bees  are  in  the  air,  the  queen,  if  clipped, 
is  found  in  front  of  the  entrance  of  the  old 
hive.  She  is  caged,  and  the  old  hive  is  lifted 
oft  the  old  stand,  and  an  empty  one  con- 
taining frames  of  foundation  or  empty 
combs  is  put  in  its  place.  A  perforated  zinc 
honey-board  is  next  put  on  top,  after  which 
the  supers,  now  on  the  old  stand.  The  queen 
in  her  cage  is  placed  in  front  of  the  en- 
trance, and  the  old  hive  is  next  carried  to  an 
entirely  new  location.  In  the  mean  time 
the  swarm  returns  to  find  the  queen  at  the 
old  stand;  and  when  the  bees  are  well 
started  to  running  into  the  entrance  she  is 
released,  and  allowed  to  go  in  with  them. 
Most  of  the  old  or  flying  bees  that  happen 
to  be  left  in  the  old  colony,  now  on  the  new 
location,  will  go  back  to  the  old  stand  to 
fuither  strengthen  the  swarm.  This  will 
so  depopulate  the  parent  colony  that  there 
will  hardly  be  bees  enough  left  to  cause 
any  after  -  swarming,  and  the  surplus  of 
young  queens  will  have  to  fight  it  out 
among  themselves— the  "  survival  of  the  fit- 
test" being,  of  course,  the  only  one  left. 
She  will  be  mated  in  the  regular  way,  and 


AGE  or  BEES. 


6 


AGE  or  BEES. 


the  few  bees  with  her  will  not,  of  course,  | 
follow  her,  as  there  will  not  be  enough  of 
them  to  make  a  respectable  after-swarm. 

By  this  plan  there  is  no  hunting  of  queen- 
cells.  The  first  young  queen  that  hatches 
may,  as  soon  as  she  begins  to  feel  that  she  is 
mistress  of  the  home,  destroy  other  cells ;  or 
if  not,  and  the  young  queens  hatch,  she  may 
fight  it  out  with  them. 

heddon's  method  or  preventing  after- 
swarms. 

Another  plan  that  is  practiced  to  some 
extent  is  what  is  called  the  Heddon.  The 
first  swarm  is  allowed  to  come  forth ;  and 
during  the  time  it  is  in  the  air  the  parent 
colony  is  removed  from  its  stand,  and  placed 
a  few  inches  to  one  side,  with  its  entrance 
pointing  at  right  angles  to  its  former  posi- 
tion. Eor  instance,  if  the  old  hive  faced  the 
east,  it  will  now  look  toward  the  north. 
Another  hive  is  placed  on  the  old  stand, 
filled  with  frames  of  wired  foundation.  The 
swarm  is  put  in  this  hive,  and  at  the  end  of 
two  days  the  parent  hive  is  turned  around 
so  that  its  entrance  points  in  the  same  direc- 
tion as  the  hive  that  now  has  the  swarm. 
Just  as  soon  as  young  queens  of  the  parent 
colony  are  liable  to  hatch  it  is  carried  to  a 
new  location  during  the  middle  of  the  day 
or  when  the  bees  are  flying  the  thickest. 
The  result  is,  these  flying  bees  will  go  back 
to  the  hive  having  the  swarm.  This,  like  the 
other  method  described,  so  depletes  the  par- 
ent hive  that  any  attempt  at  after-swarming 
is  effectually  forestalled,  and  the  process  of 
sifting  out  the  survival  of  the  fittest  queen 
takes  place. -"^o^ 

AG-Xi  OF  BEES.— It  may  be  rather  dif- 
ficult to  decide  how  long  a  worker  bee  would 
live,  if  kept  from  wearing  itself  out  by  the 
active  labors  of  the  field ;  six  months  cer- 
tainly, and  perhaps  a  year ;  but  the  average 
life  during  the  summer  time  is  not  over 
three  months,  and  perhaps  during  the  height 
of  the  clover-bloom  not  over  six  or  eight 
weeks.  The  matter  is  easily  determined  by 
introducing  an  Italian  queen  to  a  hive  of 
black  bees,  at  different  periods  of  the  year. 
If  done  in  May  or  June,  we  shall  have  all 
Italians  in  the  fall ;  and  if  we  note  when  the 
last  black  bees  hatch  out,  and  the  time  when 
no  black  bees  are  to  be  found  in  the  colony, 
we  shall  have  a  pretty  accurate  idea  of  the 
age  of  the  blacks. The  Italians  will  per- 
haps hold  out  under  the  same  circumstances 
a  half  longer.  If  we  introduce  the  Italian 
queen  in  September,  we  shall  find  black 
bees  in  the  hive  until  the  month  of  May 


I  following— they  may  disappear  a  little  ear- 
lier, or  may  be  found  some  later,  depending 
upon  the  time  they  commence  to  rear  brood 
largely.  The  bees  will  live  considerably 
longer  if  no  brood  is  reared,  as  has  been  sev- 
eral times  demonstrated  in  the  case  of  strong 
queenless  colonies.  It  is  also  pretty  well 
established  that  black  bees  will  live  longer 
in  the  spring  than  Italians;  probably  be- 
cause the  latter  are  more  inclined  to  push 
out  into  the  fields  when  the  weather  is  too 
cool  for  them  to  do  so  with  safety ;  they  sel- 
dom do  this,  however,  unless  a  large  amount 
of  brood  is  on  hand,  and  they  are  suffering 
for  pollen  or  water. 

During  the  summer  months,  the  life  of 
the  worker-bee  is  probably  cut  short  by  the 
wearing-out  of  its  wings,  and  we  may,  at  the 
close  of  a  warm  day,  find  hundreds  of  these 
heavily  laden,  ragged- winged  veterans  mak- 
ing their  way  into  the  hives  slowly  and 
painfully,  compared  with  the  nimble  and 
perfect-winged  young  bees.  If  we  examine 
the  ground  around  the  apiary  at  nightfall, 
we  may  see  numbers  of  these  hopping  about 
on  the  ground,  evidently  recognizing  their 
own  inability  to  be  of  any  further  use  to  the 
community.  We  have  repeatedly  picked 
them  up,  and  placed  them  in  the  entrance, 
but  they  usually  seem  only  bent  on  crawling 
and  hopping  off  out  of  the  way,  where  they 
can  die  without  hindering  the  teeming  ris- 
ing generation. 

AGE  OF  DRONES. 

It  is  somewhat  diflicult  to  decide  upon  the 
age  of  drones,  because  the  poor  fellows  are 
so  often  hustled  out  of  the  way,  for  the  sim- 
ple reason  that  they  are  no  longer  wanted; 
but  we  may  be  safe  in  assuming  it  is  some- 
thing less  than  the  age  of  a  worker.  If  kept 
constantly  in  a  queenless  hive,  they  might 
live  for  three  or  four  months  perhaps. 

AGE  OF  the  queen. 

As  the  queen  does  little  or  no  out-door 
work,  and  is  seldom  killed  by  violence  as 
are  the  drones,  we  might  expect  her  to  live 
to  a  good  old  age,  and  this  she  does,  despite 
her  arduous  oviparous  duties.  Some  queens 
die,  seemingly  of  old  age,  the  second  season, 
but  generally  they  live  through  the  second  or 
third,  and  we  have  had  them  lay  very  well 
even  during  the  fourth  year.  They  are  sel- 
dom profitable  after  the  third  year,  and  the 
Italians  will  sometimes  have  a  young  queen 
''helping  her  mother"  in  her  egg-laying  du- 
ties, before  she  becomes  unprofitable. 

If  a  very  large  amount  of  brood  is  found 
in  a  hive,  two  queens  will  often  be  found. 


ALFALFA. 


7 


ALFALFA. 


busily  employed,  and  this  point  should  be 
remembered  while  seeking  to  introduce  val- 
uable queens. 

ALFALFA,  OR  LUCERmS  {Med- 
icago  sativa).  This  one  of  the  clovers  is  very 
closely  related  to,  and  indeed  greatly  resem- 
bles, sweet  clover,  which  latter  is  described 
under  the  head  of  Clover.  Alfalfa  has, 
dimng  late  years,  come  to  be  one  of  the  most 
important  honey-plants  of  the  great  West— 
especially  of  those  arid  regions  that  have  to 
be  irrigated.  It  is  grown  most  extensively 
in  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Arizona,  Nevada, 
Utah,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  New  Mexico, 
Washington,  Oregon,  and  is  now  making 
rapid  strides  in  California. 

It  has  been  grown,  in  aji  experimental 
way,  in  many  of  the  Eastern  States;  but 
outside  of  irrigated  regions  it  is  not  known 
to  yield  any  honey.  While  it  makes  an  ex- 
cellent forage  plant  in  a  few  localities  in  the 
East,  permitting  of  one  or  two  cuttings,  it 
is  gro^^l  as  a  hay,  particularly  in  the  West- 
ern States  I  have  mentioned ;  for  there  is 
no  other  forage-plant  that  will  yield  the 
same  tonnage  per  acre  of  fodder  or  hay  in 
the  regions  that  have  to  be  irrigated.  It 
yields  anywhere  from  8  to  5  tons  per  acre, 
and  gives  from  8  to  5  cuttings  to  the  season, 
and,  under  favorable  circumstances,  it  is 
even  claimed  that  6  and  7  have  been  made. 
For  the  best  hay  it  should  be  cut  when  the 
blooming  commences  ;  but,  unfortunately 
for  the  bee-keeper,  this  also  cuts  off  the  sup- 
ply of  nectar  when  it  is  flowing  at  its  very 
best ;  for  alfalfa,  when  in  bloom  in  the  irri- 
gated regions,  is  perhaps  the  greatest  honey- 
plantain"  the~m)rrdr~But~irofw^ 
the  interests  of  the  bee-keeper,  the  ranchers 
cut  their  alfalfa  just  as  soon  as  it  begins  to 
bloom,  irrespective  of  the  fact  that  it  is 
"  killing  the  goose  that  lays  the  golden  egg 
for  the  bee  -  keeper.  After  cutting,  it  is 
stacked  in  the  open  field  *  in  a  stack  that 
will  run  anywhere  from  10  to  100  tons  in 
capacity. 

As  one  goes  through  the  irrigated  region 
of  Colorado  along  the  line  of  the  Northwest- 
ern K.  R.,  in  a  Pullman  car  going  at  the  rate 
of  50  or  60  miles  an  hour,  he  sees  hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  such  stacks;  and  where 
one  stack  has  been  cut  into,  or  opened  up, 
he  sees  not  the  dull  grayish-bro\Mi  hay  of 
the  East,  but  a  beautiful  grass-green  clover 
hay;  and  it  seems  to  keep  green,  no  matter 
how  old  it  is,  provided  it  is  not  faded  out 

*  In  the  irrigated  regions  it  scarcely  ever  rains,  and 
therefore  great  barns  for  the  storage  of  the  hay  are 
not  necessary. 


by  the  intense  sunlight  that  pours  down 
with  such  relentless  fury  on  the  Great 
American  Desert.  But  it  is  only  the  top 
layers  that  are  faded.  A  few  inches  below, 
the  hay  is  of  the  beautiful  green  color  I  have 
described. 

The  irrigation  needed  to  grow  it  for  for- 
age makes  the  crop  almost  certain  ;  and 
those  bee-keepers  who  are  located  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  alfalfa-growing  can  rely  almost  as 
certainly  on  a  crop  of  honey,  the  very  finest, 
richest,  thickest  in  the  world.  Of  all  the 
honey  I  have  ever  tasted  I  know  of  nothing, 
not  even  clover  (which  has  formerly  held  the 
first  rank),  that  can  equal  it.  It  runs  from 
12  to  13  lbs.  to  the  gallon,  while  most  eastern 
honej'S  run  from  11  to  12  lbs.  This  heavi- 
ness of  body  is  due  to  the  dryness  of  the  at- 
mosphere in  which  it  grows  ;  for  where  al- 
falfa flourishes  at  its  best,  hives  made  of  the 
best  seasoned  white  pine  will  shrink  and 
twist  and  check  in  a  manner  that  is  truly 
astonishing  to  a  tenderfoot.''  A  light  dry 
atmosphere  a  mile  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
in  the  regions  of  Denver,  almost  entirely  de- 
void of  dews  and  frosts,  a  cloudless  sky,  oc- 
casional hot  winds,  a  bright  sun  that  pours 
down,  unobstructed  by  cloud  or  mist,  causes 
every  thing  to  dry  up,  and  even  honey  to 
thicken — so  much  so  that  it  is  difficult  to 
throw  it  out  of  the  combs  with  the  best  of 
extractors.  Indeed,  I  found  that  some  bee- 
keepers are  obliged  to  place  their  extractors 
in  warm  rooms,  and  even  Avarm  the  combs 
sometimes  before  extracting,  so  thick  is  the 
honey.  And  then  to  do  any  thing  like  a 
good  job  of  extracting  one  must  give  the 
extractor-baskets  a  high  rotative  speed,  and 
this  necessarily  puts  a  great  strain  on  the 
wire  cloth  and  the  bracing  of  the  extractor. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  superb  qual- 
ity of  alfalfa  honey.  If  every  one  takes  a 
liking  to  it,  as  I  have  done,  he  will  be  almost 
spoiled  for  eating  any  other  honey.  Some 
of  it  is  so  thick  and  fine  that  it  can  be  al- 
most chewed  like  so  much  delicious  wax 
candy.  The  flavor  is  a  little  like  that  of 
white  clover,  with  a  slight  trace  of  mint 
that  is  very  pleasant. ^os  In  color  it  is  quite 
equal  to  it,  and  in  every  other  way  it  has  no 
superior. 

The  nectar  from  alfalfa  is  secreted  so 
abundantly  during  the  time  it  is  in  bloom 
that  anywhere  from  100  to  500  colonies  can 
be  supported  in  a  given  location.  In  Colo- 
rado, however,  it  is  found  more  profitable  to 
have  apiaries  containing  no  more  than  from 
100  to  150  colonies,  owing  to  the  very  great 
overstocking  in  many  of  the  best  localities. 


ALFALFA. 


8 


ALFALFA. 


Bee-keepers  have  rushed  to  this  land  of  gold 
and  golden  honey  in  such  numbers  that  in 
the  great  alfalfa-growing  regions  apiaries 


are  stuck  in  very  closely,  from  half  a  mile 
to  a  mile  apart,  so  it  is  not  now  profitable 
to  have  more  than  100  colonies  to  the  yard. 


THE  CELEBRATED  AI,FAI,FA  PI,ANT  AND  ROOT. 


The  plant  represented  in  this  plate  grew  in  a  rich,  loose  soil,  with  a  heavy  clav  subsoil  and  an  abundant 
supply  of  water,  the  water  level  ranging  fiom  4  to  8  feet  from  the  surface  at  different  seasons  of  the  year. 
The  diameter  of  the  top  was  18  inches,  and  the  number  of  stem-  3(30.  The  plate  shows  how  these  crowns  gather 
soil  around  them,  for  the  length  of  the  underground  stems  is  seen  to  be  several  inches,  and  this  represents  the 
accumulation  of  nearly  this  much  material  about  it. 

This  is  one  of  the  largest  plants  that  I  have  yet  found.  The  specimen,  as  photographed,  was  dug  April 
Dr.  Headden,  in  Bulletin  No.  35,- Alfalfa:'  .      f       s    f      .  s  H 


ALFALFA. 


9 


ALFALFA. 


In  other  localities  not  so  much  overstocked,  j  as  many  colonies.  In  several  localities  in 
from  200  to  £00  colonies  can  be  kept  in  a  Colorado,  within  a  radius  of  five  miles,  there 
single  apiary.  will  be  anywhere  from  two  to  seven  thou- 

For  a  given  acreage  there  is  no  plant  or  sand  colonies,  the  like  of  which  can  not  be 
tree,  unless  it  is  basswood,  that  will  support  found  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  probably. 


ALFAI.FA  ROOars  OVER  TWELVE  FEET  I^OXG. 

•  1 J  '^^^^  represents  the  face  of  an  opening  made  to  the  depth  of  rather  more  than  13  feet  in  an  alfalfa 
held  on  the  Experiment  Station  Farm,  at  Reeky  Ford,  Otero  County,  Colorado.  The  soil  is  a  fine  alluvium. 
The  roots  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  12  feet  6  inches,  and  the  simplicity  of  the  root  system  is  well  shown,  the  roots 
being  shown  m  their  natural  position.  The  upper  margin  of  the  photograph  represents  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  which  lacks  sufficient  shaipness  to  show  the  crowns  and  stubble  in  the  picture. 

This  alfalfa  was  four  years  old,  and  cut  from  four  to  five  tons  of  hay  per  year.  The  diameter  of  these 
roots,  just  below  the  crown,  averaged  a  little  less  than  %  inch. 


ALEALFA. 


10 


ALFALFA. 


There  is  scarcely ^afprettier  sight  than  [al-  never  seen  the  like  of  it  before ;  and  the 
falfa  when  in  bloom.  The  beautiful  bluish  |  fields  are  measured,  not  by  the  acre,  but  by 
or  violet  tinted  flowers  present  a  mass  of  I  the  square  mile.  Indeed,  I  rode  through 
color  that  is  truly  striking  to  one  who  has  [  one  ranch  in  a  Pullman  car,  going  probably 


I.ARGE  SPECIMENS  OF  AI^FAI^FA  ROOTS. 

The  two  su-^ceediug  plates  represent  the  largest  alfalfa  plants  I  have  seen.  The  root  system  and  the  tap 
roots  are  exceedingly  large  ;  they  were  very  nearly  the  same  length— 11  feet  9  inches— nicasuiing  from  the 
crown  of  the  root  to  the  deepest  point  to  which  the  roots  had  penetrated.  They  were  not  dug  at  the  same  time 
and  are  different  types  of  roots.  The  tops  of  these  plants  measured  over  5  feet  3  inches.  They  were  obtained 
on  the  place  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Walter,  in  Weld  County,  Colorado. 


ALFALFA. 


11  AISTATOMY  OF  THE  BEE. 


50  miles  an  hour,  that  seemed  all  of  40  min- 
utes in  going  through  it — not  acres,  but  miles 
and  miles  of  it  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  on 
each  side  of  the  track;  and  stacks  and  stacks 
of  it,  aggregating  100  tons  to  the  pile,  more 
than  one  could  count  if  he  were  to  try.  Im- 
agine, if  you  please,  the  effect  of  seeing  such 
a  field  all  in  bloom,  and  mowing-machines 
going  through  it  cutting  it  down.  Imagine, 
too,  the  happy  hum  of  the  bees  going  to  and 
from  these  immense  fields.  Then,  truly,  is 
the  harvest  of  the  rancher  and  bee-keeper. 

Xo  time  is  lost.  The  rancher  is  eager  to 
get  the  whole  cut  as  soon  as  possible.  The 
bee-keeper,  on  the  other  hand,  hopes  that 
his  rancher  co-laborer  may  make  as  slow 
work  as  possible;  for  as  the  mowing-ma- 
chines go  through  the  field,  the  bee-keeper 
sees  a  gradual  decrease  in  the  flow  of  nectar. 
At  the  rate  the  mowers  are  progressing  he 
can  tell  to  a  day  when  the  hay  will  all  be 
cut,  and  when  the  honey  or  the  nectar  will 
cease  to  flow.  In  producing  comb  honey  he 
supplies  his  colony  with  just  enough  sections 
so  the  bees  may  fill  every  one  of  them  at  the 
close  of  the  honey-flow  which  he  knows  in 
advance  to  a  day.  When  the  hay  is  all  cut, 
then  he  awaits  the  new  growth,  the  new 
bloom,  and  then,  again,  there  is  a  scramble 
for  honey  on  the  part  of  the  bee-keeper  and 
the  bees,  and  another  scramble  to  get  the 
hay  dovm  before  it  grows  to  be  too  old  or 
out  of  bloom. 

Portmiate  is  that  bee-keeper  who  is  locat- 
ed in  the  vicinity  of  those  alfalfa-fields  de- 
voted to  the  growing  of  alfalfa  seed;  for  all 
such  have  the  benefit  of  the  entire  blooming 
until  the  flower  fades  and  the  seed-pod  takes 
its  place.  It  is  in  these  regions  especially 
that  a  large  number  of  colonies  per  yard  can 
be  supported. 

Most  of  the  best  alfalfa-fields  in  Colorado 
have  been  taken  by  bee-keepers  ;  and  unless 
one  can  take  a  range  vacated  by  another  by 
death  or  otherwise,  or  get  it  by  purchase,  it 
is  a  mattex  of  common  honor  that  the  new 
comer  should  keep  out,  notwithstanding 
there  are  some  who  will  squeeze  in  just  a 
few  colonies  and  gradually  encroach  upon 
the  territory  until  there  is  not  much  in  it 
for  any  one. 

APPEARA^^CE  OF  THE  ALFALFA. 

To  a  tenderfoot,  or  one  from  the  East,  al- 
falfa looks  a  good  deal  like  sweet  clover ; 
and  when  the  two  plants  are  young  it  takes 
even  an  expert  to  detect  the  difference  ;  but 
as  they  grow  older  the  alfalfa  assumes  more 
of  a  heavy  bushy  character ;  and  the  other. 


sweet  clover,  takes  on  more  the  appearance 
of  a  treelike  weed. 

CULTIVATION  OF  ALFALFA. 

While  it  seems  to  grow  best  in  the  arid 
regions  watered  by  irrigation-ditches,  it  also 
grows  in  localities  where  there  is  not  too 
much  rainfall  or  the  soil  is  not  too  wet.  It 
seems  to  do  best  on  a  light  sandy  soil  with  a 
loose  or  porous  subsoil,  and  the  roots  run 
for  4  to  12  feet  down— on  the  average  per- 
haps 5  or  6  feet.  The  seed  may  be  sown 
broadcast  or  in  drills  about  12  inches  apart. 
The  amount  per  acre  varies  greatly.  Some 
think  that  10  lbs.  is  suflacient,  while  others 
argue  in  favor  of  30  lbs.  The  average 
amount  seems  to  be  from  15  to  20  lbs.  If  too 
smaU  an  amount  of  seed  is  sown,  the  plants 
grow  large  and  coarse  ;  whereas  if  a  larger 
amount  were  used,  a  larger  number  of 
plants  result  in  smaller  stems  and  better 
hay. 

Alfalfa  is  what  is  called  a  perennial— that 
is,  it  lives  on  from  year  to  year,  and  the 
great  difiiculty  of  growing  it  in  the  East  is 
to  get  it  to  make  a  stand.  If  it  can  be  once 
started  it  will  grow  on  from  year  to  year 
with  very  little  trouble. 

The  average  life  of  the  plants  under  ordi- 
nary conditions  seems  to  be  about  twelve 
years,  although  some  claim  they  will  live  as 
long  as  fifty  years;  but  good  authorities 
seem  to  doubt  the  statement. 

For  some  of  the  data  just  given,  and  for 
the  half-tone  illustrations  here  shown,  I  am 
indebted  to  Bulletin  Xo.  35,  entitled  ''Alfal- 
fa,"' from  the  State  Agricultural  College, 
Fort  Collins,  Col.,  by  Dr.  W.  P.  Headden, 
Chemist. 

ANATOMY  OP  THE  BEE.  Although 
I  have  spent  much  time  with  the  microscope 
in  dissecting  the  bee  and  studying  its  won- 
derful structure,  yet  for  the  main  facts  of 
this  article  I  am  indebted  to  that  admirable 
little  scientific  work,  "  The  Honey-bee,'*  by 
Thos.  Wm.  Cowan,  a  microscopist  and  scien- 
tist of  the  front  rank,  as  well  as  editor  of 
the  British  Bee  Journal.  Mr.  Cowan  is  so 
careful  and  candid  in  his  conclusions,  and 
so  well  posted  as  to  the  results  of  the  inves- 
tigations of  other  eminent  microscopists, 
that  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  accepting  his 
statements.  All  I  shall  endeavor  to  do  is 
to  put  the  mat-erial  in  a  condensed  and  pop- 

j  ular  form,  with  a  few  side-lights  thrown  in 

'  from  other  sources. 

I  will  first  call  your  attention  to  the  ali- 

:  mentary  canal— that  is,  the  organs  of  diges- 

I  tion  and  assimilation.   What  is  digestion  ? 


ANATOMY  OF  THE  BEE. 


12 


ANATOMY  OE  THE  BEE. 


Our  author  says,  "  It  is  the  separation  of  the 
nutrient  part  of  food  from  the  non-nutrient, 
and  the  conversion  of  the  nutrient  into  a 
liquid  fit  to  mingle  with  the  blood,  and  thus 
nourish  the  body  of  the  insect.''  We  all 
know  how  the  bee  gathers  up  its  food 
through  its  wonderful  and  delicate  little 
tongue. 311  It  then  passes  into  a  little  tube 
just  below  the  point  a,  in  the  engraving, 
called  the  "oesophagus,"  or  "gullet."  We 
find  a  similar  organ  in  our  own  bodies,  lead- 
ing from  the  mouth  and  communicating  di- 
rectly with  the  stomach.  This  oesophagus 
passes  through  the  waist  of  the  bee,  or  tho- 
rax, as  it  is  called,  and  to  the  honey-stomach 
g  in  the  abdomen.  It  is  in  this  little  sac, 
although  it  can  hold  but  a  tiny  drop  at  a 
time,  that  millions  and  millions  of  pounds 
of  nectar  are  carried  annual] y  and  stored  in 
our  combs.  This  sac  y  is  located  in  the 
fore  part  of  the  abdomen. 

Several  years  ago  I  had  a  curiosity  to 
know  what  the  bees  were  working  on.  I 
suspected  that  they  were  gathering  juices 
from  over- ripened  raspberries  on  the  vines. 
In  order  to  satisfy  myself  I  grasped  a  bee 
by  its  waist  and  abdomen,  and  pulled  un- 
til the  parts  were  separated,  and  then  was 
revealed  the  little  honey-sac,  which  had 
disengaged  itself  from  the  abdomen.  This 
contained  a  light  purple  or  wine  -  colored 
liquid.  The  size  of  this  honey-sac,  as  near- 
ly as  I  can  recollect  now,  was  a  good  big 
eighth  of  an  inch  ;  and  I  should  judge  that 
the  bee  had  all  it  could  contain  in  its  little 
pocket.  Cheshire  says  that,  when  the  honey- 
sac  is  full,  it  is  ^  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
This  would  agree  with  my  observations. 

STOMACH-MOUTH. 

The  next  thing  that  engages  our  attention 
is  a  sort  of  valve,  which  has  been  called  the 
stomach-mouth,  and  is  located  between  the 
honey-stomach  and  the  true  stomach;  viz., 
at  h.  This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of 
organs ;  and  I  suppose  that  no  part  of  the 
internal  anatomy  of  the  bee  has  been  more 
studied,  theorized  about,  dissected,  and 
examined,  than  this  delicate  and  beautiful 
little  valve.  At  h  its  true  structure  does 
not  appear.  It  has  been  likened  in  appear- 
ance to  a  bud  just  about  to  open.  It  is  a 
sort  of  valve,  fringed  on  the  inside  with 
rows  of  bristles,  or  hairs,  the  object  of 
which  seems  to  be  to  separate  the  pollen 
gTains  from  the  nectar,  the  former  passing 
into  the  stomach  i.^is 

TRTTE  STOMACH. 

This  corresponds  to  the  stomach  in  our 


own  bodies,  and  performs  the  same  function 
in  the  way  of  digestion  in  converting  the 
nutrient  particles  of  the  food  into  blood. 
The  inside  walls  of  the  stomach  have  cer- 
tain cells  which  perform  certain  offices ; 
but  without  more  definite  engravings  it  will 
be  impossible  to  describe  them  in  detail. 

The  next  organ  is  the  small  intestine,  or, 
as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the  "  ileum."  In 
the  human  body  the  small  intestines  are 
much  more  elaborate.  It  is  in  this  that  the 
food,  after  its  digestion,  passes,  and  where, 
by  absorption,  the  nutrient  particles  not  al- 
ready absorbed  pass  into  the  blood,  and 
so  on  throughout  the  system. 

Y^ou  will  notice,  also,  at  I,  some  small 
radiating  filaments.  These  are  called  the 
malpighian  tubes.  It  is  not  certain  what 
their  office  is,  but  it  is  thought  that  these 
are  the  urinary  organs. 

At  the  end  of  the  small  intestine,  k,  you 
will  notice  an  enlargement,  m.  This  is 
what  is  called  the  colon.  Although  the 
appearance  of  the  colon  in  the  bee  is 
different  from  that  in  the  human  body,  yet 
its  functions  are  very  much  the  same ;  and 
if  allowed  to  become  dammed  up  by  excreta 
(that  is,  by  retention  during  winter)  it  is  lia- 
ble to  cause  disease  in  the  bee,  just  the 
same  as  in  the  human  body.  Mr.  Cowan, 
the  author  of  the  book  mentioned  at  the 
outset,  says : 

From  the  colon,  what  remains  of  the  undlg-ested 
food  is  expelled  by  the  anal  opening-.  For  this  pur- 
pose strong-  muscles  exist,  hy  which  the  colon  is 
compressed  and  the  excreta  ejected. 

The  quantity  of  the  excreta  voided,  usually  of  a 
dark  hrown  color,  is  reg-ulated  by  the  nature  of  the 
food;  bad  honey,  an  improper  substitute  for  honey 
(such  as  g-lucose)  producing-  a  larg-er  amount,  while 
good  honey  and  g-ood  syrup  produce  less,  a  larg-er 
proportion  of  it  being  digested  and  absorbed.  It  is, 
tlierefore,  important  that  bees  should  have  good 
food,  as,  in  a  healthy  condition,  workers  never  void 
their  faeces  in  the  hive,  but  on  the  wing.  In  the 
winter  it  is  retained  until  voided  on  their  first 
flight. 

I    So  you  see,  then,  that  bad  food  makes 
j  mischief,  just  the  same  as  it  does  in  the  hu- 
man body,  and  it  is  in  this  colon  that  the 
overplus  of  faeces  is  stored  during  winter. 

HOW  THE  BEE  "MAKES"  HONEY. 

After  the  nectar  is  gathered  it  is  then 
transferred  from  the  tongue  to  the  oesopha- 
gus and  thence  to  the  honey-stomach,  gr.  It 
has  been  shown  repeatedly  by  experiment 
that  there  are  many  more  pollen  grains  in 
the  nectar  than  in  honey ;  hence  the  little 
stomach-mouth  li  comes  into  play  in  sepa- 
rating the  grains  from  the  honey.  On  ar- 
rival at  the  hive,  the  bee  regurgitates— that 


ANATOMY  OF  THE  BEE. 


13 


ANATOMY  OF  THE  BEE. 


is,  expels  the  contents  of  the  honey-s  ic  into  its  office  in  digestion,  and  the  honey-stom- 

the  cell ;  but  during  its  stay  in  tlie  honey-  ach. 

sac  the  nectar  has  undergone  a  change ;  the  nervous  system. 
that  is.  it  has  been  converted.  sa\  s  Mr.  Cow-  Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  nerv- 
an.  from  the  cane  sugar  of  ne:tar  into  the  ous  sy.stem.  By  referring  to  the  engraving 
grape  sugar  of  honey,  by  the  agency  of  a  you  will  see  parallel  and  medial  lines  pass- 
certain  gland.  This  sustains  the  position  ing  the  entire  length  of  the  bee.  and  finally 
held  so  persistently  by  Piof.  Cook,  and  his  communicating  with  the  brain  a.  Along 
view  is  doubtless  correct.  at  irregular  intervals  will  be  seen  thickened 
But  the  bee  may  not  regurgitate  the  hon-  masses  called  "  ganglia.""  These  are  really 
ey,  for  it  may  pass  directly  into  the  chyle-  little  brains,  and.  as  in  our  own  bodies,  pre- 
stomach.   We  see.  therefore,  that,  when  a  side  over  the  involuntary  muscles.  The 


HOXEY-BEE  DISSECTED  :  AFTER  WITZGALL. 


swarm  issues,  the  bees,  after  filling  their  largest  ganglion  is  the  brain,  at  a.  which 
honey-sacs  to  their  full  capacity  (a  very  is  the  seat  of  voluntary  action  and  intelli- 
small  drop),  can  carry  witli  them  a  supply  gence.  One  is  surprised  in  reading  through 
of  food  to  last  them  for  several  days  :  and  chapters  10  and  11  of  Mr.  Cowan's  work, 
even  while  on  the  wing,  through  that  little  ;  how  thoroughly  scientists  have  studied  the 
stomach-mouth,  h.  they  may  take  nourish-  |  structure  of  the  nervous  system  as  found  in 
ment.   So  much  for  the  alimentary  canal,  i  the  bee.   Even  the  tiny  brain  has  been  dis- 


ANATOMY  OF  THE  BEE. 


14 


ANATOMY  or  THE  BEE. 


sected,  and  its  various  functions  pointed 
out— that  is,  what  parts  communicate  with 
the  antennae,  what  part  with  the  eyes,  etc. 
I  was  greatly  interested,  in  looking  over  the 
sizes  of  different  brains  found  in  different 
insects.  I  quote  here  a  paragraph  found  on 
page  70  of  Mr.  Cowan's  book  : 

It  is  generally  admitted,  that  the  size  of  the  brain 
is  in  proportion  to  the  development  of  intellig-ence; 
and  Dujardin,  who  made  careful  measurements, 
gives  the  following  sizes:  In  the  worker  bee  the 
brain  is  the  ttt  of  the  body;  in  the  ant,  ^J-g;  tlie  ich- 
neumon, ^  Jo ;  tlie  cockchafer,  sf2(j;  the  dytiscus,  or 
water-beetle, 

In  man  the  proportion  is  1  to  40, 1  believe ; 
but  we  all  know  that  he  is  of  the  very  high- 
est order  of  intelligence.  However,  we  are 
-not  very  much  surprised  to  learn  that  the 
bee  has  the  largest  brain  of  any  of  the  in- 
sects, exceeding  by  far  even  that  of  the  aut, 
whose  intelligence  we  have  admired  over 
and  over  again. 

THE  KESPIRATORY  SYSTEM. 

It  is  also  interesting  to  inquire  how  the 
bee  breathes.  By  referring  to  the  engrav- 
ing given,  we  observe  a  couple  of  large  air- 
sacs,  called  the  "  trachea,"  corresponding 
somewhat  to  the  lungs.  These  are  located 
on  either  side  of  the  abdomen,  as  at  t. 
These  are  divided  and  subdivided  into 
smaller  trachea,  and  these  in  turn  ramify  all 
through  the  entire  body.  Instead  of  fresh 
air  being  received  in  at  the  mouth,  as  with  us, 
fresh  supplies  are  admitted  through  14  little 
mouths  called  "spiracles."  Ten  of  these 
are  located  in  the  abdomen — five  on  each 
side— and  are  situated  just  about  on  the 
margin  of  the  scales,  between  the  dorsal 
and  ventral  segments.  Four  others  are  sit- 
uated on  the  thorax,  or  waist,  two  on  each 
side.  You  may,  therefore,  decapitate  a  bee 
and  it  will  continue  breathing  as  before. 
If  you  place  a  pencil  dipped  in  ammonia 
near  its  body,  the  headless  insect  will  strug- 
gle to  get  away ;  and  if  the  pencil  touches 
its  feet,  the  ganglia  already  spoken  of  com- 
municate the  sensation  to  the  other  ganglia, 
and  at  once  all  the  feet  come  to  the  rescue 
to  push  off  the  offending  object,  or,  it  may 
be,  to  take  closer  hold  so  the  sting  may  do 
its  work.  Besides  that,  if  bees  are  daubed 
with  honey  they  will  die  very  soon  from 
strangulation,  because  these  little  mouths 
or  spiracles  are  closed.  A  bee  may  swim 
around  in  a  trough  of  water,  and,  though 
its.  head  be  entirely  out,  it  will  drown 
just  the  same,  because  these  spiracles  or 
breathing  -  mouths  are  submerged  under 
water.   On  a  hot  day,  if  the  entrance  of  a 


hive  be  closed  the  bees  will  soon  begin  to 
sweat ;  and,  thus  becoming  daubed,  the 
delicate  spiracles  are  closed,  and  the  bees 
die. 

ROYAL  JELLY,  WHAT  IT  IS. 

Cheshire  insists  that  it  is  a  secretion  from 
one  of  the  glands  ;  but  Prof.  Cook  has  main- 
tained that  it  is  the  product  of  the  chyle- 
stomach  ;  and  Mr.  Cowan  proves  conclu- 
sively that  this  is  the  right  view. 

This  chyle  is  produced  in  what  is  called 
the  chyle  stomach,  shown  at  Z,  in  the  en- 
!  graving  ;  and  worker  larvae  are  fed  on  this 
concentrated  food  for  three  days,  after 
which  they  are  weaned.  "  On  the  fourth  day 
this  food  is  changed  and  the  larva  is  wean- 
ed ;  for  the  first  pap  has  a  large  quantity  of 
honey  added,  but  no  undigested  pollen,  as 
Prof.  Leuckhart  had  stated.  The  drone 
larvae  are  also  weaned,  but  in  a  different 
way;  for,  in  addition  to  honey,  a  large 
quantity  of  pollen  is  added  after  the  fourth 
day."  And  right  here  I  can  not  do  better 
than  quote  from  Mr.  Cowan  : 

Microscopic  examination  showed  that,  in  the 
queen  and  worker  larvae,  there  was  no  undigested 
pollen ;  whereas  in  the  drone  larvae,  after  the  fourth 
day,  large  numbers  of  pollen  grains  were  found. 
In  one  milligram,  no  less  than  15,000  pollen  grains 
were  counted,  and  these  were  from  a  number  of 
different  plants.  .  .  .  This  work  of  Dr.  Planta's, 
we  think,  conclusively  proves  that  the  food  is  not  a 
secretion,  and  that  the  nurses  have  the  power  of 
altering  its  constituents  as  they  may  require  for 
the  different  bees.  .  .  .  Royal  jelly  is,  therefore, 
chyle  food,  and  this  is  also  most  likely  the  food 
given  to  the  queen-bee.  Schoenf  eld  has  also  recent- 
ly shown  that  drones  are  likewise  dependent  upon 
tliis  food,  given  to  them  by  workers,  and  that,  if  it 
is  withheld,  they  die  after  three  days,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  abundance  of  honey.  This,  he  thinks,  ac- 
counts for  the  quiet  way  in  which  drones  perish  at 
the  end  of  the  season.  It  will  now  be  easily  under- 
stood, that,  if  weaning  of  the  worker  larvse  does 
not  take  place  at  the  proper  lime,  and  that  the  first 
nourishing  food  is  continued  too  long,  it  may  be 
the  cause  of  developing  the  ovaries,  and  so  produce 
fertile  workers,  just  as  the  more  nourishing  food 
continued  during  the  whole  of  the  larval  existence 
in  the  case  of  a  queen  develops  her  ovaries,  or  even 
in  the  absence  of  a  queen  the  feeding  of  workers 
on  this  rich  food  may  tend  to  have  the  same  effect 
This,  then,  is  the  solution  of  royal  jelly  and  brood 
food. 

For  a  more  exhaustive  treatment  of 
the  whole  subject,  see  Cowan's  work,  The 
Honey-Bee  ;  Cook's  Manual  of  the  Apiary,  or 
Cheshire's  Bees  and  Bee-keeping,  Vol.  I. 

ASJaXSR  OF  BEES.'  I  confess  I  do 
not  like  the  term  anger,"  when  applied  to 
bees,  and  it  almost  makes  me  angry  when  I 
hear  people  speak  of  their  being  "mad,"  as 
if  they  were  always  in  a  towering  rage,  and 


A^GER  OP  BEES. 


15 


ANGER  OF  BEES. 


delight  in  inflicting  exquisite  pain  on  ev- 
erything and  everybody  coming  near  them. 
Bees  are,  on  the  contrary,  the  pleasantest, 
most  sociable,  genial  and  good-natured  little 
fellows  one  meets  in  all  animated  creation, 
when  one  understands  them.  Why,  we  can 
tear  their  beautiful  comb  all  to  bits  right  be- 
fore their  very  eyes,  and  without  a  particle 
of  resentment ;  but  with  all  the  patience  in 
the  world  they  will  at  once  set  to  work  to 
repair  it,  and  that,  too,  without  a  word  of  re- 
monstrance. If  you  pinch  them  they  will 
sting,  and  anybody  who  has  energy  enough 
to  take  care  of  himself  would  do  as  much, 
had  he  the  weapon. 

We  as  yet  know  very  little  of  bees  com- 
paratively; and  the  more  we  learn,  the  easier 
we  find  it  to  be  to  get  along  without  any 
clashing  in  regard  to  who  shall  be  master. 
In  fact,  we  take  all  their  honey  now,  almost 
as  fast  as  they  gather  it;  and  even  if  we  are 
so  thoughtless  as  to  starve  them  to  death, 
no  word  of  complaint  is  made. 

There  are  a  few  circumstances  under 
which  bees  seem  cross  ;  "  and  although  we 
may  not  be  able  to  account  exactly  for  it, 
we  can  take  precautions  to  avoid  these  un- 
pleasant features,  by  a  little  care.  A  few 
years  ago  a  very  intelligent  friend  procured 
some  Italians,  an  extractor,  etc.,  and  com- 
menced bee  culture.  He  soon  learned  to 
handle  them,  and  succeeded  finely ;  when  it 
came  time  to  extract,  the  whole  business 
went  on  so  easily  that  they  were  surprised 
at  what  had  been  said  about  experienced 
hands  being  needed  to  do  the  work.  They 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  this  work 
as  I  had  directed,  toward  the  middle  of  the 
day,  while  the  great  mass  of  the  bees  were 
in  the  fields  ;  but  in  the  midst  of  a  heavy 
yield  of  clover  honey,  when  the  hives  were 
full  to  overflowing,  they  were  one  day 
stopped  by  a  heavy  thunder-shower.  This, 
of  course,  drove  the  bees  home,  and  at  the 
same  time^  washed  the  honey  out  of  the  blos- 
soms so  completely  that  they  had  nothing  to 
do  but  remain  in  the  hives  until  more  was 
secreted.  Not  so  with  their  energetic  and 
enthusiastic  owner.  As  soon  as  the  rain  had 
ceased,  the  hives  were  again  opened  and  an 
attempt  made  to  take  out  the  frames,  as  but 
a  few^  hoiu:s  before;  but  the  bees  that  were  all 
gentleness  then,  seemed  now  possessed  of  the 
very  spirit  of  mischief  and  malice;  and  when 
all  hands  had  been  severely  stung,  they  con- 
cluded that  prudence  was  the  better  part  of 
valor  and  stopped  operations  for  the  day  .19 
While  loads  of  honey  were  coming  in  all  the 
while,  and  every  bee  rejoicing,  none  were 


disposed  to  be  cross  ;  but  after  the  shower, 
all  hands  were  standing  around  idle ;  and 
when  a  hive  w^as  opened,  each  was  ready  to 
take  a  grab  from  its  neighbor,  and  the  re- 
sult was  a  free  fight  in  a  very  short  time. 

I  know  of  nothing  in  the  w^orld  that  will 
induce  bees  to  sting  with  such  wicked  reck- 
lessness as  to  have  them  get  to  quarrel- 
ing over  combs  or  honey  left  exposed 
when  they  have  nothing  to  do.  From  a  lit- 
tle carelessness  m  this  respect,  and  nothing 
else,  I  have  seen  a  whole  apiary  so  demoral- 
ized that  people  were  stung  when  passing 
along  the  street  several  rods  distant.  Dur- 
ing the  middle  of  the  day,  when  bees  were 
busily  engaged  on  the  flowers,  during  a  good 
yield,  I  have  frequently  left  filled  combs 
standing  on  the  top  of  a  hive  from  noon  un- 
til supper  time  without  a  bee  touching  them; 
but  to  do  this  after  a  hard  rain,  or  at  a  time 
when  little  or  no  honey  is  to  be  gathered 
in  the  fields,  might  result  in  the  ruin  of  sev- 
eral colonies,  and  you  and  your  bees  being 
voted  a  nuisance  by  the  whole  neighborhood. 

Almost  every  season  we  get  more  or  less 
letters  complaining  that  the  bees  have  sud- 
denly become  so  cross  as  to  be  almost  un- 
manageable, and  these  letters  come  along 
in  July,  after  the  clover  and  linden  have  be- 
gun to  slack  up.  The  bees  are  not  so  very 
unlike  mankind  after  all,  and  all  you  have 
to  do  is  to  avoid  opening  the  hives  for  a  few 
days,  until  they  get  used  to  the  sudden  dis- 
appointment of  having  the  avenues  through 
which  they  were  getting  wealth  so  rapidly, 
cut  off.  After  a  week  or  ten  days  they  will 
be  almost  as  gentle  as  in  the  times  when 
they  gathered  half  a  gallon  of  honey  daily, 
if  you  are  only  careful  about  leaving  hives 
open  too  long,  or  leaving  any  bits  of  honey 
or  comb  about. 

A  young  man  who  was  once  in  my  em- 
ploy, and  who  laughed  about  being  afraid 
of  bees,  commenced  work  in  the  apiary 
with  such  an  earnest  good  will  that  I  had 
high  aspirations  for  him.  One  beautiful 
morning  he  was  tacking  rabbets  into  the 
hives  in  front  of  the  door  to  the  honey-house, 
whistling  away  as  happy  as  the  bees  that 
w^ere  humming  so  merrily  about  his  head. 
Pretty  soon  I  saw  some  honey  and  bits  of 
combs  that  had  dropped  from  one  of  the 
hives,  scattered  about  on  the  ground.  I  told 
him  he  had  better  stop  and  clean  it  up,  or 
he  would  certainly  get  stung ;  as  the  bees 
seemed  very  peaceable  while  licking  it  up, 
he  thought  he  would  let  them  have  it,  in 
spite  of  my  warning.  After  they  had  taken 
all  the  honey,  they  began  buzzing  about  for 


ANGER  OF  BEES. 


16 


AN^GER  OF  BEES. 


more;  and,  not  finding  any,  in  a  very  ungen- 
erous way  commenced  stinging  him  for  his 
kindness.  His  lesson  was  a  more  severe  one 
than  I  had  expected,  for  they  not  only  drove 
him  from  the  apiary  that  morning,  but  I 
fear  for  all  time  to  come;  for  although  years 
have  passed,  he  has  never  since  wanted  any 
thing  more  to  do  with  bees.  I  regret  that 
he  did  not,  at  the  time,  also  learn  the  folly 
of  insisting  on  having  his  own  way. 

I  can  not  tell  you,  at  present,  why  bees 
sting  so  coolly  and  vindictively  just  after 
having  had  a  taste  of  stolen  sweets,  yet 
nearly  all  the  experience  I  have  had  of 
trouble  with  stinging  has  been  from  this 
very  cause.  Bees  from  colonies  that  have  a 
habit  of  robbing  will  buzz  about  one's  ears 
and  eyes  for  hours ,20  seeming  to  delight  in 
making  one  nervous  and  fidgety,  if  they 
succeed  in  so  doing,  and  they  not  only  threat- 
en, but  oftentimes  infiict,  the  most  painful 
stings,  and  then  buzz  about  in  an  infuriated 
way,  as  if  frantic  because  unable  to  sting 
you  a  dozen  times  more  after  their  sting  is 
lost.  The  colonies  that  furnish  this  class  of 
bees  are  generally  hybrid,  or  perhaps  black 
bees  having  just  a  trace  of  Italian  blood. 
These  bees  seem  to  have  a  perfect  passion 
for  following  you  about,  and  buzzing  before 
your  nose  from  one  side  to  the  other  (until 
you  get  cross-eyed  in  trying  to  follow  their 
erratic  oscillations),  in  a  way  that  is  most  es- 
pecially provoking.  One  such  colony  an- 
noyed us  so  much  while  extracting  that  we 
killed  the  queen,  although  she  was  very  pro- 
lific, and  substituted  a  full  -  blood  Italian. 
Although  it  is  seldom  a  pure  Italian  follows 
one  about  in  the  manner  mentioned,  yet  an 
occasional  colony  may  contain  bees  that  do 
it ;  at  least  we  have  found  such,  where  the 
workers  were  all  three-banded.  That  it  is 
possible  to  have  an  apiary  without  any  such 
disagreeable  bees,  we  have  several  times 
demonstrated ;  but  oftentimes  you  will  have 
to  discard  some  of  your  very  best  honey- 
gatherers,  to  be  entirely  rid  of  them. 

AV'ith  a  little  practice  the  apiarist  will  tell 
as  soon  as  he  comes  near  the  apiary  whether 
any  angry  bees  are  about,  by  the  high  key- 
note they  utter  when  on  the  wing.  It  is 
well  known,  that  with  meal  feeding  we  have 
perfect  tranquillity  although  bees  from  every 
hive  in  the  apiary  may  be  working  on  a 
square  yard  of  meal.  'Now,  should  we  sub- 
stitute honey  for  the  meal,  we  should  have  a 
perfect  "row;"  for  a  taste  of  honey  found  in 
the  open  air  during  a  dearth  of  pasturage, 
or  at  a  time  when  your  bees  have  learned  to 
get  it  by  stealing  instead  of  honest  industry, 


seems  to  have  the  effect  of  setting  every  bee 
crazy.  In  some  experiments  to  determine 
how  and  why  this  result  came  about,  we  had 
considerable  experience  with  angry  bees. 
After  they  had  been  robbing,  and  had  be- 
come tranquil,  we  tried  them  with  dry  su- 
gar ;  the  quarrelsome  bees  fought  about  it 
!  for  a  short  time,  but  soon  resumed  their  reg- 
ular business  of  hanging  about  the  well-filled 
hives,  trying  to  creep  into  every  crack  and 
crevice,  and  making  themselves  generally 
disagreeable  all  round.  If  a  hive  was  to  be 
opened,  they  were  into  it  almost  before  the 
cover  was  raised,  and  then  resulted  a  pitched 
battle  between  them  and  the  inmates ;  the 
operator  was  sure  to  be  stung  by  one  or 
both  parties,  and,  pretty  soon,  some  of  the 
good  people  indoors  would  be  asking  what 
in  the  world  made  the  bees  so  awfully  cross, 
saying  that  they  even  came  indoors  and 
tried  to  sting,  ^^ow,  why  could  they  not 
work  peaceably  on  the  sugar  as  they  do  on 
the  meal,  or  the  clover-blossoms  in  June  ? 
We  dampened  the  sugar  with  a  sprinkler, 
and  the  bees  that  were  at  work  on  it  soon 
started  for  home  with  a  load ;  then  began 
the  high  key-note  of  robbing,  faint  at  first, 
then  louder  and  louder,  until  I  began  to  be 
almost  frightened  at  the  mischief  that  might 
ensue.  When  the  dampness  was  all  licked 
up,  they  soon  subsided  into  their  usual  con- 
dition. The  effect  of  feeding  honey  in  the 
open  air  is  very  much  worse  than  from  feed- 
ing any  kind  of  syrup,  and  syrup  from  white 
sugar  incites  robbing  in  a  much  greater  de- 
gree than  that  from  brown  sugar ;  the  latter 
is  so  little  relished  by  them  that  they  use  it 
only  when  little  else  is  to  be  found.  It  is 
by  the  use  of  damp  brown  sugar  that  we  get 
rid  of  the  greater  part  of  what  are  usually 
termed  angry  bees,  or  bees  that  prefer  to 
prowl  round,  robbing  and  stinging,  rather 
than  gather  honey  ''all  the  day,"  as  the  great- 
er part  of  the  population  of  the  apiary  does. 
The  sugar  should  be  located  several  rods 
away,  and  should  be  well  protected  from  the 
rain,  but  in  such  a  way  as  to  allow  the  bees 
to  have  free  access.  When  no  fiowers  are 
in  bloom,  they  will  work  on  it  in  great  num- 
bers ;  but  when  honey  is  to  be  found,  you 
will  see  none  but  the  prowling  robbers  round 
it.  These,  you  will  very  soon  notice,  are 
mostly  common  bees  and  those  having  a 
very  little  Italian  blood.  We  have  seen 
Italians  storing  honey  in  boxes,  while  the 
common  bees  did  nothing  but  work  in  the 
sugar-barrels.  Where  you  work  without  a 
veil,  it  is  very  convenient  to  have  these  an- 
noying bees  out  of  the  way,  and,  even  if  they 


ANTS. 


17 


ANTS. 


belong  to  oiir  neighbors,  we  prefer  to  fur- ' 
nish  them  with  all  the  cheap  sugar  they  can 
lick  up. 

The  remarks  that  have  been  made  are 
particularly  for  large  apiaries :  where  one 
has  only  a  single  hive  and  no  neighbors  who 
keep  bees,  the  case  is  something  like  Rob- 
inson Crusoe  on  the  island :  no  chance  for 
stealing,  and  consequently  nothing  to  be 
cross  about.  Bees  are  seldom  cross  or  an- 
gry, unless  thi'ough  some  fault  or  careless- 
ness of  jom:  own.  See  Robbixg;  also 
Stixgs. 

ATTTS.  Although  I  have  given  the 
matter  considerable  attention.  I  can  not  find 
that  ants  are  guilty  of  any  thing  that  should 
warrant,  here  in  the  North,  the  apiarist  in 
waging  any  great  warfare  against  them. 
Some  years  ago  a  visitor  frightened  me  by 
saying  that  the  ants  about  my  apiary  would 
steal  every  drop  of  honey  as  fast  as  the  bees 
could  gather  it.  Accordingly,  I  prepared 
myself  with  a  tea-kettle  of  boiling  water, 
and  not  only  killed  the  ants  but  some  grape- 
vines growing  Dear.  Afterward  there  came 
a  spring  when  the  bees,  all  but  about  eleven 
colonies,  dwindled  away  and  died,  and  the 
hives  filled  with  honey,  scattered  about  the 
apiary  unprotected,  seemed  to  be  as  fair  a 
chance  for  the  ants  that  had  not  "dwin- 
dled a  particle,  as  they  could  well  ask  for. 
I  watched  to  see  how  fast  they  would  carry 
away  the  honey,  but,  to  my  astonishment, 
they  seemed  to  care  more  for  the  hives  that 
contained  bees  than  for  those  containing 
only  honey.  I  soon  determined  that  it  was 
the  warmth  from  the  cluster  that  especially 
attracted  them  ;  and  as  the  hives  were  di- 
rectly on  the  groimd.  the  ants  soon  moved 
into  several  that  contained  only  a  small 
cluster  and  for  awhile  both  used  one  common 
entrance.  As  the  bees  increased,  they  be- 
gan to  show  a  decided  aversion  to  having 
two  families  in  the  same  house,  although  the 
ants  were  evidently  inclined  to  be  peaceable 
enough  imtil  the  bees  tried  to  push  *"  mat- 
ters, when  they  tm-ned  about  and  showed 
themselves  fully  able  to  hold  possession. 
The  bees  seemed  to  be  studying  over  the 
matter  for  a  while,  and  finally  I  found  them 
one  day  taking  the  ants,  one  by  one.  and  car- 
rying them  high  up  in  the  air.  and  letting 
them  drop  at  such  a  distance  from  their 
home,  that  they  would  sm'ely  never  be  able 
to  walk  back  again.  The  bees,  as  fast  as 
they  became  good  strong  colonies,  drove  the 
ants  out ;  and  our  experience  ever  since  has 
been,  that  a  good  colony  of  bees  is  never  in 
any  danger  of  being  troubled  in  the  least  by 


ants.2iOne  weak  colony,  after  battling  awhile 
with  a  strong  nest  of  the  ants,  swarmed  out ; 
but  they  might  have  done  this  any  way.  so 
we  do  not  lay  much  blame  to  the  ants. 

But  ants  do  prove  to  be  very  annoying  in 
those  apiaries  where  there  is  any  attempt 
to  keep  the  grass  down  with  a  lawn-mower. 
The  little  hillocks  that  they  make  all  over 
the  yard  disfigure  it  to  some  extent,  as  well 
as  forming  more  or  less  obstruction  to  the 
scythe  and  lawn-mower.  While,  as  I  have 
already  said,  ants  do  little  if  any  damage  to 
hives  in  the  North,  yet  as  it  is  so  easy  to 
eradicate  them  it  may  be  well  to  consider 
methods  for  their  extermination. 

HOW   TO  DESTROY  A:STS"  XESTS. 

^nth  a  crowbar  or  a  sharp  stick  and  a 
mallet  make  a  hole  an  inch  or  so  in  diame- 
ter, and  about  a  foot  deep,  down  through 
the  center  of  the  nest.  Around  this  hole 
make  two  or  three  other  similar  ones,  or 
more  if  the  nest  is  a  large  one.  Go  to  the 
drugstore  and  get  about  a  dime's  worth  of 
bisiUphide  of  carbon.  Be  careful  with  the 
stuff,  for  it  is  very  explosive,  and  the  fumes 
of  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  coUec-t  in  the 
room  where  there  is  a  gasoline  flime  or  any 
stove  or  lamp  burning.  From  this  bottle 
pour  about  a  tablespoonf  ul  of  the  liquid  in 
each  hole  ;  then  immediately  stop  each  up 
with  a  plug  of  earth,  for  it  is  desired  to  have 
the  fumes  of  the  bisulphide  penetrate  all  the 
galleries  of  the  nest,  thus  destroying  ants, 
larvce.  and  eggs.  In  a  day  or  so  it  will  be 
found  that  every  thing  formerly  animate  in 
and  about  that  nest  is  dead — very  dead. 

But  if  the  nests  are  not  very  large,  one 
can  secure  almost  as  good  results  by  using 
coal  oil  or  gasoline  in  place  of  the  bisul- 
phide. But  in  using  these,  about  twice  or 
three  times  the  quantity  should  be  used  in 
ea<?h  hole.  Very  recently  I  have  been  trying 
both  gasoline  and  coal  oil.  and  have  found 
each  effective  in  destroying  the  nest.  Of  the 
two.  the  coal  oil  i  or  kerosene  as  some  call  it) 
seems  to  be  preferable.  In  using  bisulphide 
of  carbon,  gasoline,  or  coal  oil,  be  careful 
about  spilling  or  pouring  any  of  it  on  the 
top  of  the  nest,  as  that  will  kill  the  grass, 
leaving  a  brown  spot  right  where  it  should 
be  green.  The  bisulphide  is  more  apt  to  kill 
the  grass  than  the  gasoline  or  coal  oil.  as  it 
is  much  more  powerful.  All  things  consid- 
ered I  would  recommend  the  use  of  kerosene. 

The  best  time  to  destroy  ants"  nests  is  to 
go  early  in  the  spring,  before  the  ants  have 
had  an  opportunity  to  make  much  of  a  hil- 
lock ;  then  there  will  be  less  liability  of  kill- 
:  ing  the  grass,  or.  rather,  the  grass  will  have 


ANTS. 


18 


AFIAEY. 


an  opportunity  to  recover  from  its  "dose" 
during  the  early  spring  rains. 

ANTS  m  THE  SOUTH. 

These  insects  are  much  more  troublesome 
in  the  Southern  States,  and  all  warm  cli- 
mates, in  fact,  than  in  the  North.  Some- 
times they  are  so  large  and  powerful  that 
they  even  set  about  to  destroy  the  colony.  I 
would  first  find  the  nest,  and  proceed  to  de- 
stroy by  the  use  of  kerosene  or  gasoline.  If 
these  do  not  prove  to  be  powerful  enough, 
use  bisulphide  of  carbon,  making  three  or 
four  holes  to  the  square  foot  of  nest ;  but  in 
the  case  of  the  bisulphide,  one  must  be  care- 
ful to  have  each  hole  stopped  up  tight  with 
plugs  of  earth,  otherwise  the  gas  will  escape, 
and  the  effect  of  the  liquid  will  be  largely 
lost. 

But  there  is  a  species  of  ants  in  warm 
climates  that  have  nests  in  trees  that  are 
inaccessible.  Other  ants  are  so  small,  and 
come  such  long  distances,  that  it  is  almost 
imp(  ssible  to  find  their  nest.  In  such  cases 
it  has  been  recommended  to  place  within 
their  reach  some  syrup  or  honey  mixed  with 
arsenic,  Paris  green,  London  purple,  or 
strychnine.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  all 
vessels  contaiuing  such  poisonous  mixtures 
should  1  e  placed  in  a  box  covered  with 
screen  just  fine  enough  to  keep  out  bees,  and 
yet  coarse  enough  to  admit  the  ants.  They 
will  work  on  these  poisonous  mixtures,  and 
carry  them  home  to  their  young,  with  the 
result  that  both  mature  insects  as  well  as 
larvae  will  be  destroyed,  no  matter  where 
the  nest  may  be.  Mr.  E.  H.  Schaeffle,  of 
Murphy s,  Cal.,  who  recommends  this  meth- 
od of  feeding  ants  with  poisoned  sweets, 
says  the  plan  is  very  effective,  for  their  vis- 
itations will  soon  cease.  But  he  stipulates 
that  the  box  containing  the  poisonous  sweet 
should  be  p'aced  in  the  trail  of  the  ants. 

When  it  does  not  seem  practicable  to  de- 
stroy the  vests  they  may  be  kept  away  from 
the  hive  temporarily  by  pouring  a  little  nar- 
row trail  of  coal  oil  clear  around  the  hive  or 
hives.  The  ants  will  come  up  to  the  oily 
line,  and  there  stop. 

Some  of  our  Southern  friends  have  found 
these  pests  to  be  so  destructive  that  it  has 
been  necessary  to  put  the  hives  on  legs  and 
then  stand  the  legs  in  vessels  of  water  or 
coal  oil.  But  if  such  destructive  enemies  as 
this  do  make  a  visit  I  would  make  an  elfort 
to  find  their  nest,  and  then  give  them  a  dose 
of  bisulphide  of  carbon,  for  that  will set- 
tle 'em  "  for  all  time. 

If  there  is  a  tremendous  "swarm"  of  wood 


ants  in  a  big  tree,  with  a  syringe  or  squirt- 
gun  inject  about  a  pint  of  bisulphide  of  car- 
bon in  the  hollow  of  the  tree.  Stop  up  the 
openings,  and  111  guarantee  that  they  will 
never  trouble  more. 

APIARIST.  One  who  keeps  bees,  or  a 
bee-keeper ;  and  the  plot  of  ground,  includ- 
ing hives,  bees,  etc.,  is  called  an 

AFIAKIT.  As  you  can  not  well  aspire 
to  be  the  former  until  you  are  possessed  of 
the  latter,  we  will  proceed  to  start  an  apiary. 

LOCATION. 

There  is  scarcely  a  spot  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth  where  mankind  finds  sustenance, 
that  will  not,  to  some  extent,  support  bees, 
although  they  may  do  much  better  in  some 
localities  than  in  others.  A  few  years  ago  it 
was  thought  that  only  localities  especially 
favored  would  give  large  honey-crops;  but 
since  the  introduction  of  the  Italians,  and 
the  new  methods  of  management,  we  are 
each  year  astonished  to  hear  of  great  yields 
here  and  there,  and  from  almost  every  quar- 
ter of  the  globe.  It  will  certainly  pay  to  try 
a  colony  or  two  of  bees,  no  matter  where  you 
may  be  located. 

Bees  are  kept  with  much  profit,  even  in 
the  heart  of  some  of  our  largest  cities.  In 
this  case,  the  apiary  is  usually  located  on  the 
roof  of  the  building,  that  the  bees  may  be 
less  likely  to  frighten  nervous  people  and 
those  unacquainted  with  their  habits.  Such 
an  apiary  should  be  established  like  those  on 
the  ground  in  all  essential  points. 

It  is  not  always  possible  to  select  just  the 
location  for  an  apiary  that  we  might  like, 
and  we  are  therefore  compelled  to  take  what 
we  can  get;  but  where  conditions  permit  I 
would  select  the  rear  of  a  village  lot ;  or,  if 
I  were  located  on  a  farm,  back  of  the  house 
in  an  orchard.  The  ground  should  be  rolled 
and  smoothed  down  so  that  a  lawn-mower 
gjh  run  over  every  portion  of  it,  as  the 
grass  should  be  kept  down  around  the 
hives.  And  then,  too,  a  smooth  plot  of 
ground  renders  the  use  of  a  wheelbarrow  or 
hand-cart  for  handling  loads  much  more 
pleasant  and  convenient.  A  spot  that  I 
would  consider  ideal  would  be  an  orchard 
of  old  trees  seventy-five  or  a  hundred  feet 
from  the  road  or  highway.  Usually  the  rear 
end  of  a  village  lot  just  back  of  the  house 
will  answer  very  nicely.  If  the  apiary  must 
be  located  close  to  the  highway,  then  a  high 
board  fence  should  be  placed  between  the 
bees  and  the  street.  A  hedge  of  osage 
orange,  or  evergreens  ;  a  trellis  of  some  sort 
of  vine  ;  trees,  shrubbery,  or  any  thing  that 


APIARY. 


20 


APIARY. 


will  cause  the  bees  to  ra:se  their  fight  to  a 
height  of  ten  or  twelve  feet  above  the  traffic 
of  the  street  may  be  used.  In  any  case,  the 
bees  should  never  be  allowed  to  go  direct 
from  their  hives  on  a  line  that  would  en- 
counter vehicles  or  pedestrians;  otherwise 
their  owner  may  have  a  lawsuit  on  his  hands 
for  alleged  damages  from  bee-stings. 

If  the  orchard  where  the  bees  are  to  be 
located  is  made  up  of  old  trees,  then  there 
can  be  from  four  to  tive  hives  grouped  under 
each  tree.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  consists 
of  young  ones,  then  not  more  than  one  or 
two  hives  should  be  placed  at  a  trc  e,  and  in 
that  case  always  on  the  north  side,  to  be  in 
the  shade.  The  hives  should  be  so  located 
that  they  will  get  the  morning  sun  up  to 
eight  or  nine  o'clock,  and  the  afternoon  sun 
from  three  or  four  o'clock  on.  Too  much 
shade  is  detrimental,  and  too  much  hot  sun 
pouring  directly  on  the  hives  is  equally  bad. 
If  the  apiarist  uses  a  little  skill  in  the  ar- 
ranging of  his  hives,  and  in  trimming  the 
lower  branches  of  his  trees,  the  direct  rays 
of  old  Sol  may  be  cut  olf  during  the  heat  of 
the  day,  and  be  allowed  to  shed  their  benign 
influence  during  the  early  and  later  portion 
of  the  day  automatically. 

Well,  suppose  one  does  not  have  trees  of 
any  sort  in  his  yard — what  shall  he  do  V  One 
of  three  courses  lies  open :  First,  to  use 
double-walled  hives;  second,  single-walled 
hives  with  shade  -  boards  ;  third,  single  - 
walled  hives  having  on  the  south  side  of 
them  some  sort  of  vine  that  can  be  reared  up 
within  a  year  or  two.  A  grapevine  trellis, 
say  8  feet  high  and  10  or  12  feet  long,  ruri- 
ning  from  east  to  west,  well  covered  with  a 
vine,  can  be  made  to  protect  anywhere  from 
five  to  ten  hives.  On  this  trellis,  grapevines 
or  any  other  quick-growing  vine  may  be 
reared,  providing  shade  during  the  heat  of 
the  day. 

But  some  bee-keepers  prefer  to  use  shade- 
boards.  These  consist  of  large  covers  cleat- 
ed  on  the  ends,  and  made  of  two  or  three 
boards  of  the  cheapest  lumber  that  can  be 
had.  They  should  be  large  enough  to  pro- 
ject a  foot  over  the  front  and  rear,  and  an 
equal  distance  on  each  side.  They  are  then 
held  in  place  by  a  stone  weighing  15  or  20  lbs. 

But  whf^ never  one  manipulates  these  hives 
he  is  required  to  lift  a  heavy  stone  and  re- 
move an  awkward  shade-bmrd  before  he 
can  do  any  work  with  the  bees. 

Taking  it  all  in  all,  I  would  make  an  extra 
effort  to  procure  some  sort  of  natural  shade 
that  will  give  comfort  to  the  bees  and  to  the 
apiarist  as  well ;  and  if  one  does  not  care  to 


wait  for  trees  to  grow  he  can  have  vines 
reared  up  inside  of  a  year  that  will  give  him 
practically  all  the  shade  he  requires. 

WmDBREAKS. 

The  most  perfect  windbreak  is  an  inclos- 
ure  of  woods  on  three  sides,  with  an  open- 
ing to  the  south.  This,  however,  is  not 
available  to  all.  An  apiary  so  situated 
that  there  is  a  clump  of  woods  on  one  side 
and  buildings  on  the  other  two  sides,  leav- 
ing only  a  southern  aspect,  is  well  sheltered 
from  the  prevailing  winds.  In  the  absence 
of  any  natural  or  accidental  protection  what- 
ever, it  is  quite  essential  that  some  sort  of 
windbreak  be  provided.  If  I  desired  to  put 
up  something  permanent,  and  something 
which  would  not  rot  out  or  require  repairs,  I 
would  outskirt  the  apiary  with  rows  of  hardy- 
growing  evergreens,  such  as  are  seen  in  our 
own  apiary  in  the  following  pages.  These, 
for  the  first  few  years,  would  afford  but  a 
scanty  protection;  but  in  10  year-s'time  they 
answer  their  purpose  admirably.  In  1879,  we 
inclosed  our  apiary  with  evergreens.  They 
have  proved  to  be  very  thrifty,  and  now 
(1900)  are  quite  good-sized  trees,  averaging 
30  feet  in  height.  In  a  few  years  more  their 
i  branches  will  be  tightly  interwoven  ;  and  a 
more  solid  and  lasting  phalanx  could  hardly 
be  desired  as  a  windbreak.  Only  a  few  of 
my  readers  will  feel  disposed  to  go  to  this  ex- 
pense when  the  benefits  of  such  outlay  are 
so  far  ahead,  and  they  are  not  sure  that  ten 
years  hence  they  will  be  following  bee-keep- 
ing as  a  pursuit.  I  would  recommend  to 
such  a  tight  board  fence.  It  should  sur- 
round the  plat,  at  least  on  the  north  and 
west  sides,  to  keep  off  cold  winds ;  and  if  it 
can  be  made  strong  enough  to  stand  the 
prevailing  winds  it  will  be  all  the  better  to 
have  it  as  much  as  eight  feet  high. 

Having  decided  irpon  the  location,  kind  of 
shade,  and  windbreaks,  how  shall  we  ar- 
range the  hives  in  the  apiary  V  This  ques- 
tion can  best  be  answered  by  studying  the 
plans  adopted  by  some  of  the  prominent 
apiarists.  "Where  there  is  no  natural  shade 
the  one  shown  on  page  22  is  a  very  good  one. 

M'INTYRE'S  PLAN  FOR  AX  APIARY. 

Yorr  will  observe  that  the  rows  of  hives 
are  about  as  straight  as— well,  a  rail  ferrce. 
The  small  dots  in  the  center  of  each 
hexagon  represent  stones  used  for  hold] 
ing  covers  down  when  required.  It  is 
in  this  alleyway  from  north  to  south  that 
the  apiarist  can  do  all  his  work.  The 
entrances  of  the  hives  face  each  other,  so 


APIAEY. 


22 


APIARY. 


that  the  flight  of  the  bees,  as  they  pass  form  just  right  to  load  into  a  wagon.  Per- 
over  the  lane  for  the  apiarist,  is  clear  haps  it  is  unnecessary  to  state,  in  this  con- 


above  his  head,  while  the  next  one  may 
be  filled  with  bees  flying  in  all  directions, 


Mi. 


PLAN  OF  THE  SESPE  APIARY. 

to  and  from  their  entrances.  This  rail-fence 
idea  rather  helps  the  bees  to  locate  their 
entrances.    Starting  with  the  end  of  one  of 
the  rows  from  north  to  south,  the 
fronts  of  the  first  two  hives  di- 
verge from  the  second  pair.  The 
second  pair  converges  toward  the 
third,  so  that  a  bee,  in  order  to 
find  an  entrance  pointing  in  the 
same  direction  as  it  shown,  in  the 
same  row,  has  to  go  a  good  many 
feet  away.   The  next  row  is  so 
far  away  that  it  is  not  likely  to 
get  into  that. 

When  I  visited  this  apiary  ia 
1888  I  thought  it  was  one  of  the 
prettiest  I  ever  saw.  The  honey- 
house  is  at  the  foot  of  the  incline, 
just  below  the  bee  hives,  on  the 
south,  so  that  a  wagon-load  of 
honey  goes  down  through  those 
open  lanes  without  encountering 
bee-flight.  Between  the  honey- 
house  and  the  road  is  a  great  iron 
tank.  These  iron  tanks  are  to  be 
seen  near  every  honey-house  in 
California.  A  gas-pipe  runs  from 
the  extractor  into  the  tank.  Then 
a  gate  at  the  bottom  of  the  tank  lets  the 
honey  into  square  cans,  standing  on  a  plat- 


nection,  that  the  Sespe  apiary  is  run  for 
extracted  honey. 

PLANS  FOR  APIAREES   ON   THE  STRAIGHT- 
ROW  IDEA. 

C.  A.  Hatch,  of  Ithaca,  Wis.,  a  prominent 
and  extensive  bee-keeper,  arranges  his  hives 
on  the  plan  shown  below. 


□* 


A  PART  OF  AN  APIARY  ARRANGED  ON  THE 
STRAIGHT-ROW  PLAN. 

The  stars  in  the  same  diagram  indicate 
the  entrances.  As  in  the  Sespe  apiary, 
there  are  two  lanes,  or  alleyways,  one  six 
feet  wide,  for  the  bees,  and  one  ten  feet 
wide,  for  the  apiarist,  and  his  horse  and 
wagon,  etc.  You  will  notice  that  the  hives 
are  arranged  in  pairs,  in  such  a  way  that 
they  face  each  other  with  entrances  six  feet 
apart.   In  the  next  alley  their  hacks  are 


APIARIST^  


□□□  □□□ 

o      I      O  -      -  - 


HiGHWA-f  FOR  Bees 


o     p     o  o     o     o  o     o  o 

nOn 


oC3 

[Z> 

Alley  for  Apiarist. 

i 

|S 
t 

CI- 

on 

ODD 

-  Hic 
o    6  i 


HWAY  FOR  DEE5 


nno   □□□   □□□  □□□ 


do 


■-AplAKIijT. 


EZ> 


s.  E.  miller's  plan  of  an  apiary. 


toward  each  other.  An  apiary  on  this  plan 
can  be  made  as  large  as  desired. 


APIARY. 


24 


APIARY. 


S.  E.  miller's  PLAi!^  OF  AN  OUT -APIARY. 

This  plan  is  similar  to  the  one  used  by  Mr. 
Hatch,  but  is  arranged  with  a  view  of  still 
greater  economy  of  space,  not  losing  sight  of 
the  scheme  of  a  highway  for  bees,  and  an 
alley  for  the  apiarist.  Instead  of  being  in 
pairs  they  are  arranged  in  groups  of  five 
each.  Little  circles  in  front  of  the  hives  in- 
dicate the  entrances.  The  hives  should  be 
18  inches  apart  to  give  room  for  a  lawn- 
mower.  It  would  hardly  do  to  put  them 
closer  than  12  inches,  for  long  timothy  grass 
will  grow  up  between,  and  then  it  is  a  big 
job  to  clean  it  out ;  and  if.  not  cut  out  it  is 
in  the  way  of  putting  on  the  supers.  The 
groups  can  be  from  10  to  20  feet  apart ;  but  if 
put  exactly  16  feet  apart,  and  the  hives  in 
the  group  18  inches  apart,  an  apiary  of  80 
colonies  can  be  accommodated  on  a  plot 
75  feet  square,  cr  in  the  back  yard  of  an 
ordinary  town  lot.  One  advantage  of  this 
grouping  plan  is,  that  the  apiarist  can  sit 
on  one  hive  while  he  is  working  on  anoth- 
er; and  his  tools,  such  as  smoker,  honey- 
knives,  bee-brushes,  etc.,  are  right  at  hand 
for  the  whole  five  hives.  AYhere  there  is 
only  one  hive  on  a  stand,  the  tools  have  to 
be  carried  to  each  hive. 

The  illustration  on  next  page  gives  a 
view  of  a  portion  of  our  apiary  just  as  it  has 
been  brought  back  from  the  outyard  at  the 
basswoods,  and  placed  in  one  corner  of  our 
home  yard,  said  corner  being  sheltered  on 
the  west  and  north  sides  by  the  evergreens 
that  have,  since  that  picture  was  taken, 
grown  to  be  large,  solid,  handsome  trees, with 
limbs  so  closely  intertwined  -that  the  force 
of  the  wind  is  almost  entirely  broken.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  apiarist  sits  on  one 
hive  of  a  group  while  operating  on  another. 
The  general  scheme  is  as  pretty  in  practice 
as  it  is  in  theory ;  and  it  is  an  actual  fact 
that  one  can  crowd  more  colonies  on  a 
given  area  (and  yet  leave  more  room  to  ruu 
wagons  or  carts  among  the  hives),  than  i 
with  any  other  plan  with  which  we  are  ac- 
quainted.315 

This  particular  apiary  lacks  one  impor- 
tant element  —  shade-trees  —  except  such 
shade  as  the  evergreens  give  in  the  after- 
noon to  those  colonies  nearest  the  west  side. 

The  Miller  plan  is  especially  well  adapted 
to  a  location  in  a  grove  ;  but  as  trees  often 
vary  in  size  the  foliage  is  sometimes  lopsid- 
ed or  scant  on  some  of  the  trees,  and  hence 
it  is  not  always  practicable  to  put  five  hives 
at  each  tree.  It  is  our  practice  to  place  in 
front  of  the  smallest  trees  only  one  hive ; 
in  front  of  those  a  trifle  larger,  two  hives  ; 


those  still  larger,  three  hives  ;  and  when 
they  are  of  fair  size,  five,  as  in  the  Miller 
plan.  Arranging  the  hives  thus,  gives  each 
group  of  one,  two,  three,  or  five,  as  the  case 
may  be,  an  individuality  of  its  own,  thus 
aifording  the  bees  a  better  chance  to  distin- 
guish their  own  group  ;  but  in  every  case  the 
precaution  must  be  observed  of  placing  the 
hives  on  the  north  side  of  the  tree.  Where 
there  are  two  and  three  in  a  group,  one  can 
have  the  entrances  pointing  toward  the 
south  ;  or  if  there  are  only  two  in  a  group 
he  can  have  one  hive  with  its  entrance 
pointing  toward  the  west,  and  the  other 
hive  toward  the  east.  In  any  case  I  would 
avoid  having  hives  face  the  north.  The 

□  □       □  □  .□ 

•      •     •         •  • 

diagram  above  shows  how  the  hives  on  the 
three  and  two  plan  may  be  arranged,  consid- 
ering, of  course-,  that  the  tree  is  just  south 
of  the  hive,  and  one,  two,  three,  or  four  feet 
from  it. 

We  have  tested  the  plan  for  apiaries  ar- 
ranged, one  alleyway  for  bee  flight  and  one 
for  the  apiaiist ;  and  so  have  a  good  many 
competent  bee-men.  The  bees  seem  to  rec- 
ognize this  narrow  alleyway  as  their  own 
allotted  highway ;  and  when  they  are  work- 
ing heavily,  said  highways  are  literally  full 
of  bees,  while  the  broad  ones  are  more  free. 
In  some  apiaries  in  California  I  found  double 
rows  of  hives,  with  a  double  alleyway  be- 
tween them,  instead  of  being  parallel,  di- 
verge from  a  common  center,  like  the  spokes 
of  a  wheel.  Of  course,  in  this  case  the 
honey-house  or  work-shop  should  be  at  the 
hub,  or  center,  of  the  system. 

KEEPING  GRASS  DOWN  AROUND  THE  HIVES. 

Having  decided  on  the  location  and  plan 
of  the  apiary,  the  next  question  that  would 
naturally  arise  is,  Shall  the  grass  be  allowed 
to  grow  and  be  kept  down  to  an  even  height 
with  a  lawn-mower  ?  or  shall  the  sod  be  cut 
off  entirely,  and  the  hives  be  placed  on  a 
smooth  plot  of  clay  leveled  ofE  like  a  brick- 
yard? In  favor  of  this  last  arrangement  it 
may  be  said  that  queens  can  be  easily  found, 
and  that,  when  the  sod  is  once  removed,  all 
that  is  necessary  is  to  go  around  the  hives 
with  a  hoe  or  scraping-knife  to  shave  off  the 
weeds  as  fast  as  they  come.  If  they  are  kept 
down  thus,  and  the  plot  is  sprinkled  with  a 
thin  layer  of  sawdust  raked  over  evenly,  we 
have  an  almost  ideal  spot ;  such  a  yard  is 
shown  in  the  illustration  of  H.  R.  Board- 
man's  apiary,  herewith  reproduced.  While 
ground  floors  of  this  kind  are  nice  and  pretty 


APIARY. 


:6 


APIARY. 


to  look  at,  it  means  a  great  deal  of  labor  and 
expense,  because  there  is  alnnost  constant 
warfare  against  the  weeds.  They  will  crowd 
their  heads  up  through  the  sawdust ;  and  at 
the  present  low  prices  at  which  honey  sells, 
it  niay  be  doubted  whether  one  is  warranted 
in  going  to  such  expense  and  trouble.  The 
great  majority  of  bee-keepers,  however,  after 
having  leveled  the  plot,  leaving  the  sod, 
consider  it  sufficient  to  keep  the  grass  down 
with  a  lawn-mower.  If  it  is  mown  once  or 
twice  a  week,  the  yard  not  only  looks  pretty 
but  practically  there  is  no  inconvenience 
resulting  from  the  short  grass  ;  and  to  my 
eye,  at  least,  a  lawn  apiary  is  much  prettier, 
and  about  as  convenient  in  every  way  as  one 
with  a  brickyard  bottom. 

KEEPING  DOWN  THE   GRASS  AT  THE  EN- 
TRANCES OF  THE  HIVES. 

It  is  not  practicable  to  run  a  lawn-mower 
any  closer  than  about  two  inches  to  a  hive ; 
and  it  is  therefore  our  practice  to  sprinkle 
salt  in  front  of  the  entrances  and  around  the 
hives.  This  kills  all  vegetation  up  to  a  point 
where  the  lawn-mower  can  reach  it. 

But  a  good  many  apiarists  do  not  even 
have  the  time  to  use  a  lawn-mower.  As  it 
would  be  a  great  task  to  keep  the  grass  down 
in  front  of  the  hives  where  it  would  obstruct 
bees  heavily  laden  from  the  fields,  it  is  a  very 
common  practice  to  use  a  board  a  little  long- 
er than  the  entrance,  and  a  foot  or  18  inches 
wide.  This  board  should  be  cleated  on  the 
back,  and  should  be  attached  to  the  hive  so 
that  the  bees  may  have  an  easy  runway 
clear  up  to  the  entrance.  These  boards  may 
be  planed  and  painted  ;  but  ordinarily  I 
would  recommend  rough  unplaned  stuff— 
the  cheaper  the  better.  This  gives  the  bees 
a  good  foothold,  and  at  the  same  time  saves 
some  expense. 

SHEEP  FOR  KEEPING  DOWN  GRASS  IN  THE 
APIARY. 

One  of  our  neighbors  lets  loose  a  flock  of 
sheep  in  his  apiary  semi-occasionally.  It  is 
well  known  that  our  wooly  friends  can  gnaw 
the  grass  closer  than  any  other  stock.  If  a 
few  of  them  be  turned  into  an  apiary  for  a 
day  or  two  they  will  cut  down  all  the  vegeta- 
tion close  to  the  hives,  not  leaving  even  a 
sprig  of  any  sort.  One  would  naturally  sup- 
pose that  the  bees  would  sting  the  animals, 
with  the  possible  result  that  a  hive  or  two 
would  be  overturned ;  but  in  actual  practice 
no  trouble  results.  Once  in  a  great  while  a 
sheep  is  stung;  but  instead  of  running  and 
bellowing  like  a  calf,  or  kicking  and  rearing 
like  ahorse,  these  animals  quietly  walk  off 
to  a  bush  and  plunge  their  heads  into  it,  and 


keep  them  there  until  all  is  quiet.  A  bee 
can  not  possibly  hurt  them  except  around 
the  eyes  and  nose.  But  it  is  so  seldom  that 
they  attack  them  that  one  can  not  consider 
it  cruelty  to  animals  to  use  them  as  lawn- 
mowers.  If  one  does  not  care  to  have  tbem 
stung  at  all  he  can  turn  them  into  the  apiary 
just  at  night,  and  before  daylight  drive  them 
out  again.  But  I  have  been  in  a  yard  where 
two  or  three  sheep  were  allowed  to  graze  all 
the  season  through,  and  in  all  that  time  they 
were  not  stung  more  than  once  or  twice,  and 
yet  the  grass  was  kept  down  automatically 
over  every  square  foot  of  the  apiary. 

One  would  suppose  thevdroppings  might 
be  somewhat  offensive ;  but  my  neighbor 
assures  me  that  this  is  not  the  case,  as  the 
manure  very  soon  sun-dries,  and  it  is  of  such 
a  nature  that  it  makes  no  trouble  in  the  first 
place. 

I  am  not  sure  but  it  would  pay  many 
apiarists  to  buy  one  or  two  lambs  and  let 
them  grow  up  among  the  bees.  At  the  end 
of  the  season  they  would  have  a  supply  of 
mutton  and  wool  as  well  as  honey. 


THE  HOUSE-APIABY. 

As  a  general  thing,  an  outdoor  apiary  is 
cheaper  and  more  satisfactory  than  one  in 
a  building.  For  the  house  -  apiary,  the 
capital  to  put  up  the  building  must  be  fur- 
nished at  the  outset ;  and  one  that  will  take 
50  colonies  will  cost  much  more  than  the 
same  number  of  hives  intended  for  outdoor 
use.  But  there  are  conditions  under  which 
the  house-apiary  may  be  ana  is  used  to  ad- 
vantage—in fact,  affording  the  only  method 
of  keeping  bees  at  all.  Where  land  is  val- 
uable, such  as  in  or  near  the  city,  or  in  lo- 
calities occasionally  visited  by  the  depreda- 
tions of  thieves,  where  bees,  honey,  and  ev- 
ery thing  so  far  as  possible,  must  be  kept 
under  lock  and  key,  it  is  a  necessity.  A 
small  building,  also,  to  accommodate  35 
or  40  colonies,  even  when  these  condi- 
tions do  not  exist,  may  often  be  used 
very  advantageously  in  connection  with  the 
regular  apiary  outdoors.  When  robbers 
are  bad,  or  when  the  day  is  rainy,  the  work 
can  continue  right  on,  because  the  apiarist 
can  leave  the  outdoor  bees  and  resume  op- 
erations inside,  free  from  robbers  in  the 
one  case,  or  protected  from  inclement 
weather  in  the  other. 

Up  till  very  recently,  house-apiaries  have 
not  been  regarded  with  very  much  favor 
among  practical  bee-keepers,  principally  on 
account  of  faulty  construction,  and  because 
bee-escapes,  when  house-apiaries  began  to 


APIARY. 


27 


APIARY. 


come  into  use  in  certain  quarters,  were  not 
kno^Ti ;  but  since  the  advent  of  the  latter 
labor-saving  device,  the  troubles  arising 
from  bees  leaving  the  hives,  and  crawling 
over  the  floor  to  die,  or  to  be  trampled  on 
if  not  alread}'  dead,  at  the  first  visit  of  the 
apiarist,  are  done  away  with.  These  and 
other  inconveniences  have  been  almost 
wholly  removed  ;  and  perhaps  the  only  rea- 
son why  the  house-apiary  is  not  more  gen- 
erally used  is  because  of  the  expense,  or 
first  cost. 

HOW  TO  COXSTKUCT  A  HOUSE-APIARY. 

The  building  may  be  oblong,  square,  oc- 
tagonal, or  round.   The  round  or  octagonal 
form  will,  perhaps,  save  steps  during  the 
operation  of  extracting;  because,  if  the 
building  is  only  12  or  14  feet  in  diameter, 
the  extractor  may  be  put  in  the  center  of 
the  room,  and  every  hive  will  be  equally 
distant,  or  practically  so,  and  the  combs 
may  be  transferred  from  hive  to  extractor, 
and  vice  versa,  without  taking  more  than  ] 
one  step ;  whereas,  if  the  building  is  oblong  ' 
some  hives  y\  ill  be  further  from  the  seat  of 
operations.   The  hoiise-apiavy  building  we 
are  using  is  octagonal :  but  we  found  it  a 
very  expensive  thing  to  make,  and  we  were 
greatly  bothered  by  a  leaky  roof ;  and  the 
only  way  to  make  it  tight,  with  its  many  , 
angles,  was  to  cover  it  with  tin.  TVe  would, 
therefore,  construct  a  plain  square  building, 
say  12  feet  across.   For  a  roof  we  would 
adopt  the  plain  gable,  covering  it  with  I 
shingles.   On  account  of  wintering,  the  I 
building  ought  to  be  double-walled,  and  it 
would  be  better  if  sawdust  or  some  sort  of  j 
packing  material  were  poured  in  between 
the  two  walls.   Our  own  building  is  lined 
on  the  inside  with  tarred  paper,  and  re-  ■ 
covered  with  manilla  paper ;  but  we  are  not ; 
sure  that  we  would  recommend  it  for  any  | 
one  else,  because  holes  are  constantly  being 
punched  through  it.   Abetter  way  would 
be  to  line  it  with  wood — some  cheap  floor- 
ing would  be  good  enough.   If  the  joints 
are  made  tight,  so  that  the  packing-material 
will  not  leak,  plain  No.  2  barn-boards  would 
answer.   Through  the  roof,  and  extending 
through  the  center  of  the  ceiling,  we  would 
have  a  ventilator-shaft,   made  of  wood,  i 
about  a  foot  square,  and  so  arranged  that  it 
can  be  closed  at  will.   During  summer 
weather  the  smoker  should  be  set  directly 
beneath  the  shaft,  and  the  ventilator  opened 
for  the  escape  of  smoke.   It  should  always 
be  closed  before  leaving  the  building,  be- 
cause it  is  desirable  to  have  the  room  per- 
fectly dark,  except  at  the  small  openings. 


j  where  bee-escapes  are  to  be  placed,  as  we 
I  shall  soon  explain. 

j    As  to  a  door  and  windows,  there  should 
j  be  only  one  window,  and  that  opposite  the 
I  door,  so  as  to  allow  a  draft  to  pass  directly 
i  through,  because  the  building  at  best  be- 
I  comes  very  sultry  in  hot  summer  weather. 
I  An  ordinary  tight-fitting  door  should  be 
;  used,  hinged  in  the  usual  way.   To  the  out- 
side of  the  door-frame  there  should  be  a 
wire-cloth  screen-door.   At  the  top  of  the 
door  the  wire  cloth  should  extend  up  as 


shown  in  the  cut :  -that  is  to  say,  it  should 
be  nailed  on  the  outside,  and  should  extend 
fom'  or  five  inches  beyond  the  bottom  in- 
side edge  of  the  frame,  leaving  a  bee-space 
between  the  frame  and  cloth.  This  is  to 
allow  the  bees  that  collect  in  the  room  dur- 
ing the  time  of  working,  as  for  instance 
during  extracting,  to  escape  in  accordance 
with  the  natural  instincts  that  prompt  them 
to  crawl  upward.  The  window  should  have 
wire  cloth  nailed  on  the  outside  in  like  man- 
ner, the  same  extending  above  the  window- 
casing  as  in  the  figure. 


f  g>  a  « V 

t5  S  !^  *  *, 


POETJER  HOXEY-HOUSE  JJEE-ESCAPE. 


A  much  better  arrangement,  and  the  ex- 
?nse  is  but  slight,  is  ordinary  screen  win- 


APIARY. 


28 


APIAHY. 


dows.  At  two  of  the  upper  corners  attach 
a  Porter  honey-house  bee  escai^e.  ^s  shown 
in  the  accompanying  cut.  Th's  will  be 
more  reliable,  as  the  robbers  can  not  by  any 
possibility  return  through  the  I'crter,  while 
they  may  learn  the  way  back  through  the 
projecting  screen. 

At  several  points,  close  on  a  line  with  the 
floor,  should  be  one-inch  holes,  on  the  o;it- 


A  few  years  ago  it  was  not  deemed  neces- 
sary to  have  any  thing  but  end-boards  to 
hold  up  the  frames.  These  boards  resting 
on  the  floor  or  shelf  were  secured  against 
the  side  of  the  building.  It  remained  then 
to  close  up  the  open  side  with  a  tight-fitting 
division  board,  and  the  top  with  a  quilt. 
Cut  in  practice  this  was  found  to  be  very 
objectionable ;   and    those    who  manage 


OUR  ORIGINAL  HOTJSE-APIARY. 


side  of  which  should  be  more  Porter  honey- 
house  bee-escapes.  The  purpose  of  the  open- 
ing in  these  escapes  is,  to  let  the  bees  that 
happen  to  be  inside  after  working  crawl  out 
toward  the  light;  and,  once  outside,  they 
will  enter  their  own  hives,  with  the  possi- 
ble exception  of  a  few  young  ones,  and  they 
will  be  accepted  at  any  of  the  entrances. 


house-apiaries  now  prefer  to  use  ordinary 
outdoor  hives  instead,  primarily  because 
the  bees  can  be  more  easily  confined  to  the 
hives and,  secondarily,  because  the  indoor 
and  outdoor  hives  are  one  and  the  same, 
and  interchangeable. 

The  entrances  of  the  hives  are  so  arrang- 
ed that  they  will  communicate  with  >  an 


APIARY. 


29 


APIARY. 


opening  through  the  side  of  the  building  ; 
and  then  the  ordinary  cover  should  be  used 
to  confine  the  bees  strictly  witliin  the  hives. 
In  lieu  of  a  cover  a  thin  |  board,  or  some- 
thing of  that  sort,  may  answer  just  as  well ; 
but  so  far  as  possible  w^e  would  adapt  every 
thing  in  the  house  apiary  so  that  every  thing 
outdoors  may  be  moved  inside,  and  vice  versa, 
whenever  requirements  make  it  necessary. 
The  dimensions  of  the  house-apiary  inside 
should  be  just  large  enough  to  take  a  row  of 
your  hives  without  w^asting  space. 

For  entrances  to  the  hives  from  the  out- 
side there  should  be  a  two-inch  round  hole, 
lined  with  a  tin  tube  that  has  first  been 
painted,  and  then  dusted  on  the  inside  with 
some  fine  sand  while  the  paint  is  fresh,  so 
as  to  make  it  rough  enough  for  the  bees  to 
cling  to  the  outside  surface.  These  tin  tubes 
should  be  inserted  at  the  time  of  the  con- 
struction of  the  building,  and  before  the 
packing-material  has  been  poured  in,  and 
should  be  high  enough  for  the  bottom  of  the 
tube  to  come  flush  with  the  top  of  the  bottom- 
board.  To  connect  this  tin  tube  to  the  hive 
entrance  is  not  difficult. 

As  the  entrance  through  the  house-apiary 
is  2  inches  in  diameter,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  have  a  raised  rim  about  2  inches  deep,  the 
same  width  and  length  as  the  regular  hive 
you  are  using.  The  side  of  the  rim  next  to 
the  building  should  be  cut  away  for  the  2- 
inch  entrance,  or  else  the  whole  side  be  left 
off  entirely.  This  rim  should  be  nailed 
do^Ti  in  position. 

This  rim  will,  of  course,  take  the  place  of 
the  regular  bottom-board.  It  is  not  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  make  it  two  inches 
deep;  it  can  be  only  one  inch  deep  if  pre- 
ferred. The  entrance  then,  instead  of  be- 
ing at  the  ends  of  the  frames,  will  be  at  the 
sides,  or  make  what  is  called  a  side  en- 
trance. 

On  account  of  convenience  in  handling 
frames,  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  hive"s 
side  against  the  building. 

]Sow,  to  further  economize  the  space  of 
the  building,  there  should  be  another  tier  of 
hives  about  4  feet  above  the  floor ;  and 
these  should  be  supported  by  shelving  that 
reaches  clear  around  the  room.  The  same 
arrangement  with  regard  to  the  entrances 
may  be  employed  as  described  for  the  bot- 
tom tier. 

Now  let  me  insist  again.  Do  not  delude 
yourself  with  the  idea  that  you  can  build 
hives  cheaper,  and  have  them  a  part  of  the 
building.  You  are  making  a  great  mistake 
if  you  do.    The  ordinary  outdoor  hives  are 


in  every  way  much  more  handy.  And  an- 
other thing,  do  not  be  satisfied  to  put  just  a 
mere  quilt  on  top  of  the  frames.  It  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  that  the  bees  be  confined 
sti'ictly  to  their  own  hives,  otherwise  they 
will  be  crawling  from  one  hive  to  another, 
killing  queens  occasionally,  getting  on  the 
floor,  getting  mashed,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
inconvenience  to  the  apiarist  when  he  de- 
sires to  do  any  work  inside. 

THE  F.  A.  SALISBURY  HOUSE-APIARY. 

Perhaps  the  most  extensive  user  of  house- 
apiaries  in  later  years  is  Mr.  F.  A.  Salisbury, 
of  Syracuse,      Y.,who  lives  in  the  sub- 
urbs of  that  city,  where  land  is  expensive. 
In  order  to  get  as  many  colonies  as  possible 
on  the  back  end  of  a  city  lot,  he  constructed 
a  house-apiary  after  his  own  ideas  ;  and  as 
I  this  seems  to  be,  perhaps,  the  most  practic- 
able building  ever  devised,  of  the  kind,  I 
place  before  you  an  article  written  by  him 
j  for  our  joiurnal,  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture, 
1  Sept.  1, 1895.    At  this  writing,  April,  1899, 
j  he  is  still  using  the  building,  w^ith  little  or 
I  no  modification.  This  is  what  he  has  to  say 
I  about  his  house-apiary  : 

j     In  the  fall  of  1893  I  built  my  first  house-apiary,  and 
liked  it  so  well  during  the  season  of  1894  that  I  built 
another  out  about  three  miles,  near  Split  Rock.  The 
'  first  view  shows  how  the  last  one  looks  from  the  out- 
l  side.    The  whole  is  on  a  stone  foundation,  with  five 
j  windows  in  it  for  ventilation,  6x18  inches.    On  top  of 
I  the  wall  is  imbedded  in  the  mortar  a  2x10  inch  ;  on 
top  of  this  are  placed  the  joists,  2x10,  two  feet  apart. 
Beginning  at  each  end,  the  second  one  is  to  be  28  in. 
from  the  end  to  center  of  stud.    The  rest  to  be  24 
inches  from  center  to  center. 

Begin  the  lajdng  of  the  floor  from  each  side,  laying 
about  two  boards  ;  then  put  up  the  studs ;  on  top  of 
them  the  plate,  and  then  the  rafters.  Studs  are  placed 
over  the  joists,  and  rafters  over  the  studs.    The  plate 
is  made  of  two  2x4-inch  studding.   Use  cove  ceiling  for 
[  the  siding.    It  is  painted  in  five  colors.    Beginning  at 
I  each  end,  each  color  takes  tix  feet  in  width  and  runs 
j  from  the  cornice  to  the  sill    First  at  each  end  is  red  ; 
\  then  white  ;  then  blue  ;  then  yellow  ;  then  green. ^i" 
j     In  the  center  there  is  a  room  9  feet  4  inches  wide, 
j  and  12  feet  long,  the  outside  of  which  is  painted  white. 
In  the  center  of  each  color  is  a  window  without  glass, 
but  with  doors  14x20  inches,  that  can  be  fastened. 
The  hinges  used  are  blind-hinges,  and  the  catches  are 
blind-catches.    Along  the  ridge  there  is  an  opening 
running  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  building,  12 
in.  wide.    Over  this  is  built  a  roof.   When  shingled 
and  sided  up,  the  cupola  has  an  opening  on  each  side 
at  the  top  of  3  in.,  running  the  whole  length.    In  each 
end  of  the  building  there  is  a  door.    The  entrances 
are  cut  through  the  siding  %X8  in.  and  an  alighting- 
board  2x12  in.  is  nailed  just  under  the  opening,  even 
with  it. 

The  second  view  is  an  inside  one,  looking  from  the 
Center  toward  one  end.  On  each  side  you  will  notice 
there  are  two  shelves,  the  bottom  one  being  8  in.  from 
the  floor,  and  the  upper  one  53.  Doors  are  placed  15 
in.  from  the  shelves.  On  the  shelves  the  hives  are 
placed  2  feet  apart. 


APIAEY. 


80 


APIARY. 


The  bottom  of  the  hives  or  shelves  proper  are  so 
made  that  the  center  of  each  hive  is  over  a  space  that 
is  open  (see  the  shelf  at  the  right  on  the  bottom).  In 
this  space  can  be  placed  a  board,  making  a  tight  bot- 
tom ;  or  during  the  summer  months  the  space  can  be 
filled  with  a  frame  covered  with  wire  cloth.  By  using 
the  wire  cloth  at  the  bottom  the  bees  are  much  more 
comfortable  in  hot  weather,  and  I  think  it  has  a  ten- 
dency to  prevent  swarming.  During  the  season  of 
1894  we  had  only  11  colonies  swarm  from  101  ;  this  sea- 
son, only  1  from  114.  One  would  think  that  the  bees 
would  proceed  to  fill  up  the  wire  cloth  with  propolis  ; 
but  we  have  had  the  screen  in  use  two  seasons,  and 
they  are  as  clean  now  as  when  first  put  under.  We 
thought  they  would  have  to  be  cleaned  at  the  end  of 
each  season,  but  were  pleased  to  find  that  they  would 
not.  On  the  left-hand  side  you  will  notice  that  boards 
are  in  the  open  space  ;  these  are  for  use  in  winter,  fall, 
and  spring. 

During  the  honey  season  we  use  the  wire  cloth  in  its 
place.  By  looking  closely  you  will  see  the  grooves  in 
the  shelves  alongside  of  each  opening  ;  these  are  for 
feeding.    They  are  ^  of  an  inch  deep,  and  %  wide. 


building,  I  would  give  the  order  to  the  A.  I.  Root  Co. 
Mine  were  made  by  them  ;  and  in  ordering,  mention 
"  sizes  given  in  order  26,542  "  with  two  blocks  for  each 
hive,  2  in.  long,  thick,  and  ^§  wide.  Order  26,542  was 
for  100  colonies.  The  blocks  are  to  use  in  the  feeders 
when  not  in  use,  to  close  up  the  hole  under  the  hives 
to  keep  bees  in.  lyooking  overhead  you  see  openings 
in  the  center,  and  running  the  entire  length  of  build- 
ing, with  slides  to  cover  them  when  not  needed. 

In  the  winter  and  summer  months  they  are  always 
open  ;  in  the  winter,  to  keep  every  thing  dry,  and  in 
the  summer  to  keep  down  the  temperature  and  carry 
off  the  smoke  from  the  smoker.  During  the  spring 
months,  keep  them  closed. 

The  first  building  built  had  only  three  openings, 
each  about  8  in.  square.  These  would  not  carry  off 
the  smoke  fast  enough,  and  this  building  was  made  so 
there  is  ample  ventilation.  Each  opening  is  2  feet  by 
10  in.,  and  they  are  2  feet  apart.  All  the  openings  over- 
head are  equal  to  one  opening  35  feet  by  10  inches. 
The  smoke  just  hustles  up  and  out  lively.  On  the 
floor  there  is  built  a  raised  floor  12  in.  high  and  22  in. 
w^ide.    On  each  side  of  this  are  openings  22  in.  long 


HOUSE-APIARY  OF  F.  A.  SALISBURY,  SYRACUSE,  Y. 


Before  using  they  are  varnished  with  shellac  varnish 
to  keep  them  from  leaking,  and  absorbing  the  feed, 
thus  keeping  them  tight,  sweet,  and  clean.  The  hives 
are  placed  on  the  shelves  with  the  frames  running  the 
same  way  as  the  shelf ;  and  as  the  hives  are  20  in. 
long  there  is  about  4  in.  between  the  ends  of  the  hives. 
The  shelves  are  28  in.  wide  from  the  siding.  The 
groove  for  feeding  is  long  enough  to  run  from  about 
2  in.  from  the  inner  edge  to  nearly  across  the  hive. 
By  using  quart  Mason  fruit -jars  you  can  see  at  a 
glance  from  each  end  of  the  building  how  the  food  is 
being  taken.  In  using  the  grooves,  place  a  piece  of 
wire  cloth  in  the  groove  close  up  to  the  hive,  and  no 
bees  can  come  out  into  the  building.  Feeding  with 
this  arrangement  has  no  terrors,  and  no  robbers  can 
bother.  The  feeder  is  always  ready  at  a  moment's 
notice.  Two  grooves  are  under  each  hive,  and  with 
two  quart  cans  there  is  a  capacity  of  6  lbs.  at  each 
feed.  We  have  found  that  one  can  to  each  colony  is 
sufficient  in  ordinary  cases.  Two  cans  can  be  used 
over  each  groove,  and  this  will  give  a  capacity  of  12 
ft)S.  to  each  colony.  It  will  be  much  better  to  have  the 
shelves  gotten  out  by  machinery  ;  and  if  you  think  of 


and  6  in.  wide  every  6  feet.  The  raised  floor  begins  6 
feet  from  the  door,  and  runs  to  6  feet  of  the  honey- 
room,  which  is  in  the  center  of  the  building.  No 
flooring  is  laid  under  this  raised  floor.  The  honey- 
room  is  made  tight,  and  has  a  door  in  each  end  of 
building.  Each  end  holds  60  colonies.  Studs  are  2 
feet  apart  from  center  to  center,  except  the  second 
ones  from  the  ends,  which  are  28  in.  from  the  end. 
This  gives  room  to  handle  the  corner  hives.  Rafters 
are  2x4's,  placed  exactly  over  each  stu  Collar-beams 
are  9%  feet  from  the  floor,  and  are  also  2x4's.  Over 
the  shelf,  and  nailed  to  the  studs,  are  boards  about  14 
in.  wide  and  %  in.  thick.  In  the  winter  there  is 
placed  another  on  the  inner  edge  of  the  shelf,  and 
these  boards  make  a  trough  in  which  is  packed  chaff 
or  planer-shavings.  The  building  is  ceiled  overhead. 
The  entire  length  is  70  feet,  and  width  12  feet ;  cost 
per  running  foot,  84.80,  or  $336  for  the  building;  all 
work  hired.  If  you  do  all  the  work  yourself,  the  cost 
would  be  about  $90.00  less. 

DO  BEKS  DISTINGUI.SH  COLORS? 

Bees  locate  themselves  nicely  by  the  colors,  very  few 
I  bees  going  into  the  wrong  hive  or  different  color,  I 


APIARY. 


31 


APIARY. 


happened  to  see  something  a  few  days  ago  that  con- 
vinced me  that  bees  can  tell  colors.  The  north  end  of 
the  building  has  no  bees  in  it.  but  there  are  46  in  the 
south  end.  I  noticed  that  there  weie  bees  flying  out 
and  in  the  yellow  color  in  the  north  end,  and  thought 
it  was  rather  funny.  I  thought  that  possibly  a  new 
swarm  had  gone  in  there.  I  noticed  in  the  south 
end  there  was  one  colony  that  was  flying  strongly — 
young  bees  out  for  exercise.  They  were  from  the  first 
hive  in  the  yellow  toward  the  north.  The  bees  were 
also  returning,  some  of  them,  to  the  first  entrance  to- 
ward the  north  in  the  yellow  color  in  the  north  end. 
After  the  bees  in  the  south  end  had  quieted  down, 
there  were  no  bees  going  out  and  in  the  other  in  the 
north  end.  The  entrances  were  27  feet  apart.  This 
is  plain  evidence  to  me  that  bees  can  tell  colors  ;  and, 
mind  you,  they  entered  the  entrance  in  the  north  end 


any  time  of  day,  out  of  the  hot  sun;  in  fact, 
it  may  be  raining  haid  outdoors,  so  far  as 
the  apiarist  is  concerned. 

Perhaps  it  would  be  proper  to  remark 
that,  with  the  ordinary  Dovetailed  hive  de- 
scribed irr  this  work,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  have  raised  rims  so  as  to  make  a  bee- 
space  on  top  of  the  boards  that  are  designed 
to  support  the  hives.  This  room  may  be 
all  the  way  from  f  to  one  inch  thick,  de- 
pending on  the  notiorr  of  the  apiarist. 

A  PORTABLE  HOUSE  -  APIARY. 

The  late  Miles  Morton,  of  Groton,  iV.  Y., 


INTERIOR  VIEW  OF  SALISBURY  S  HOUSE-APIARY. 


of  the  building,  and  the  same  relative  position  of  the 
yellow  color,  and  not  any  other.     F.  A.  Salisbury. 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  7,  1895. 

The  only  suggestion  or  improvement  that 
I  would  make  is  that  the  building  be  made 
double-walled,  and  that  the  space  between 
the  two  walls  be  filled  with  sawdust,  planer- 
shavings,  or  something  of  that  sort.  It 
would  add  but  very  little  to  the  expense, 
and  would  probably  do  away  with  such 
winter  losses  as  Mr.  Salisbury  has  experi- 
enced during  severely  cold  spells.  In  other 
respects  the  building  is  very  nearly  perfect. 
The  work  is  done  inside  of  the  building  at 


the  man  who  introduced  the  slatted  and 
cleated  separator  commonly  called  the  fence, 
and  referred  to  more  particularly  under 
Co^iB  Honey,  devised  a  house-apiary  that 
could  be  taken  down,  loaded  on  to  a  wagon, 
and  moved  to  a  new  field  whenever  the  old 
location,  for  any  cause,  proved  to  be  poor. 
This  building  was  constructed  of  panels,  so 
arranged  that  it  could  be  locked  together. 
The  panel  work  is  shown  in  the  illustration 
herewith. 

Mr.  Morton  had  several  of  these,  and  pro- 
duced many  tons  of  honey  with  them.  The 
interior  construction  was  based  somewhat 


APIARY. 


32 


APIARY. 


on  the  Salisbury  plan,  using  ordinary  out- 
door hives. 

HOW  TO  WORK  IN  THE  HOUSE- APIARY. 

As  soon  as  you  are  inside,  raise  the  shut- 
ter of  the  window  to  let  in  light.  Open  the 
inner  door;  be  sure  the  screen-door  is 
closed.  A  little  stand  or  bench  may  stand 
in  the  middle  of  the  room.  On  this  may  be 
placed  a  screwdriver,  honey-knife,  and  other 
tools.  Open  the  ventilator  so  that  the 
smoke  will  pass  out  through  the  i'oof,  and 
you  are  ready  for  business.  I  have  given 
some  hints  for  extracting,  and  it  only  re- 
mains to  say  that  the  machine  should  be  | 


If  you  are  producing  comb  honey,  it  may 
be  taken  off  by  means  of  bee-escapes,  in  the 
manner  given  above.  Before  the  invention 
of  the  escape,  the  nuisance  of  getting  bees 
out  of  the  sections  or  off  the  combs,  in  the 
house-apiary,  to  say  nothing  of  bees  all  over 
the  floor,  and  crawling  up  one's  trousers-legs, 
was  such  that  the  house-apiary  was  any  thing 
but  a  desirable  place  in  which  to  keep  bees. 
But  now  all  this  is  done  away  with.  Of 
course,  during  the  operation  of  extracting, 
a  few  bees  will  escape,  and  get  on  the  win- 
dow-screens ;  but  they  will  not  remain 
I  there  long,  for  they  will  crawl  upward  and 


MORTON'S  PORTABLE  HOUSE- APIARY. 


secured  on  a  stand  or  box  in  the  center  of 
the  room,  so  that  the  honey-gate  will  come 
over  the  bung  of  the  barrel.  The  other 
stand  containing  the  tools  may  be  set  one 
side.  Now,  instead  of  brushing  or  shaking 
the  bees,  as  may  be  done  outside,  the  bee- 
escape  must  be  used  instead.  These  should 
be  put  on  the  hives  the  night  before,  as  ex- 
plained under  Extracting  and  Comb 
Honey.  Of  course,  all  that  remains  is  to 
uncap  the  combs,  extract,  and  put  them  in 
the  supers  again.  As  fast  as  each  super  is 
extracted,  remove  the  board  containing  the 
bee-escape,  and  the  bees  are  ready  for  busi- 
ness again. 


;  out.  If  robbers  are  bad  outs' de,  extracting 
or  taking  off  comb  honey  may  be  managed 
with  perfect  impunity  inside,  and  you  are  not 
obliged  to  hunt  all  over  the  apiary  for  combs, 
giving  the  pesky  scamps  a  taste  at  every 
step.  The  economy  in  steps,  the  immunity 
from  robbers,  and  protection  from  the  vari- 
1  ous  conditions  of  weather,  are  strong  points 
j  in  favor  of  the  house-apiary. 

Well,  after  having   linished  your  work, 
darken  the  room  by  letting  down  the  wood- 
en shutter,  and  close  the  ventilator.  The 
I  few  bees  that  remain  inside,  that  have  not 
I  already  escaped,  will  find  their  way  out 
1  through  the  little  openings  in  the  side>f  the 


APIAKY. 


33  ARTIFICIAL  COMB. 


wall  previously  described,  on  the  outside  of 
which  are  the  bee-escapes. 

WHAT  TO  DO  WITH  CKOSS  COLONIES. 

We  have  always  obser^'ed  that  the  crossest 
bees  are  but  little  inclined  to  sting  inside  of 
a  building.  When  they  fly  from  the  combs 
that  you  are  handling,  they  And  themselves 
inclosed  ;  and  this  so  disconcerts  them  that 
they  immediately  fly  to  the  screen  windows 
and  escape.  James  Heddon  says,  "  If  you 
have  a  cross  colony,  put  it  in  the  house-api- 
ary and  see  how  tame  it  will  become.'- 

HOUSE- API AE IE S  FOR  WIXTERIXG. 

As  the  building  is  double-walled,  and  is 
(or  ought  to  be)  packed,  colonies  wiU  re- 1 
quire  less  protection  than  outdoors.  In- 
deed, about  all  that  will  be  necessary  to  put 
them  into  winter  quarters  will  be  to  put  on 
an  extra  comb-honey  super,  tuck  in  a  chalf 
cushion,  replace  the  cover,  and  then  the 
bees  are  prepared.  In  very  severe  cold 
weather,  a  small  tire,  or  heat  from  a  large 
lamp  in  the  room,  may,  perhaps,  be  used  to 
advantage ;  but  the  use  of  artificial  heat  in 
wintering  should  be  used  sparingly  and 
with  care,  for  oftentimes  more  liarm  than' 
good  is  done.  ! 

MOTIXG  WHOLE  APIARIES  TO  MORE  XORTH-  I 
ERN  LOCALITIES  IX  ORDER  TO  STRIKE  I 
THE  BASSWOOD  BL003I.  ! 

During  the  season  of  1884  mucli  was 
said  about  moving  bees  so  as  to  strike  the 
honey-flow ;  and  several  experiments  were 
made  that  seemed  to  indicate  there  was  no 
difliculty  m  making  it  a  success.   For  in- 1 
stance,  we  have  had  a  single  colony  in  one 
day  bring  in  as  many  as  43  fts.  of  honey  from 
the  basswood-bloom.   Xow.  this  gi'eat  hon- 
ey-flow lasts  but  a  few  days.   If  it  could  be 
prolonged  for  months,  or  even  weeks,  won- 
derful things  might  be  done.   After  the  col-  | 
ony  above  mentioned  gave  me  43  lbs.  of  hon- 1 
ey  in  a  day,  the  honey-flow  soon  gradually  i 
went  down,  and  finally  stopped  altogether.  | 
After  a  lapse  of  perhaps  two  weeks,  when 
"basswood  was  entirely  gone,  and  our  bees 
were  trying  to  rob  each  other's  hives,  I  hap- 
pened to  make  a  xisit  in  the  northern  part  of 
Michigan.    There  I  fomid  a  brother  bee-  j 
keeper  rejoicing  in  the  height  of  the  bass- ! 
wood  season.    Xow,  by  mo™g  colonies  ' 
every  ten  days  or  two  weeks,  so  as  to  strike 
points  where  basswood  flourishes  largely,  it 
seems  to  me  we  might  secure  immense  crops 
of  honey. 

Within  the  past  few  years  some  progress 
has  been  made  in  this  matter,  and  it  now  ■ 
seems  that  those  who  have  had  sufiicient  ex- 
perience may  successfully  bring  bees  from 


the  South  to  the  Xorth  in  time  to  profit  by 
the  clover  and  basswood. 

AFZS  DOB.SATA.   See  Bees. 

AFIAKV,  OUT.  See  Out- apiaries. 
j  AUTirZCIAXi  COMB.  Several  at- 
i  tempts  were  made  to  produce  artificial 
honey-comb,  in  the  years  gone  by:  but  it 
was  not  imtil  E.  B.  Weed,  formerly  of  De- 
ti'oit.  now  of  Cleveland,  O.,  went  to  work  at 
the  problem  that  any  thing  like  the  real  ar- 
ticle was  produced.  His  first  samples  had 
cell-walls  as  delicate  as  the  bees  make 
them :  but  the  base  was  flat,  and  the  bees 
did  not  take  as  kindly  to  them  as  their  own 
product.  And.  moreover,  it  was  soon  dis- 
covered that  they  thickened  the  base,  mak- 
ing a  comb  that,  when  eaten,  showed  a  per- 
ceptible midi'ib. 

Mr.  Weed  finally  set  about  making  the 
same  article  with  naturoJ.  bases,  and  this  he 
accomplished  perfectly:  indeed,  it  was  a 
marvel  of  skill  and  workmanship.  This 
comb  was  nearly  as  delicate  and  as  perfect 
as  the  natural  product,  and  a  good  many 
pounds  of  honey  were  produced  with  it-; 
that  is  to  say,  it  was  placed  in  sections  as  so 
much  di'awn  comb,  in  place  of  that  made  by 
the  bees.  In  most  cases  they  filled  it 
promptly,  and  capped  it  over ;  but  in  other 
instances  it  was  found  that  they  accepted 
this  comb  no  more  promptly  than  founda- 
tion which  could  be  produced  more  cheaply. 
The  cost  of  the  dies  for  making  the  artificial 
comb  was  simply  enormous :  and,  even  after 
they  were  constructed,  the  process  of  mak- 
ing the  product  was  very  slow.  In  view  of 
the  fact  that  the  bees  would  accept  almost 
as  readily  a  deep-cell  foundation  with  thin 
base,  as  spoken  of  under  Co^ib  Founda- 
Tiox,  in  this  work,  Mr.  Weed  abandoned  all 
attempts  at  making  artificial  comb  in  favor 
of  his  new  product. 

ARTIFICIAL  FERTILIZATION.  Much 
time  and  money  have  been  expended  in  wire- 
cloth  houses  and  glass  fixtm^es.  to  accom- 
plish this  result,  the  more,  perhaps,  because 
a  few  sanguine  individuals  imagined  they 
had  succeeded  in  having  the  queens  meet 
the  drones  in  confinement,  thus  seciuingthe 
advantage  of  choice  drones,  as  well  as  queens, 
to  rear  stock  from.*'^  A  friend  of  mine  was 
quite  sure  he  succeeded:  but  after  examin- 
ing into  the  matter  it  was  found  that  the 
queens  got  out  and  took  their  flight  in  the 
usual  way  through  the  passage  that  was  left 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  the  matter  has  been 
revived,  aud  an  account  of  at  least  a  partial  success 
is  given  in  the  American  Bcc  Journal  for  Nov.,  of 
1878.  and  Gleanings.  May  15.  iJ'bO.  page  392. 


ARTIFICIAL  HEAT. 


34 


ARTIFICIAL  HEAT. 


for  the  worker- b^^.es  ;  he  having  based  his 
calculations  on  the  oft-repeated  statement 
that  a  qneen  could  not  get  through  a  pas- 
sage 3^  of  an  inch  in  width.    The  queen 
just  before  her  flight  is  very  slender,  and 
will  get  through  a  passage  that  an  ordinary 
laying  queen  would  not;       and  those  who  ^ 
claimed  to  have  succeeded,  being  rather  , 
careless  observers,  might  have  supposed  i 
that  the  fertilization  had  in  reality  taken  ^ 
place  in  the  hive.    Again,  one  of  those  who 
claimed  to  have  succeeded  states  that  a  j 
queen  will  always  take  exercise  in  the  open  I 
air,  after  she  has  been  fertilized  in  confine- ; 


ment ;  this  seems  to  render  the  whole  mat- 
ter ridiculous,  especially  if  she  takes  this 
flight  before  she  commences  to  lay.  About 
the  year  1870,  hundreds  of  bee-keepers  were 
busily  at  work  trying  this  project,  with  a 
view  of  keeping  the  Italian  blood  in  a  state 
of  absolute  purity,  in  neighborhoods  where 
black  or  common  bees  were  kept  in  consid- 
erable numbers ;  and  the  subject  affords  a 
fair  illustration  of  the  mischief  which  may 
be  done  by  careless  or  unscrupulous  persons, 
in  reporting  through  the  press  what  has 
been  guessed  at  rather  than  demonstrated 
by  careful  experiment. 

Taking  into  view  the  in-and-in  breeding 
that  would  have  resulted  had  the  experi- 
ments really  been  a  success,  it  is  doubtful  if 
it  would  have  been  a  benefit  after  all. 
When  it  was  found  that  the  Italians  speedi- 
ly became  hybrids  where  so  many  black  bees 
were  all  about  us,  as  a  matter  of  necessity 
frequent  importations  from  Italy  began  to 
be  made  ;  and  when  it  was  discovered  that 
stock  fresh  from  their  native  home  at  once 
showed  themselves  superior  as  honey-gather- 
ers, the  business  assumed  considerable  pro- 
portions, and  now  many  apiarists  of  prom- 
inence have  imported  queens  of  their  own 
to  rear  queens  from.26  This  has  the  effect  of 
not  only  giving  us  the  best  stock  known, 
but  of  giving  frequent  fresh  strains  of  blood, 
and  is  perhaps  very  much  better  all  around 
than  it  would  have  been  had  artificial  fertil- 
ization been  a  success. 

ARTIFICIAZi  HISAT.  As  strong 
colonies  early  in  the  season  are  the  ones 
that  get  the  honey  and  furnish  the  early 
swarms  as  well,  and  are  in  fact  the  real 
source  of  profit  to  the  bee-keeper,  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  much  time  and  mon- 
ey have  been  spent  in  devising  ways  and 
means  whereby  all  might  be  brought  up  to 
the  desired  strength  in  time  for  the  first 
yield  of  clover  honey.  As  market-gardeners 


and  others  hasten  the  early  vegetables  by 
artificial  heat,  or  by  taking  advantage  of  the 
sun's  rays  by  means  of  greenhouses,  etc.,  it 
would  seem  that  something  of  the  kind 
might  be  done  with  bees ;  in  fact,  we  have, 
by  the  aid  of  glass  and  the  heat  of  a  stove, 
succeeded  in  rearing  young  bees  every 
month  in  the  year,  even  while  the  weather 
was  at  zero,  or  lower,  outside  ;  but  so  far  as 
we  can  learn,  all  artificial  work  of  this  kind 
has  resulted  in  failure,  so  far  as  profit  is 
concerned.  The  bees,  it  is  true,  learned  to 
fly  under  the  glass  and  come  back  to  their 
hives  ;  but  for  every  bee  that  was  raised  in 
confinement,  two  or  three  were  sure  to  die, 
from  one  cause  or  another,  and  we  at  length 
decided  it  was  best  to  wait  for  summer 
weather,  and  then  take  full  advantage  of  it. 

Later,  we  made  experiments  with  artifi- 
cial heat  while  the  bees  were  allowed  to  fly 
out  at  pleasure ;  and  although  it  seemed  at 
first  to  have  just  the  desired  effect,  so  far  as 
hastening  brood-rearing  was  concerned,  the 
result  was,  in  the  end,  just  about  as  before  ; 
more  bees  were  hatched,  but  the  unseasona- 
ble activity,  or  something  else,  killed  off 
twice  as  many  as  were  reared,  and  the  stocks 
I  that  were  let  alone  in  the  good  old  way  came 
out  ahead.  Since  then  I  have  rather  en- 
deavored to  check  very  early  brood-rearing, 
and,  I  believe,  with  better  results. 
I  A  few  experiments  with  artificial  heat 
have  apparently  succeeded,  and  it  may  be 
that  it  will  eventually  be  made  a  success ; 
but  my  impression  is,  that  we  had  much 
better  turn  our  energies  to  something  else, 
until  we  have  warm  settled  weather.  Pack- 
ing the  hives  with  chaif,  sawdust,  or  any 
other  warm,  dry,  porous  material,  so  as  to 
economize  the  natural  heat  of  the  cluster, 
seems  to  answer  the  purpose  much  better, 
and  such  treatment  seems  to  have  none  of 
the  objectionable  features  that  working 
I  with  artificial  heat  does.  The  chaff  needs 
to  be  as  close  to  the  bees  as  possible ;  and  to 
this  end,  we  would  have  all  the  combs  re- 
moved except  such  as  are  needed  to  hold 
their  stores.  Bees  thus  prepared  seem  to 
escape  all  the  ill  effects  of  frosty  nights 
in  the  early  part  of  the  season,  and  we  ac- 
complish for  brood  -  rearing  exactly  what 
was  hoped  for  by  the  use  of  artificial  heat. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  be  in- 
clined to  experiment,  I  would  state  that  I 
covered  almost  our  entire  apiary  with 
manure,  on  the  plan  of  a  hot-bed,  one  spring, 
and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  almost  all 
die  of  spring  dwindling.  At  another  time,  I 
kept  the  house-apiary  warmed  up  to  a  sum- 


ARTIFICIAL  PASTURAGE.  35 


ASTERS. 


mer  temperatiire  with  a  large  oil-lamp,  for 
several  weeks,  just  to  have  them  beat  those 
out  of  doors.  The  investment  resulted  in 
losing  nearly  all  in  the  house-apiary  with 
spring  dwindling,  while  those  outside  stayed 
in  their  hives  as  honest  bees  should,  until 
settled  warm  weather,  and  then  did  finely, 
just  because  I  was  ''too  busy  to  take  care  of 
them"  (V),  as  I  then  used  to  express  it.  Aft- 
er you  have  had  experience  enough  to  count 
your  profitable  colonies  by  the  hundred,  and 
your  crops  of  honey  by  the  ton,  it  will  do 
very  well  to  experiment  with  greenhouses 
and  cold-frames:  but  beginners  had  better 
let  such  appliances  alone,  imless  they  have 
j)lenty  of  money  to  spare  for  more  bees. 28 

ARTIFICIAL  FASTURAaE.  Al 

though  there  is  quite  a  trade  in  seeds  and 
plants  to  be  cultivated  for  their  honey 
alone,  I  can  ^ive  little  encouragement  to 
those  who  expect  to  realize  money  by  such 
investments.  There  is  certainly  a  much 
greater  need  of  taking  care  of  the  honey 
that  is  almost  constantly  wasting  just  for 
lack  of  bees  to  gather  it.  A  field  of  buck- 
wheat will  perhaps  occasionally  yield  enough 
honey  to  pay  the  expense  of  sowing,  as  it 
comes  in  at  a  time  when  the  bees  in  many- 
places  would  get  little  else  ;  and  if  it  does 
not  pay  in  lioney.  it  certainly  will  in  grain. 
If  one  has  the  money,  and  can  afford  to  run 
the  risk  of  a  failure,  it  is  a  fine  tiling  to 
make  some  accurate  experiments,  and  it 
may  be  that  a  farm  of  one  or  two  hundred 
acres,  judiciously  stocked  with  honey-bear- 
ing plants,  trees,  and  grains,  would  be  a  suc- 
cess financially.  It  has  been  much  talked 
about,  but  none,  so  far  as  we  know,  have 
ever  put  the  idea  in  practice.  To  beginners 
I  would  say  :  Plant  and  sow  all  you  can 
that  will  be  sure  to  pay  aside  from  the  hon- 
ey crop,  and  then,  if  the  latter  is  a  success, 
you  will  be  so  much  ahead  ;  but  beware  of 
investing  much  in  seeds  that  are  for  plants 
■  producing  nothing  of  value  except  honey. 
Alsike  and  white  Dutch  clover,  buckwheat, 
rape,  mustard,  and  the  like,  it  will  do  to  in- 
vest in  ;  but  catnip,  mignonnette,  Rocky- 
Mountain  bee-plant,  etc.,  etc.,  I  would  at 
present  handle  rather  sparingly.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  we  can  hardly  test  a 
plant,  unless  we  have  one  or  more  acre>i  of  it 
in  bloom,  and  that  small  patches  do  little 
more  than  to  demonstrate  that  the  blossoms 
contain  some  honey,  giving  us  very  little 
clue  to  either  quantity  or  quality.  Bees  will 
work  on  blossoms,  and  at  times  with  great 
apparent  industry,  when  they  are  obliged  to 


make  himdreds  of  visits  and  consume  hours 
of  time  in  getting  a  single  load ;  we  there- 
fore should  be  intimately  acquainted  with 
!  the  interior  of  the  hive,  as  well  as  the 
!  source  from  which  the  bees  are  obtaining 
the  honey,  before  we  can  decide  what  is 
profitable  to  sow  as  a  honey-plant. 

The  question,  "  How  many  acres  of  a 
good  honey-bearing  plant  would  be  needed 
to  keep  100  colonies  busy  has  often  been 
asked.  If  ten  acres  of  buckwheat  would  an- 
swer while  in  full  bloom,  we  should  need 
perhaps  ten  other  similar  fields  sown  with 
rape,  mustard,  catnip,  etc.,  blossoming  at  as 
many  different  periods,  to  keep  them  going 
the  entire  warm  season.  It  would  seem  cOO 
acres  should  do  nicely,  even  if  nothing  were 
obtained  from  other  sources,  but  at  present 
we  can  only  conjecture.  A  colony  of  bees 
will  frequently  pay  for  themselves  in  ten 
days  during  a  good  yield  from  natural  pas- 
turage; and  if  we  could  keep  up  this  state  of 
affairs  during  the  whole  of  the  summer 
months,  it  would  be  quite  an  item  indeed. 
Buckwheat,  rape,  and  alsike  clover,  are  the 
only  cultivated  plants  that  have  given  pay- 
ing crops  of  honey,  without  question,  so  far 
as  we  have  been  informed.  See  IIoney- 
I'LANTS  in  Index. 

ASTZSRS.  Under  this  head  we  have  a 
large  class  of  autumn  flowers,  most  of  which 
are  honey  -  bearing ;  they  may  be  distin- 


ASTER. 


guished  from  the  helianthus,  or  artichoke 
and  sunflower  family,  by  the  color  of  the  ray 
flowers.  The  ray  flowers  are  the  outer  col- 
ored leaves  of  the  flower,  which  stand  out 


AST  EES. 


36 


ASTERS. 


like  rays ;  in  fact,  the  word  aster  means  star, 
because  these  ray  flowers  stand  out  like  the 
rays  of  a  star.  Many  of  the  yellow  autumn 
flowers  are  called  asters,  but  this  is  an  error ; 
for  the  asters  are  never  yellow,  except  in 
the  center.  The  outside,  or  rays,  are  blue, 
purple,  or  white.  You  may  frequently  And 
half  a  dozen  different  varieties  growing  al- 
most side  by  side.  Where  there  are  many 
acres  of  them,  they  sometimes  yield  con- 
siderable honey,  but  some  seasons  they 


seem  to  be  unnoticed  by  the  bees.  I  do  not 
think  it  will  pay  to  attempt  to  cultivate 
them  for  honey ;  better  move  your  bees  to 
where  they  grow  naturally,  when  you  have 
determined  by  moving  a  single  hive  first,  as 
a  test,  whether  they  are  yielding  honey  in 
paying  quantities. 

Where  the  asters  and  goldenrod  abound 
largely,  it  may  be  best  to  defer  feeding  un- 
til these  plants  have  ceased  to  yield  honey, 
say  the  last  of  September. 


PET  be;ar  taking  honey  from  a  muth  jar. 


B 


BAHRXSLS.  The  regular  size  of  about 
31  or  32  gallons  is  proba'bly  the  cheapest 
size,  but  it  has  been*  objected  to  on  ac- 
count of  the  difficulty  of  handling  so  great 
a  weight  as  350  to  400  lbs.,  which  the  barrel 
and  all  would  weigh.  This,  however,  is  no 
great  objection  to  one  who  knows  how  to 
"take  the  advantage"  of  a  barrel,  as  my 
father  used  to  express  it  to  "  us  boys,"  when 
we  were  loading  stone  ;  and  as  economy  of 
money  as  well  as  "  traps  "  is  quite  an  item 
where  we  have  tons  of  honey,  I  think  we  had 
better  have  large  barrels  principally.  The 
large  extracted-honey  men,  as  a  rule,  use 
second-hand  alcohol-barrels  having  a  capac- 
ity of  about  500  lbs.  of  honey.  They  can 
usually  be  purchased  of  druggists  anywhere 
from  75  cts.  to  $1.25.  If  thoroughly  washed 
out  they  are  perfectly  wholesome  for  honey. 

For  smaller-sized  packages,  cypress  kegs 
holding  from  75  to  200  lbs.  have  the  general 
preference.  Neither  these  nor  the  alcohol- 
barrels  need  to  be  waxed  inside ;  but  it 
should  be  understood,  that,  the  smaller  the 
package,  the  more  expensive  it  is  per  pound. 
Cypress  kegs  of  50  lbs.  capacity  cost  about 
40c  each;  100  lbs.  capacity,  60c ;  175  lbs.,  80c. 

Kegs  and  barrels  should  not  be  used  in  lo- 
calities where  the  atmosphere  is  very  dry. 
In  California,  for  instance,  square  tin  cans 
have  to  be  used  exclusively.  Any  wooden 
receptacle  would  shrink  so  as  to  be  utterly 
useless ;  but  in  most  of  the  cities  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  barrels  and  kegs  certainly  have 
the  preference  on  account  of  convenience  in 
handling,  their  strength  and  consequent 
proof  against  breakage  in  shipment,  and  in 
general  their  cheapness.  The  buyer  prefers 
them  to  the  square  can  for  the  trade. 
An  objection  to  the  square  can  is,  that  if  a 
hole  is  punched  in  them  with  a  nail,  in  box- 
ing, or  they  happen  to  be  racked,  in  truck- 
ing, so  as  to  break  the  solder  joint,  in  a 
large  pile  it  is  diflQcult  to  tell  just  where  the 
leak  is  ;  but  with  kegs,  as  they  are  not  box- 
ed, it  is  perfectly  easy  to  locate  the  trouble. 
When  stored,  kegs  and  barrels  should,  of 
course,  be  put  in  a  moist  place,  a  cellar  for 
instance.   See  Extracted  Honey. 

The  following  article,  written  by  Charles 
Dadant  &  Son,  of  Hamilton,  111.,  large  pro- 
ducers of  extracted  honey,  appeared  in  the 
American  Bee  Journal,  As  it  contains  so 
many  practical  hints  we  reproduce  it  here  : 


We  have  always  used  second-hand  barrels  lor  ex- 
tracted honey.  Those  that  we  prefer  are  barrels  that 
have  contained  pure  alcohol.  Such  barrels  are  not 
charred  inside,  but  are  gummed  instead  with  a  prep- 
aration of  glue  which  does  not  dissolve ;  and  they  do 
not  leak  unless  they  have  been  exposed  to  the  weath- 
er, or  filled  with  water. 

We  have  also  used,  without  unpleasant  effects, 
whisky-barrels;  but  these  are  often  charred  on  the 
inside,  and  this  must  be  ascertained  before  they  are 
used,  as  it  is  of  great  importance.  The  little  pieces  of 
charcoal  which  become  loosened  from  the  walls  of 
the  barrel  mix  with  the  honey,  and  are  very  difficult 
to  remove,  as  they  float  about  in  the  honey  after  hav- 
ing become  soaked  in  it.  Charred  barrels  should  be 
discarded. 

We  would  not  advise  the  use  of  any  other  barrels, 
unless  they  are  new.  We  will  say,  however,  that  a 
barrel  that  has  contained  wine,  molasses,  or  syrup, 
may  be  used  if  it  has  been  thoroughly  cleansed. 

To  cleanse  a  barrel  thoroughly,  it  is  best  to  remove 
oneliead;  and  some  care  must  be  exercised  in  order 
to  replace  it  in  the  same  position  or  the  barrel  might 
leak.   Observe  these  precautions: 

First  mark  the  head  and  the  chime,  or  end  of  staves, 
with  a  chisel  ol-  some  sharp  instrument,  so  that  you 
may  find  the  exact  position  occupied  by  the  head 
when  putting  it  back.  Mark  two  places  so  as  to  make 
sure.  Tlien  take  a  large  gimlet  and  screw  it  into  the 
middle  of  the  head  for  a  handle,  taking  care  not  to 
pierce  the  head  through.   Then  remove  all  the  hoops 
except  the  top  one.   They  may  also  be  marked  if 
necessarj',  so  as  to  be  returned  to  the  same  position. 
I  When  all  are  removed  but  one,  have  some  one  hold 
j  the  head  by  help  of  the  gimlet  until  the  last  hoop  is 
j  off.    When  the  barrel  has  been  cleaned,  put  the  head 
back  in  the  same  position. 
We  would  not  advise  any  one  to  use  barrels  having 
I  any  sour  or  smuttj'  smell;  but  such  barrels,  in  a  case 
of  necessity,  may  be  cleaned  by  washing  them,  after 
removing  the  head,  with  a  pint  of  oil  of  vitriol  mixed 
with  about  two  gallons  of  water,  or  with  a  little  cau- 
stic lime  diluted  in  water.  But  after  cleaning  a  bar- 
rel in  this  way  it  should  be  again  washed  with  water, 
and  scalded  if  need  be.   A  few  days  of  exposure  to 
the  air  will  help. 

'  Old  barrels,  the  wood  of  which  has  become  soaked 
i  with  water,  are  very  objectionable— the  more  so  as 
they  will  dry  when  filled  with  honey,  and  in  drying 
will  shrink  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  unable  to  hold 
their  contents.  The  right  kind  of  barrels  to  use 
should  not  leak  when  very  dry,  and  that  is  why  we 
prefer  the  alcohol-barrels  to  any  others,  as  the  very 
dryest  timber  is  used  in  their  manufacture. 

We  used  to  wax  barrels  years  ago,  but  abandoned 
the  practice,  as  we  found  it  rather  expensive  and 
inefficient. 

After  emptying  honey-barrels  we  place  them  in  a 
dry  shed.  We  do  not  wash  them  until  ready  to  fill 
them  again,  and  then  we  use  only  a  small  quantity  of 
hot  water.  We  use  iron-bound  barrels  exclusively,  as 
the  hoops  may  be  tightened  much  more  eflBciently 
than  wooden  hoops.  We  have  never  experienced  any 
diflBculty  in  procuring  all  the  barrels  we  needed,  at 
j  from  $1.00  to  $1.50  each,  even  in  the  season  of  1889, 


BARRELS. 


38 


BARRELS. 


"^hen  we  harvested  some  75  barrels  of  nice  clover 
Jioney.  Chas.  Dadant  &  Son. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  ad- 
dress of  the  late  C.  F.  Muth  (a  large  honey- 
buyer)  that  was  read  at  the  North  American 
Convention,  held  in  Chicago  in  Oct.,  1893  : 

No  barrels  require  waxing-  or  paraffining-,  but  all 
must  be  made  tight  when  dry,  then  cleaned  out  and 
filled  with  honey.  Especially  is  this  the  case  with 
second-hand  barrels.  They  must  be  made  perfectly 
tig-ht  by  having-  their  hoops  driven  when  dry,  in  order 
to  prevent  disappointment. 

We  had  several  times  an  unpleasant  correspondence 
with  parties  Avho  had  soaked  their  barrels  in  water  in 
order  to  make  them  tight,  and  who  did  not  know  that 
honey  would  absorb  every  drop  of  moisture  from  the 
staves,  g-radually  but  surely,  and  the  barrels  become 
more  leaky  every  day  as  the  absorption  of  moisture 
would  progress.  By  the  time  they  had  arrived  at 
Cincinnati  the  barrels  were  only  partially  full,  and, 
some  were  entirely  empty. 

Yes,  honey  seems  to  have  a  faculty  of  ab- 
sorbing every  particle  of  water  out  of  the 
wood  in  the  barrel  -  staves.  The  barrels 
should  be  hone-dry  if  possible. 

WAXmG  BARRELS  TO  PREVENT  LEAKING. 

Some  of  the  lai  ge  producers  of  extracted 
honey  seem  to  think  waxing  unnecessary; 
but  MS  others  may  think  diifereiitly,  it  may 
be  well  to  give  some  specific  instructions. 
The  plan  for  doing  this  is  simply  to  coat 
the  entire  inside  of  the  barrel  with  wax  or 
paraffine.  The  latter  we  consider  better,  as 
well  as  cheaper.  Wax  is  worth  from  25  to 
30c.  per  lb.,  but  the  paraffine  can  be  had  for 
10c.  As  the  latter  melts  at  a  lower  tempera- 
ture, and  is  more  limpid  when  melted,  a 
much  less  quantity  is  needed  to  coat  the  in- 
side thoroughly  and  fill  all  cracks  and  inter- 
stices, and  less  skill  and  expedition  is  needed 
in  its  manipulation.  You  should  have  about 
a  gallon  of  the  melted  liquid,  for  a  small 
quantity  will  not  keep  hot  until  you  can 
pour  out  the  remainder  after  the  w^axing  is 
done,  and  too  much  of  it  will  adhere  to  the 
inside  of  the  barrel.  Ten  or  12  lbs.  will  do  very 
well.  Have  your  bungs  nicely  fitted,  and 
a  good  hammer  in  readiness  to  get  the  bung 
out  quickly.  With  a  large-mouthed  tunnel, 
pour  in  the  hot  liquid,  and  bung  it  up  at 
once.  Now  roll  the  barrel  so  as  to  have  the 
wax  go  entirely  round  it,  then  twirl  it  on 
each  head,  and  give  it  another  spinning  so 
as  to  cover  perfectly  all  round  the  chime. 
This  operation  will  have  warmed  the  air  in- 
side to  such  an  extent  that  the  liquid  will 
be  forced  into  every  crevice;  and  if  there  is 
a  poor  spot,  you  will  hear  the  air  hissing,  as 
it  forces  the  liquid  through  it.  Just  as 
quickly  as  you  get  the  inside  covered,  loosen 
the  bung  with  your  hammer;  and  if  your 
work  is  well  done,  the  bung  will  be  thrown 


into  the  air  with  a  report.  Pour  out  the  re- 
maining liquid,  warm  it  up,  and  go  on  with 
the  rest.  If  the  weather  is  ccol,  you  must  put 
your  barrel  in  the  sun  until  it  is  dry  and  hut, 
turning  it  often,  and  driving  the  lioops  down 
before  you  pour  in  the  wax.  This  is  to  save 
your  material ;  for  if  the  barrel  is  cold,  it 
will  take  a  much  heavier  coating ;  and  the 
main  thing  is  simply  to  close  all  crevices. 

Caution :  —A  mixture  of  wax  and  rosin 
was  at  one  time  used  for  coating  barrels ; 
and  after  giving  it,  as  I  thought,  a  thorough 
test,  I  used  it  for  a  whole  crop  of  honey. 
The  result  was  that  the  honey  tasted  of  ros- 
in after  being  in  the  barrels  over  winter,  and 
it  was  sold  at  10  c.  when  it  would  otherwise 
have  brought  15c.  This  was  quite  a  serious 
matter,  as  some  of  the  journals  used  to  rec- 
ommend the  rosin. 

Honey  has  a  funny  way  of  expanding  dur- 
ing the  candying  process — it  wall  generally 
candy  as  soon  as  the  weather  gets  cold — and 
if  your  barrels  or  cans  do  not  give  it  room 
to  expand,  it  will  be  pretty  sure  to  push  out 
the  corks  or  bungs.  Some  kinds  of  honey 
expand  more  than  others  ;  and  under  some 
circumstances,  perfectly  ripened  honey  will 
candy  scarcely  at  all.  If  the  barrels  are  left 
not  quite  full,  and  then  filled  up  completely 
when  ready  to  ship,  there  will  be  very  little 
trouble. 

REMOVING  CANDIED  HONEY  FROM  BARRELS. 

Good  thick  honey  will  usually  become  sol- 
id at  the  approach  of  frosty  weather,  and 
perhaps  the  readiest  means  of  getting  it  out 
of  the  barrel  in  such  cases  is  to  remove  one 
of  the  heads,  and  take  it  out  with  a  scoop. 
If  it  is  quite  hard,  you  may  at  first  think  it 
quite  difficult  to  get  a  scoop  down  into  it ; 
but  if  you  press  steadily,  and  keep  moving 
the  scoop  slightly,  you  will  soon  get  down 
its  whole  depth.  If  the  barrel  is  kept  for 
some  time  near  the  stove,  or  in  a  very  warm 
room,  the  honey  will  become  liquid  enough 
to  be  drawn  out  through  a  large-sized  honey- 
gate. 

A  more  wholesale  way  of  removing  can- 
died honey  is  to  set  the  barrel  or  keg  in  a 
tub  or  wooden  tank  of  water.  The  latter  is 
kept  hot  by  a  small  steam-pipe.  In  24  or  36 
hours  the  honey  in  the  barrel  will  be  melted, 
and  can  then  be  drawn  out  in  the  usual  way. 

BASSWOOD.  With  perhaps  the  single 
exception  of  white  clover,  the  bass  wood,  or 
linden,  as  it  is  often  called,  furnishes  more 
honey  than  any  other  one  plant  or  tree 
known.  It  is  true,  that  it  does  not  yield 
honey  every  season,  but  what  plant  or  tree 
doesV3i  It  occasionally  gives  us  such  an  im- 


BASS  WOOD. 


39 


BASSWOOD. 


mense  flood  of  honey  that  we  can  afford  to 
wait  a  season  or  two,  if  need  be,  rather  than 
depend  on  sources  that  yield  more  regularly, 
yet  in  much  smaller  amounts.  If  a  bee- 
keeper is  content  to  wait— say  ten  or  fifteen 
years  for  the  re- 
alizatioii  ol  Ins 
hopes ;  oi  if  he 
has  an  Jiilc  i 
est  in 


be,  without  doubt,  of  great  value.  See  Ar- 
tificial, Pasturage.  Our  4000  trees  were 
planted  in  the  spring  of  1872,  and  in  1877 
many  of  them  were  bearing  fair  loads  of 
blossoms.  We  made  some  experiments  with 
basswood  seeds,  but  they  proved 
mostly  failures,  as  have  nearly  all 
similar  ones  we  have  heard  from. 
By  far  the  better  and  cheaper  way 
is  to  get  small  trees  from  the  forest. 
These  can  be  obtained  in  almost 
any  quantity,  from  any  piece  of 
woodland  from  which  stock  have 
been  excluded.  Cattle  feed 
upon  the  young  basswoods 
with  great  avidity,  and  pas- 
turing our  woodlands 
is  eventually  going  to 
cut  short  the  young 
growth  of  these 
trees  from  our 
forests,  as  well 
as  of  many 
others  that  are 
valuable. 
We  plant- 
ed trees  all 
the  way 
from  one  to 
ten  feet  in 


provid 
the  bee 
ers  of  a  future 
generation,  it 

will  pay  him  to  plant  basswoods.  A 
tree  that  was  set  out  just  about  ten 
years  ago,  in  one  of  our  streets,  now 
furnishes  a  profusion  of  blossoms, 
almost  every  year  ;  and  from  the  way 
the  bees  work  on  them  I  should  judge  it 
furnished  considerable  honey.  A  hundred 
such  trees  in  the  vicinity  of  an  apiary  would 


balls 

the 

from 


height.  The  larg- 
er ones  have,  as  a 
general  rule,  done 
best. 

The  cut  will  en- 
able any  one  to  dis- 
tinguish at  once 
the  basswood 
when  seen.  The 
clusters  of  little 
with  their  peculiar  leaf  attached  to 
seed-stems"  are  to  be  seen  hanging 
the  branches  the  greater  part  of 


AMERICAN  BASSWOOD,  OR  LINDEN.  32 


BASSWOOD. 


40 


BEE-BREAD. 


the  snnimer,  and  the  appearance,  both  be- 
fore and  after  blossoming,  is  pretty  much 
the  same.  The  blossoms  are  small,  of  a  light 
yellow  color,  and  rather  pretty ;  the  honey  is 
secreted  in  the  inner  side  of  the  thick  fleshy 
petals.  When  it  is  profuse  it  will  sparkle 
like  dewdrops  if  a  cluster  of  blossoms  is 
held  up  to  the  sunlight. 

Climatic  influences  have  their  effect  upon 
basswood.  Among  the  hills  of  York  State 
the  leaves  assume  mammoth  proportions. 
I  measured  one  that  was  14  in.  long. 
While  this  leaf  was  among  the  largest,  yet 
the  leaves  were,  on  the  average,  about  twice 
the  size  of  those  in  our  own  locality.  In 
Illinois  I  noticed  that  the  basswoods  seemed 
to  be  less  thrifty  than  in  Ohio.  The  leaves 
seemed  to  be  smaller,  and  the  bark  of  the 
trees  of  a  little  different  appearance.  The 
preceding  engraving  represents  quite  accu- 
rately the  typical  forms,  however.  The  Eu- 
ropean variety  has  smaller  leaves,  and  differs 
from  Tilia  Americana  in  a  few  other  minor 
respects. 

It  is  rather  to  be  regretted  that  this  tree 
is  not  more  plentiful  than  it  is.  It  is  one  of 
the  main  stays,  where  it  grows,  of  the  hon- 
ey-producer, and  one  of  the  most  valuable 
woods  in  manufacture.  It  will  hardly  do 
for  outside  exposure  to  the  weather ;  but  it 
is  admirably  adapted  for  packing -boxes, 
and  is  used  in  immense  quantities  in  the 
manufacture  of  furniture,  forming  the  bot- 
toms and  sides  of  drawers,  the  backs  of  bu- 
reaus, dressing-cases,  etc.,  and  it  is  also 
employed  extensively  in  the  manufacture  of 
paper ;  in  fact,  the  envelopes  that  are  sent 
out  from  the  Home  of  the  Honey-bees  are 
said  to  be  made  from  basswood  "pulp." 

It  has  often  been  said  that  we  are  cutting 
off  our  own  noses  in  using  it  for  one-piece 
sections— that  we  are  ''killing  the  goose  that 
lays  the  golden  egg."  Well,  it  is  true  that 
apiarian-supply  dealers  may  use  quite  a  lit- 
tle ;  but  still,  the  amount  that  they  use  is 
very  insignificant  in  comparison  with  that 
employed  by  furniture-makers,  packing-box 
concerns,  and  paper-makers. 

After  all,  there  is  one  redeeming  feature. 
The  basswood  is  a  very  rapid  grower.  We 
thought  at  one  time  that  we  had  used  about 
all  the  basswood  in  this  section,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  enormous  quantities  shipped  in 
from  Michigan  and  other  States.  But  some- 
how the  farmers  bring  in  beautiful  nice 
white  basswood  lumber;  and  where  they 
get  it  in  our  vicinity  is  a  sort  of  puzzle.  At 
least  some  of  this  lumber  is  from  a  second 
growth  of  trees  that  sprouted  ten  years  ago 


from  the  stumps  of  old  trees— said  trees  hav- 
ing been  cut  for  us  ten  years  ago.  If  bass- 
wood  will  replace  itself  in  ten  or  even  twen- 
ty years,  so  that  it  can  be  used  again  for 
lumber,  there  is  yet  hope  that  it  may  contin- 
ue to  bless  the  bee-keeper. 

But  over  against  this  is  the  stubborn  fact 
that  om'  basswoods  are  disappearing,  and 
rapidly,  too,  all  over  the  country.  During 
1899,  when  there  was  such  a  great  advance 
in  pine  lumber,  basswood  was  used  very 
largely  for  house-building,  with  the  conse- 
quence that  millions  of  feet  were  used. 

Basswood,  and  perhaps  most  other  forest- 
trees,  require  shade,  especially  when  young ; 
and,  much  to  our  surprise,  some  that  were 
planted  directly  under  some  large  white-oak 
trees  have  done  better  than  any  of  the  rest. 
Who  has  not  noticed  exceedingly  thrifty 
basswoods  growing  in  the  midst  of  a  clump 
of  briers  and  bushes  of  all  sorts?  I  would 
place  the  trees  not  more  than  12  feet  apart, 
for  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  thin  them  out 
whenever  they  are  found  too  close.  A 
neighbor  has  planted  basswoods  entirely 
round  his  farm  on  the  road-sides,  and  they 
add  much  to  the  comfort  of  travelers,  are 
pretty  to  the  sight,  and,  without  doubt,  will 
furnish  honey  enough,  in  time,  to  pay  all  ex- 
penses. 

The  best  yield  of  honey  we  have  ever  had 
from  a  single  hive,  in  one  day,  was  from  the 
basswood  bloom  ;  the  amount  was  43  lbs.  in 
three  days.^i  The  best  we  ever  recorded  from 
clover  was  10  lbs.  in  one  day.  The  honey 
from  the  basswood  has  a  strong  aromatic 
or  mint  flavor,  and  we  can  tell  when  the 
blossoms  are  out,  by  the  perfume  about  the 
hives.  The  taste  of  the  honey  also  indi- 
cates to  the  apiarist  the  very  day  the  bees 
commence  work  on  it.  The  honey,  if  ex- 
tracted before  it  is  sealed  over,  when  it  is 
coming  in  rapidly,  has  the  distinctive  flavor 
so  strong  as  to  be  very  disagreeable  to  some 
persons.  My  wife  likens  it  to  the  smell  and 
taste  of  turpentine  or  camphor,  and  very 
much  dislikes  it,  when  just  gathered ;  but 
when  sealed  over  and  fully  ripened  in  the 
hive,  she  thinks  it  delicious,  as  does  almost 
every  person. 

BEZS-BRXSAD.  A  term  in  common  use, 
applied  to  pollen  when  stored  in  the  combs. 
In  olden  times,  when  bees  were  killed  with 
sulphm'  to  get  at  the  honey,  more  or  less 
pollen  was  usually  found  mixed  with  the 
honey ;  it  has  something  of  a  "bready"  taste, 
and  hence,  probably,  came  its  name. 
Since  the  advent  of  the  extractor,  and  sec- 
tion boxes,  it  is  very  rare  to  find  pollen  in 


BEES  AND  GRA.PES. 


41 


BEE-HUNTING. 


the  honey   designed  for  table  use.  See 

POLLEX. 

BEZS-DBJESSS.   See  Veils. 
BZiZi-ZSSCAFZSS.    See  Co:mb  Hoxey, 

also  EXTKACTIXG. 

BBS'S  AND  G&AFES.  Nearly  ev- 
ery year  the  bee-keepers  are  met  with  com- 
plaints from  their  neighbors  about  how  the 
bees  are  eating  up  their  grapes.  It  has 
been  pretty  well  established  that  bees  never 
touch  the  perfectly  sound  fruit ;  and  until 
recently  it  was  supposed  by  all  fruit-grow- 
ers, and  even  by  some  bee-keepers,  that 
bees  made  a  small  round  punctme  through 
the  skin  of  some  soft  grapes  like  the  Niag- 
ara, and  es^en  pierced  the  more  hardy  Con- 
cords. But  more  recently  we  wei  e  success- 
ful in  finding  the  real  culprit,  and  that  was 
in  the  form  of  a  little  bird,  quick  of  flight, 
scarcely  if  ever  to  be  seen  around  the  vines 
when  any  human  being  was  present.  This 
bird,  about  the  size  of  a  sparrow,  striped, 
and  called  the  Cape  May  warbler  (Dendroica 
has  a  long  gharp  needle-like  beak. 
It  will  alight  on  a  bunch,  and,  about  as  fast 
as  one  can  count  the  grapes,  will  puncture 
berry  after  berry.  x\fter  his  birdship  has 
done  his  mischief  he  leaves,  and  then  come 
on  innocent  bees  to  finish  the  work  of  de- 
struction by  sucking  the  juices  of  the  pulp 
of  the  berry,  finally  leaving  it  dry  and  with- 
ered up.  While  the  birds  are  scarcely  ever 
"  caught  in  the  act."  the  bees,  ever  present 
during  all  the  hours  of  daylight,  receive  all 
the  credit  for  the  mischief. 

Grapes  broken  in  handling  will  be  visited 
by  bees  independently  of  any  tampering  on 
the  part  of  the  feathered  tribe  ;  and  at  such 
times  bees  do  very  often  vi'o^'e  to  be  quite  a 
nuisance  ;  but  it  may  be  said,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  broken  grapes  are  unsalable  any- 
how, and  therefore  this  damage  is  slight  if 
any,  and  the  real  mischief  or  harm  done  is 
simply  the  annoyance  caused  by  the  fear  of 
being  stung  while  handling  over  the 
bunches  in  the  basket. 

But  the  Cape  May  warbler  is  not  the  only 
little  culprit  guilty  of  puncturing  grapes. 
There  is  a  large  class  of  birds  that  have 
learned  this  wicked  habit,  and  among  them 
may  be  named  the  sparrow  ;  but  usually 
this  bird  is  not  the  one,  as  in  the  majority 
of  cases  it  seems  not  to  have  learned  the 
trick. 

Another  bird  that  punctures  grapes  about 
the  same  as  the  Cape  May  warbler  is  what 
is  known  as  the  Baltimore  oriole— a  beauti- 
ful bird  of  brilliant  plumage,  and  a  sweet 


;  singer  — sometimes  called  the  "swinging 
bird,''  from  its  habit  of  building  its  nest 
from  some  overhanging  limb  of  a  tree.  It 
pierces  the  grapes  in  the  same  way  as  the 
Cape  May  warbler,  leaving  the  bees  to  finish 
the  work  of  desti  uction.  There  are  other 
birds,  like  the  robins,  yellow-hammers,  and 

;  woodpeckers  that  eat  grapes,  but  their  dep- 
redations are  so  very  pronounced  that  the 

'  bees  are  not  blamed  for  their  mischief  as  is 
the  case  with  the  Cape  May  warbler  and  the 
Baltimore  oriole. 

For  fm'ther  information  regarding  grape- 
pimcturing  birds,  write  to  Dr.  Merriam,  of 
the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agricultiu'e,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

BEZi-HUN'TISfG-.  I  have  given  the 
warning  so  often,  against  leaving  sweets 
of  any  kind  about  the  apiary,  and  about  be- 
ing careful  not  to  let  the  bees  get  to  robbing 
each  other,  that  it  may  seem  a  little  queer 
to  be  directed  how  best  to  encourage  and  de- 
velop this  very  robbing  propensity  in  these 
little  friends  of  ours. 

The  only  season  in  which  we  can  trap  bees 
is  when  they  will  rob  briskly  at  home ;  for 
when  honey  is  to  be  found  in  the  flowers  in 
plenty,  they  will  hardly  deign  to  notice  our 
bait  of  even  honey  in  the  comb.  Before 
starting  out,  it  will  be  policy  to  inform  your- 
self of  all  the  bees  kept  in  the  vicinity,  for 
you  might  otherwise  waste  much  time  in 
following  lines  that  lead  into  the  hives  of 
your  neighbors.  You  should  be  at  least  a 
mile  from  any  one  who  has  a  hive  of  bees 
when  you  commence  operations,  and  it  were 
safer  to  be  two  miles.  I  do  not  mean  by 
this  to  say  that  there  are  no  bee-trees  near 
large  apiaries,  for  a  number  have  been  found 
within  half  a  mile  of  our  own,  and  an  expe- 
rienced hand  would  have  but  little  trouble  in 
finding  more,  in  all  probability  ;  but  those 
who  are  just  learning  would  be  very  likely 
to  get  very  much  perplexed  and  bothered  by 
domesticated  bees  mixing  with  the  wild 
ones. 

Perhaps  the  readiest  means  of  getting  a 
line  started  is  to  catch  the  bees  that  will  be 
found  on  the  flowers,  especially  in  the  early 
part  of  the  day.  Get  them  to  take  a  sip  of 
the  honey  you  have  brought  for  the  purpose, 
and  they  will,  true  to  their  instinctive  love 
of  gain,  speed  themselves  home  with  their 
load,  soon  to  return  for  another.  To  find 
the  tree,  you  have  only  to  watch  and  see 
where  they  go.  Very  simple,  is  it  not  V  It 
certainly  is  on  paper,  but  it  usually  involves 
a  deal  of  hard  work  when  carried  out  in 
I  practice.  You  can  get  along  with  very  sim- 


BEE-HraTmG. 


42 


BEE-HUNTINO. 


pie  implements;  but  if  your  time  is  valuable, 
it  may  pay  to  go  out  fully  equipped.  For 
instance,  a  small  glass  tumbler  will  answer 
to  catch  bees  with;  and  after  you  have  caught 
one,  you  can  set  the  glass  over  a  piece  of 
honey-comb.  Now  cover  it  with  your  hand- 
kerchief to  stop  its  buzzing  against  the  , 
glass,  and  it  will  soon  discover  the  honey, 
and  load  up.  Keep  your  eye  on  it ;  and 
as  soon  as  it  is  really  at  work  at  the  honey, 
gently  raise  the  glass  and  creep  away,  where 
you  may  get  a  good  view  of  proceedings. 
As  soon  as  it  takes  wing,  it  will  circle 
about  the  honey,  as  a  young  bee  does  in 
front  of  the  hive,  that  it  may  know  the  spot  ; 
when  it  comes  back;  for  a  whole  "chunk"  \ 
of  honey,  during  the  dry  autumn  days,  is 
quite  a  little  gold-mine  in  its  estimation. 
There  may  be  a  thousand  or  more  hungry 
mouths  to  feed,  away  out  in  the  forest  in  its 
leafy  home,  for  aught  we  know. 
If  you  are  quick  enough  to  keep  track  of 

■  its  eccentric  circles  and  oscillations,  you  will 
see  that  its  circles  become  larger  and  larger, 
and  that  each  time  it  comes  round  it  sways 
to  one  side  ;  that  is,  instead  of  making  the 
honey  the  center  of  its  circles,  it  makes  it 

■  almost  on  one  edge,  so  that  the  last  few  times 
it  comes  round  it  simply  comes  back  after 

Jt  has  started  home,  and  throws  a  loop,  as 
it  were,  about  the  honey  to  make  sure  of  it 
for  the  last  time.  jN'ow  you  can  be  pretty 
sure  which  way  its  home  lies  almost  the 
very  first  circuit  it  makes,  for  it  has  its 
home  in  mind  all  the  time,  and  bears  more 
and  more  toward  it. 

•  If  you  can  keep  your  eye  on  it  until  it 
finally  takes  the  "  bee-line  "  for  home,  you 
do  pretty  well,  for  a  new  hand  can  seldom  do 
this.  After  it  is  out  of  sight,  you  have  only 
to  wait  until  it  comes  back,  which  it  surely 
will  do,  if  honey  is  scarce.  Of  course,  if  its 
home  is  near  by,  it  will  get  back  soon;  and 
to  determine  how  far  it  is,  by  the  length  of 

.  time  it  is  ^one,  brings  in  another  very  im- 
portant point.   The  honey  that  the  bees  get  ■ 
from  the  flowers  is  very  thin ;  in  fact,  it  is 
nearer  sweetened  water  than  honey,  and 

■  if  you  wish  a  bee  to  load  up  and  fly  at  about 
'  a  natural  "  gait,"  you  should  give  it  honey 

diluted  with  water  to  about  this  consistency. 
Unless  you  do,  it  will  not  only  take  a  great 
deal  more  time  in  loading  up,  but  the  thick 
honey  is  so  much  heavier  it  will  very  likely 
stagger  under  the  load,  and  make  a  very 
crooked  bee-line  of  its  homeward  path.  Be- 
sides, it  will  take  much  more  time  to  unload. 
Sometimes,  after  circling  about  quite  a  time, 
it  will  stop  to  take  breath  before  going  '\ 


home,  which  is  apt  to  mislead  the  hunter 
unless  he  is  experienced ;  all  this  is  avoided 
by  filling  your  honey-comb  with  honey  and 
water,  instead  of  the  honey  alone. 

ISTow,  it  takes  quite  a  little  time  to  get  a 
bee  caught  and  started  in  the  work;  and 
that  we  may  be  busy,  we  will  have  several 
bees  started  at  the  same  time  ;  and  to  do  this 
expeditiously,  we  will  use  a  bee-hunting  box 
made  as  in  the  following  cut. 


BOX  FOK  BiEE-HUN TINO. 


This  is  simply  a  light  box  about  4i  inches 
square ;  the  bottom  is  left  open,  and  the  top 
is,  closed  with  a  sheet  of  glass  that  slides 
easily  in  saw-cuts  made  near  the  upper  edge. 
About  a  half-inch  below  the  glass  is  a  small 
feeder,  quite  similar  to  the  one  figured  in 
EEEDmG  AND  Feeders. 

HOW  TO  USE  TIIE  HUNTING-BOX. 

Take  with  your  box  about  a  pint  of  diluted 
honey  in  a  bottle.  If  you  fill  the  bottle  half 
full  of  thick  honey,  and  then  fill  it  up  with 
warm  water,  you  will  have  it  about  right.  In 
the  fall  of  the  year  you  will  be  more  likely 
to  find  bees  on  the  flowers  in  the  early  part 
of  the  day.  When  you  get  on  the  ground, 
near  some  forest,  where  you  suspect  the 
presence  of  wild  bees,  pour  a  little  of  your 
honey  into  the  feeder,  and  cautiously  set  the 
box  over  the  first  bee  you  find  upon  the 
flowers.  As  soon  as  the  box  is  well  over  the 
flower,  close  the  bottom  with  your  hand, 
and  it  will  soon  buzz  up  against  the  glass. 
Catch  as  many  as  you  wish,  in  the  same  way. 
and  they  will  soon  be  sipping  the  honey. 
Before  any  have  filled  themselves,  ready  to 
fly,  set  your  box  on  some  elevated  point, 
such  as  the  top  of  a  stump  in  an  open  space 
in  the  field,  and  draw  back  the  glass  slide. 
Stoop  down  now,  and  be  ready  to  keep  your 
eye  on  one,  w-hichever  way  it  may  turn.  If 
you  keep  your  head  low,  you  will  be  more 
likely  to  have  the  sky  as  a  background.  If 


BEE-HITNTTING. 


43 


BEE-HUNTIXG. 


you  fail  in  following  one,  you  must  try  the 
next ;  and  as  soon  as  you  get  a  sure  line  on 
one,  as  he  bears  finally  for  home,  be  sure  to 
mark  it  by  some  object  that  you  can  remem- 
ber. If  you  are  curious  to  know  how  long 
they  are  gone,  you  can,  with  some  white 
paint  in  a  little  vial,  and  a  pencil-brush, 
mark  one  of  them  on  the  back.*  This  is  quite 
a  help  where  you  have  two  or  more  lines 
working  from  the  same  bait.   When  a  bee 


A  BEE-TREE  IN  AN  OHJO  WOODS. 


comes  back,  you  will  recognize  it  by  the 
peculiar  inquiring  hum,  like  robbers  in  front 
of  a  hive  where  they  have  once  had  a  taste 
of  spoils.  If  the  tree  is  near  by,  each  one 
will  bring  others  along  in  its  wake,  and  soon 
your  box  will  be  humming  with  a  throng  so 
eager  that  a  further  filling  of  the  feeder  from 
the  bottle  will  be  needed.  As  soon  as  you 
are  pretty  well  satisfied  in  which  direction 
they  are  located,  you  can  close  the  glass  slide 
,  and  move  along  on  the  line, 
near  to  the  woods.  Open  the 
box,  and  you  will  soon  have 
them  just  as  busy,  again ; 
mark  the  line  and  move  again, 
^  ,  _  and  you  will  very  soon  follow 
kr^^]  them  to  their  home.    To  aid 

f  /  -  :^  you  in  deciding  just  where  they 
are,  you  can  move  off  to  one 
side  and  start  a  cross-line. t  Of 
course,  the  tree  will  be  found 
just  where  these  lines  meet; 
when  you  get  about  where  you 
think  they  should  be,  examine 
the  trees  carefully,  especially 
all  the  knot-holes,  or  any  place 
that  might  allow  bees  to  enter 
and  find  a  cavity.  If  you  place 
yourself  so  that  the  bees  will 
be  between  you  and  the  sun, 
you  can  see  them  plainly,  even 
if  they  are  among  the  highest 
branches.  Remember  you  are 
to  make  a  careful  and  minute 
examination  of  every  tree,  little 
and  big,  body  and  limbs,  even 
if  it  does  make  your  neck  ache. 
If  you  do  not  find  them  by  care- 
fully looking  the  trees  over,  go 
back  and  get  your  hunting-box, 
bring  it  up  to  the  spot,  and 
give  them  feed  until  you  get  a 
quart  or  more  at  work.  You 
can  then  see  pretty  clearly 
where  they  go.  If  you  do  not 
find  them  the  first  day,  you  can 
readily  start  them  again  almost 
any  time,  for  they  are  very 
quick  to  start,  when  they  have 


*  Since  this  was  written,  an  A  B  C  scholar  says:  | 
"  Bees  vary  in  their  flight.   But  I  have  found  that  i 
on  an  average  they  will  fly  a  mile  in  five  minutes,  j 
and  spend  about  two  minutes  in  the  hive  or  tree. 
Of  course,  they  will  spend  more  time  in  a  tree  when  | 
they  have  to  crawl  a  long  distance  to  get  to  the  j 
brood-nest,  hence  we  may  deduce  the  rule:  Sub-  | 
tract  two  from  the  number  of  minutes  absent,  and  ; 
divide  by  ten.   The  quotient  is  the  number  of  miles  ' 
from  the  stand  to  the  tree.   (See  Gleanings,  1887. 
page  431.)  This  applies  to  a  partially  wooded  coun-  i 
try.   Perhaps  in  a  clearing  they  could  make  better 
time.   On  a  very  windy  day  it  takes  them  longer 
to  make  trips."  | 


t The  same  writer  says  further:  "It  is  a  waste  of 
time  to  look  for  the  bee-tree,  or  to  make  cross-lines, 
until  you  get  beyond  the  tree.  When  the  bees  fly 
back  on  the  line,  you  may  rest  assured  that  you  are 
beyond  the  tree.  Move  your  last  two  stands  clos- 
er together  (lining  the  bees  carefully),  so  that 
they  are  only  ten  or  fifteen  rods  apart.  Now,  as 
you  have  bees  flying  from  two  directions  into  the 
tree  you  will  probably  discover  where  they  are  im- 
mediately. But  if  you  fail  to  find  them  easily, 
take  a  stand  off  to  one  side,  eight  or  ten  rods,  and 
cross-line.  This  is  the  only  place  that  I  find  a  cross- 
line  of  any  advantage."— See  Gleanings  in  Bee  Cid- 
ture,Vol.  XV.,  page  771. 


BEE-HUKTING. 


44 


BEE-HUNTING. 


once  been  at  work,  even  though  it  is  several 
days  afterward. 

Bees  are  sometimes  started  by  burning 
what  is  called  a  "  smudge."  Get  some  old 
bits  of  comb  containing  bee-bread  as  well 
as  honey,  and  burn  them  on  a  small  tin  plate,  | 
by  setting  it  over  a  little  fire.  The  bees  will 
be  attracted  by  the  odor  of  the  burning  honey  \ 
and  comb,  and,  if  near,  will  sometimes  come 
in  great  numbers.  Oil  of  anise  is  sometimes 
used,  to  attract  them  by  its  strong  odor.  We 
have  had  the  best  success  in  getting  them 
from  the  flowers  as  we  have  directed.  i 

A  spy-glass  is  very  convenient  in  finding 
where  the  bees  go  in,  especially  if  the  tree  is 
very  tall ;  even  the  toy  spy-glasses  sold  for  i 
50c.  or  a  dollar  are  sometimes  quite  a  help.  | 
The  most  serviceable,  however,  are  the  ach- 
romatic opera-glasses  that  cost  from  $3.00  to 
$5.00.   With  these  w^e  can  use  both  eyes,  and 
the  field  is  so  broad  that  no  time  is  lost  in 
getting  the  glass  instantly  on  the  spot.   We  ; 
can,  in  fact,  see  bees  with  them  in  the  tops  ' 
of  the- tallest  trees,  almost  as  clearly  as  we 
can  see  them  going  into  hives  placed  on  the  ! 
ground.  | 

After  you  have  found  the  tree,  I  presume  , 
you  will  be  in  a  hurry  to  get  the  bees  that  ' 
you  know  are  there,  and  the  honey  that  may 
be  there.   Do  not  fix  your  expectations  too 
high,  for  you  may  not  get  a  single  pound  of 
the  latter.    Of  two  trees  that  we  took  a  few  j 
years  ago,  one  contained  just  about  as  much 
honey  as  we  had  fed  them,  and  the  other 
contained  not  one  visible  cell  full !  The 
f  ormer  wwe  f air  hybrids,  and  the  latter  well- 1 
marked  Italians.   If  the  tree  is  not  a  valu-  | 
able  one,  and  stands  where  timber  is  cheap 
and  plentiful,  perhaps  the  easiest  way  may  be 
to  cut  it  down.  This  may  result  in  a  mashed- 
up  heap  of  ruins,  with  combs,  honey,  and  bees 
all  mixed  up  with  dirt  and  rubbish,  or  it  may 
fall  so  as  to  strike  on  the  limbs  or  small 
trees,  and  thus  ease  its  fall  in  such  a  way  as 
to  do  very  little  injury  to  the  hive  of  the 
forest.   The  chances  are  rather  in  favor  of 
the  former,  and  on  many  accounts  it  is  safer 
to  climb  the  tree  and  let  the  bee-hive  down 
with  a  rope.   If  the  hollow  is  in  the  body  of 
the  tree,  or  so  situated  that  it  can  not  be  cut  ■ 
off  above  and  below,  the  combs  may  be  taken  ' 
out  and  let  down  in  a  pail  or  basket ;  for  the  j 
brood-combs,  and  such  as  contain  but  little 
honey,  the  basket  will  be  rather  preferable. 
The  first  thing,  however,  will  be  to  climb  the 
tree  ;  and  as  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  give 
any  advice  in  my  ABC  book  that  might  in 
any  way  lead  to  loss  of  life,  I  will,  at  the  out-  ^ 
set,  ask  you  not  to  attempt  climbing  unless 


you  are,  or  can  be,  a  very  careful  person. 
An  old  gentleman  who  has  been  out  with 


CLIMBING  A  BEE-TREE,  88  FEET  FROM  THE  GROUND 


BEE-HU^^TIXG. 


4-5 


BEE-HUNTING. 


us  remarked  that  he  once  knew  a  very  ex- 
pert climber  who  took  all  the  bees  out  of  the 
trees  for  miles  around,  but  was  finally  killed 
instantly,  by  letting  his  hands  slip,  as  he  was 
getting  above  a  large  knot  in  the  tree.  TTe 
do  not  wish  to  run  any  risks,  where  hiunan 
life  is  at  stake. 

For  climbing  trees  12  or  18  inches  in  di- 
ameter, a  pair  of  climbers  are  used,  such  as 
is  shown  in  the  cut  below. 


CLniBEKS  FOR  BEE-HUXTEES.  I 

The  iron  part  is  made  of  a  bar  18  inches 
long,  I  wide  byi  thick.  At  the  lower  end  it 
is  bent  to  accommodate  the  foot  as  shown, 
and  the  spm's  are  made  of  the  best  steel, 
carefully  and  safely  welded  on.  These 
points  should  be  sharp,  and  somewhat  chisel- 
shaped,  that  they  may  be  struck  safely  into 
the  wood  of  the  tree ;  the  straps  will  be 
readily  understood  by  inspection.  TVhen  in  i 
use,  the  ring  A  is  slipped  over  the  spm-  B, 
and  the  straps  are  both  buckled  up  safely. 
If  the  tree  is  very  large,  the  climber  provides 
himself  with  a  tough  withe  or  whip,  of  some 
tough  green  bough,  and  bends  this  so  it  will 
go  around  the  trrmk.  while  an  end  is  held  in 
each  hand.  As  he  climbs  upward,  this-  is  I 
hitched  up  the  trimk.  If  he  keeps  a  sure 
and  firm  hold  on  this  whip,  and  strikes  his 
feet  into  the  ti'unk  firmly,  he  can  go  up  the 
most  forbidding  trees,  rapidly  and  safely. 
A  light  line,  a  clothes  -  line  for  instance,  | 
should  be  tied  around  his  waist,  that  he  may 
draw  up  such  tools  as  he  may  need.  The 
tools  needed  are  a  sharp  ax,  hatchet,  saw, 
and  an  auger  to  bore  in  to  see  how  far  the 
hollow  extends.  If  the  bees  are  to  be  saved, 
the  limb  or  tree  should  be  cut  off  above  the 
hoUow,  and  allowed  to  fall.  A  stout  rope 
may  be  then  tied  about  the  log  hive,  passed 
over  some  limb  above,  the  end  brought  down 
and  wrapped  about  a  tree  until  the  hive  is 


cut  off  ready  to  lower.  TThen  it  is  down, 
let  it  stand  an  hour  or  two,  or  until  smidown, 
when  all  the  bees  will  have  found  and  en- 
tered the  hive.  Cover  the  entrance  with 
wire  cloth,  and  take  it  home. 


ANOTHER  BEE-TBEE,  11  FEET  IN  DIAMETER, 
CLIMBED  BY  GREEN  DERRINGTON. 

There  are  some  trees,  indeed,  so  large  that 
would  be  impossible  to  climb  them  with 


BEE-HUNTING. 


46 


BEE  HUNTING. 


the  implements  already  given.  A  very  in- 
genious plan,  however,  has  been  put  into 
execution  by  Mr.  Green  Derrington,  of  Pop- 
lar Bluff,  Mo.  I  give  his  description,  to- 
gether with  a  couple  of  engravings  made 
from  photographs  which  he  sent. 

I  send  you  photographs  of  some  large  trees, 
which  I  climbed  hy  means  of  spikes  and  staples.  To 
prevent  the  possibility  of  falling  I  put  a  belt  under 
my  arms.  To  this  I  attached  two  chains.  At  the 
end  of  each  chain  is  a  snap.  My  method  of  climbing 
is  as  follows:  After  ascending  the  ladder  as  far  as  I 
can  go  I  drive  into  the  side  of  the  tree  a  large  bridge 
spike,  far  enough  into  the  wood  to  hold  my  weight. 
A  little  further  up  I  diive  another  spike.  In  be- 
tween the  spikes  I  drive  the  first  staple,  and  to  this 
I  attach  the  first  chain  by  means  of  the  snap,  and 
ascend  by  the  nails  as  far  as  the  chain  will  allow  me; 
I  then  drive  another  staple,  and  attach  the  other 
chain,  and  next  loosen  the  lower  snap.  After  driv- 
ing in  more  spikes,  I  again  ascend  as  high  as  the 
chain  will  allow  me,  and  attach  the  other  chain  to 
another  staple.  In  this  manner  I  can  make  my  as- 
cent with  perfect  security. 

The  tree  in  the  first  picture  is  7  feet  in  diameter 
at  the  foot.  If  you  will  follow  all  along  up  the  body 
of  the  tree,  just  above  the  crotch  on  the  right  limb 
you  will  see  your  humble  servant,  88  feet  from  the 
ground.  The  tree  stands  close  to  the  Black  River,  in 
a  graveyard,  and  from  it  I  obtained  53  lbs.  of  honey. 
Your  climbers  are  excellent  for  small  trees,  say 
from  two  to  three  feet  in  diameter;  but  the  tree 
illustrated  has  such  a  rough  and  uneven  bark,  and 
is  so  large,  that  it  would  be  diflBcult  to  climb  it  with- 
out the  aid  of  spikes  and  the  staples  I  have  men- 
tioned. On  account  of  the  large  knots  it  would  be 
impossible  to  use  a  rope,  or  something  similar,  to 
hitch  up  by  climbers,  as  described  in  the  ABC 
book.  Knots  are  not  in  my  way  when  I  use  spikes 
and  staples.  Green  Derrington. 

Poplar  Bluff,  Batler  Co.,  Mo. 

_If  you  want  only  the  honey,  and  do  not 
care  for  the.  bees,  you  can  slab  off  one  side 
of  the  hollow,  cut  out  the  combs,  and  let 
them  down  in  pails.  The  bees  can  very  oft- 
en be  saved  in  this  w^ay,  as  well  as  the 
honey.  Fix  the  brood-combs  about  the  right 
distance  apart,  in  a  pail  or  basket ;  the  bees 
will  in  time  collect  about  them,  and  may 
then,  toward  dark,  be  carried  safely  home. 
Many  bee-hunters  brimstone  the  bees ;  but  I 
am  so  averse  to  any  such,  method  of  killing 
bees,  that  I  have  not  even  the  patience  to 
describe  it.  Sometimes  the  hollow  is  below 
the  limbs ;  in  this  case  the  climber  passes  a 
surcingle  about  him,  under  his  arms,  around 
the  tree.,  and  in  this  position  chops  the  bees 
out.  I  have  said  nothing  about  smoke  or 
veils;  for  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  none 
seem  to  be  needed.  The  bees  become  so 
frightened  by  the  chopping  that  they  are 
perfectly  conquered,  and  cease  entirely  to 
act  on  the  offensive. 
Once  when  we  hid  cut  down  a  bee  tree,  a 


.  whole  flock  of  schoolchildren  rushed  out  to 
see  the  fun,  for  the  country  schoolhouse  was 
near  at  hand.  Although  the  children  fairly 
hovered  over  the  tree,  bees  flying  all  about 
in  the  air,  and  crawling  all  over  the  place 
which  had  once  been  their  home,  not  one  of 
them  offered  to  sting.  They  were  so  com- 
pletely demoralized  that  they  could  be  han- 
dled just  like  so  many  flies.  Of  course, 
when  one  was  pinched  it  would  sting.  In 
the  picture  shown,  the  bee-men  or  bee-hunt- 
ers wore  veils.  The  anomaly  of  the  situa- 
tion of  the  protected  experts  and  unprotect- 
ed children  was  not  discovered  until  after 
the  camera  had  done  its  work.  The  fact 
was,  the  veils  were  needed  immediately 
after  the  falling  of  the  tree,  but  not  a  few 
minutes  af  terwa'  d. 

After  you  have  got  them  down  where  the 
combs  can  be  reached,  the  usual  directions 
for  transferring  are  to  be  followed.  A  bee- 
keeper who  has  a  taste  for  rustic  work 
might  set  the  log  up  in  his  apiary,  just  to 
show  the  contrast  between  the  old  style  of 
bee-keeping  and  the  new.  Some  very  inter- 
:  esting  facts  are  to  be  picked  up  in  bee-hunt- 
I  ing.  One  of  the  trees  we  once  cut  con- 
I  tained  comb  as  much  as  a  yard  long,  and  not 
more  than  8  inches  wide  in  the  widest  part. 
It  has  been  said,  that  bees  in  a  state  of  na- 
ture select  cavities  best  adapted  to  their 
needs.  I  am  inclined  to  think  this  very  poor 
reasoning.  If  a  farmer  allowed  nature  to 
take  care  of  his  corn-fields,  he  would  get  a 
very  poor  crop ;  and  from  what  I  have  seen 
of  bee-trees,  I  should  judge  the  poor  fellows 
need  to  be  taken  care  of,  almost  as  much  as 
the  corn.  We  often  get  100  lbs.  of  comb 
honey  from  a  hive,  but  I  never  knew  a  bee- 
tree  to  give  any  such  amount,  as  the  product 
of  a  single  season.  We  sometimes  find  quite 
a  quantity  of  honey  in  a  tree,  it  is  true  ;  but 
it  is  usually  old  honey,  and  often  the  accu- 
mulation of  several  years. 

There  are  more  bees  in  the  woods  than  w^e 
perhaps  have  any  idea  of,  especially  in  the 
neighborhood  of  considerable  apiaries.  In 
one  of  my  first  trials  at  bee-hunting  I  started 
a  fine  line,  directly  toward  the  woods,  but  I 
looked  in  vain  for  bees,  after  going  into 
them,  and  finally  gave  it  up.  A  few  days 
afterward  I  got  an  old  hand  at  the  business 
to  hunt  them  up  for  me,  and  he  almost  at 
once  pointed  out  a  tree  plainly  visible  from 
where  they  w^ere  baited,  standing  in  the  open 
lot.  As  the  tree  contained  very  thick  old 
honey,  it  had  probably  stood  there  unnoticed 
for  years,  and  yet  it  was  in  plain  sight. 
The  same  hunter  very  soon  found  another, 


47 


BETEHVXTIXG. 


but  a  little  distance  from  this  oue.  'And 
within  a  few  days  we  had  found  two  more 
in  that  same  locality.^e 

DOES  BEE-HUXTIXG  PAY  ? 

If  you  can  earn  a  dollar  per  day  at  some 
steady  employment.  I  do  not  think  it  would, 
as  a  rule  :  hut  there  are  doubtless  localities 
where  an  expert  would  make  it  pay  well,  in 
the  fall  of  the  year.  TMth  the  facilities  we 
now  have  for  rearing  bees,  a  bee-keeper 
would  stock  an  apiary  much  quicker  by 
rearing  the  bees  than  he  would  by  bringing 
them  home  fi'om  the  woods,  and  transfer- 
ring. "In  the  former  case  he  would  have 
nice  straight  combs,  especially  if  he  used 
foundation,  but  the  combs  from  the  woods 


the  sweet  water  out  of  the  little  hollow  balls, 
or  rather  pitcher-shaped  blossoms. 

XEVER  QUARREL  ABOUT  BEE-TREES. 

^"hen  you  have  found  your  tree,  go  at 
once  to  the  owner  of  the  land,  and  get  per- 
mission to  take  your  bees.  Xo  matter  what 
the  law  allows,  do  nothing  in  his  absence 
you  would  not  do  if  he  were  standing  by, 
and  do  your  work  with  as  clear  a  conscience 
as  you  would  work  in  your  own.  bee-yard. 
Many  quarrels  and  disagreements  and  much 
hard  feeling  have  been  engendered  by  cut- 
ting bee-trees.  If  I  am  correctly  informed, 
bees  are  the  property  of  whoever  finds  them 
first ;  and  on  this  account  it  is  customary  to 
cut  the  initials  of  the  finder,  with  the  date, 


A  BhK-TRJ=.K  ivAlD  LOW,   SHuWINt.;  CAVITY  THAT  FORMERLY  HLLD  TuL 


,LS. 


would  require  a  great  amount  of  fussing 
with,  and  they  would  never  be  nearly  as  nice 
as  those  built  on  the  foundation,  even  then. 
So  much  by  way  of  discouragement.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  ramble  in  the  woods,  such  as 
bee-hunting  furnishes,  is  one  of  the  most 
healthful  forms  of  recreation  that  I  know 
of;  and  it  gives  one  a  chance  to  study,  not 
-only  the  habits  of  the  bees,  but  the  flowers 
as  well :  for  in  hmiting  for  a  bee  to  start 
with,  we  find  many  plants  that  are  curious 
and  many  that  we  would  not  otherwise 
know  they  freqiiented.  In  some  of  our  trips 
we  were  astonished  to  find  the  Simpson 
honey-plant,  of  which  so  much  has  been  said 
in  our  back  journals,  growing  in  our  o^'n 
neighborhood,  and  we  saw  the  bees  drinking 


in  the  body  of  the  tree :  but  you  have  no 
more  right  to  cut  the  owner's  timber  with- 
out permission  than  you  have  to  cut  his  corn. 
I  have  never  found  any  one  inclined  to  with- 
hold consent,  when  he  was  politely  aslxied 
for  permission  to  get  our  bees  out  of  the 
trees.  I  do  not  wonder  that  people  feel 
cross  when  their  timber  is  mutilated  by  rov- 
ing idlers,  and  I  can  scarcely  blame  them 
for  giving  a  wholesome  lesson  now  and  then 
just  to  remind  us  that  we  have  laws  in  our 
comitry  for  their  protection,  I  hope  my 
readers  will  have  no  disposition  to  trespass 
on  the  premises  or  rights  of  any  one.  with- 
out permission.  The  most  difficult  and  par- 
ticular person  in  your  neighborhood  will,  in 
all  probability,  be  found  pleasant  and  accom- 


BEE-MOTH. 


48 


BEE-MOTH. 


modating,  if  you  go  to  him  in  a  pleasant  and 
neighborly  way. 
BEE.KEEFING  AS  A  SPECIALTY.  See 

Buying  Bees,  also  Biographical  Sketches, 
in  the  back  part  of  this  work. 

1S-3VEOTH.  When  you  hear  a  person . 
complaining  that  the  wax-worm  killed  his 
bees,  you  can  set  him  down  at  once  as 
knowing  very  little  about  bees;  and  if  a 
hive  is  offered  you  that  has  an  attachment 
or  trap  to"  catch  or  kill  moths,  you  can  set 
the  vender  down  as  a  vagabond  and  swin- 
dler. You  can  scarcely  plead  ignorance  for 
him;  for  a  man  who  will  take  upon  himself 
the  responsibility  of  introducing  hives, 
without  knowing  something  of  our  modern 
books  and  bee-journals,  should  receive  treat- 
ment sufficiently  rough  to  send  him  home, 
or  into  some  business  he  understands. 

When  a  colony  gets  weakened  so  much 
that  it  can  not  cover  and  protect  its  combs, 
robbers  and  wax- worms  help  themselves  as 
a  natural  consequence,  but  either  rarely  do 
any  harm  if  there  are  plenty  of  bees,  and  a 
clean  tight  hive.  If  a  hive  is  so  made  that 
there  are  crevices  which  will  admit  a  worm, 
and  not  allow  a  bee  to  go  after  it,  it  may 
make  some  trouble  in  almost  any  colony; 
and  I  can  not  remember  that  I  ever  saw  a 
patented  moth-proof  hive  that  was  not 
much  worse  in  this  respect  than  a  plain  sim- 
ple box  hive.  A  plain  simple  box  is,  in  fact, 
all  we  want  for  a  hive  ;  but  as  we  must  have 
the  combs  removable,  we  must  have  frames 
to  hold  them ;  and  if  these  frames  are  made 
so  that  bees  can  get  all  round  and  about 
them,  we  have  done  all  we  can  to  make  a 
moth-proof  hive. 

Of  course,  colonies  will  at  times  get  weak- 
ened ;  and  with  the  best  of  care,  with  the 
common  bees  especially,  worms  will  some- 
times be  found  in  the  combs,  ^^ow  if  you 
have  the  simple  hive  I  shall  recommend, 
you  can  very  quickly  take  out  the  combs, 
and  with  the  point  of  your  knife  remove 
every  web  and  worm,  scrape  off  the  debris, 
and  assist  the  bees  very  much.  If  there  is 
an  accumulation  of  filth  on  the  bottom- 
board,  lift  out  all  the  combs,  and  brush  it 
all  off,  and  be  sure  you  crush  all  the  worms 
in  this  filth,  for  they  will  crawl  right  back 
into  the  hive,  if  carelessly  thrown  on  the 
ground. 

If  you  keep  only  Italians,  or  even  all  hy- 
brids, you  may  go  over  a  hundred  colonies 
and  not  find  a  single  trace  of  a  wax-worm. 
At  the  very  low  price  at  which  Italian 
queens  are  now  to  be  purchased,  it  would 
seem  that  we  are  very  soon  to  forget  that  a 


bee-moth  ever  existed  ;37  and  the  readiest  way 
I  know  of  to  get  combs  that  are  badly  infest- 
ed, free  from  worms,  is  to  hang  them,  one 
at  a  time,  in  the  center  of  a  full  hive  of  Ital- 
ians. You  will  find  all  the  webs  and  worms 
strewed  around  the  entrance  of  the  hive,  in 
a  couple  of  hours,  and  the  comb  cleaned  up 
nicer  than  you  could  do  it  if  you  were  to 
sit  down  all  day  to  the  task. 

HOW  TO  KEEP  EMPTY  COMBS  SECURE  FROM 
THE  WAX-WORMS. 

If  you  have  Italians  only,  you  may  have 
no  trouble  at  all,  without  using  any  precau- 
tion ;  but  if  there  are  black  bees  around  you, 
kept  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  or  in  patent 
hives,  you  will  be  very  apt  to  have  trouble, 
unless  you  are  careful.  Suppose,  for  in- 
stance, you  take  a  comb  away  from  the  bees 
during  the  summer  months,  and  leave  it  in 
your  honey-house  several  days ;  if  the  weath- 
er is  warm,  you  may  find  it  literally  infested 
with  small  worms,  and  in  a  few  days  more 
the  comb  will  be  entirely  destroyed.  Combs 
partly  filled  with  pollen  seem  to  be  the  es- 
pecial preference  of  these  greedy,  filthy-look- 
ing pests,  and  I  have  sometimes  thought 
they  would  do  but  little  harm,  were  it  not 
for  the  pollen  they  find  to  feed  on.  A  few 
years  ago  we  used  to  have  the  same  trouble 
with  comb  honey  when  taken  from  the  hive 
during  the  early  part  of  the  season ;  but  of 
late  we  have  had  less  and  less  of  it;  and 
during  late  years  I  have  scarcely  seen  a 
wax-worm  in  our  comb  honey  at  all,  and 
we  have  not  once  fumigated  our  honey- 
house.  I  ascribe  it  to  the  increase  of  the 
Italians  in  our  own  apiary,  and  those  all 
about  us,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  bees  in 
the  woods  are  now  partly  Italian.  These 
have  driven  the  moth  before  them  to  such  an 
extent  that  they  bid  fair  to  soon  become  ex- 
tinct. Perhaps  much  has  been  also  done  by 
keeping  all  bits  of  comb  out  of  their  way  ; 
no  rubbish  that  would  harbor  them  has  been 
allowed  to  accumulate  about  the  apiary;  and 
as  soon  as  any  filth  has  been  found  contain- 
ing them,  it  has  been  promptly  burned. 
Those  who  take  comb  honey  from  hives  of 
common  bees  are  almost  sure  to  find  live 
worms  in  them,  sooner  or  later. 

How  do  the  worms  get  into  a  box  of  honey 
that  is  pasted  up  tightly,  just  as  soon  as  the 
bees  are  driven  out  V  I  presume  they  get 
in  just  as  they  get  into  the  comb  taken  from 
a  hive  during  warm  weather.  The  moth 
has  doubtless  been  all  through  the  hive,  for 
it  can  go  where  a  bee  can,  and  has  laid  the 
eggs  in  every  comb,  trusting  to  the  young 
worms  to  evade  the  bees  by  some  means  aft- 


• 


BEE-MOTH. 


49 


BEE-MOTH. 


er  they  are  hatched.  This  explanation,  I 
am  well  aware,  seems  rather  unreasonable, 
but  it  is  the  only  one  I  can  give.  In  looking 
over  hives  of  common  bees,  I  have  often  seen 
moths  dart  like  lightning  from  crevices,  and 
have  sometimes  seen  them  dart  aiQong  the 
bees  and  out  again ;  but  whether  they  can 
deposit  an  egg  so  quickly  as  this,  I  am  un- 
able to  say.  In  taking  combs  from  the  hive 
containing  queen-cells  to  be  used  in  the  lamp 
imrsery,  I  have  always  had  more  or  less 
trouble  with  these  wax-worms.  The  high 
temperature,  and  absence  of  bees,  are  very 
favorable  to  their  hatching  and  groT\i:h,  and 
after  about  three  days  the  worms  are  invari- 
ably found  spinning  their  webs.  If  they  are 
promptly  picked  out,  for  about  a  week,  no 
more  make  their  appearance,  showing  clearly 
that  the  eggs  were  deposited  in  the  combs 
while  in  the  hive. 

When  the  queen-cells  are  nearly  ready  to 
hatch,  I  often  hear  the  queens  gnawing  out, 
by  holding  the  comb  close  to  my  ear.  By  the 
same  means,  I  hear  wax-worms  eating  out 
their  galleries  along  the  comb :  and  more 
than  once  I  have  mistaken  them  for  queens. 
They  are  voracious  eaters,  and  the  "  chank- 
ing  "  they  make,  when  at  full  work,  reminds 
one  of  a  lot  of  hogs.  As  they  are  easily 
frightened,  you  must  lift  the  combs  with 
great  care,  either  to  see  or  hear  them  at  their 
work. 

Their  silken  galleries  are  often  constructed 
right  through  a  comb  of  sealed  brood,  and 
they  then  make  murderous  work  with  the 
unhatched  bees.  Perhaps  a  single  worm  will 
mutilate  a  score  of  bees  before  it  is  dis- 
lodged. These  are  generally  found  at  the 
entrance  of  the  hive  in  the  morning,  and  nu- 
merous letters  have  been  received  from 
beginners,  asking  why  their  bees  should  tear 
the  unhatched  brood  out  of  the  combs,  and 
carry  it  out  of  the  hives.*  I  presume  the 
moth  is  at  the  bottom  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  of 
these  complaints.  If  you  examine  the  capped 
brood  carefuUy,  you  will  see  light  streaks 
across  the  combs  where  these  silken  galleries 
are  •,  and  a  pin  or  a  knife-point  will  quickly 
pry  his  wormship  out  of  his  retreat.  As  the 
young  worms  travel  very  rapidly,  it  is  quite 
likely  that  the  eggs  may  have  been  deposit- 
ed on  the  frame  or  edges  of  the  comb.  It  is 
a  little  more  difficult  to  understand  how  they 
get  into  a  honey-box  with  only  a  small  open- 
ing, but  I  think  it  is  done  by.  the  moth  while 
on  the  hive. 

You  may,  perhaps,  have  noticed  that  the 

*  Brood  that  has  been  chilled  in  early  spring  or  that 
has  been  overheated  from  any  cause  will  be  carried 
out  in  the  same  way. 


moth-webs  are  usually  seen  from  one  comb 
to  another,  and  they  seldom  do  very  much 
mischief  unless  there  are  two  or  more  combs 
side  by  side.  Well,  if  in  putting  away  your 
sm'plus  combs  for  winter  you  place  them  two 
inches  or  more  apart,  j^ou  will  seldOTn,_^  ,  3 
any  trouble,  even  should  you  leave  them  un- 
distm'bed  until  the  next  July.  There  is  no 
danger  from  worms,  in  any  case,  in  the  fall, 
winter,  or  spring,  for  the  worms  can  not  de- 
velop unless  they  have  a  summer  temper- 
ature, although  they  will  live  a  long  time  in 
a  dormant  state  if  not  killed  by  severe  freez- 
ing weather.  I  have  kept  combs  in  my  barn 
two  years  or  more;  but  they  were  not  re- 
moved from  the  hives  mitil  fall,  and  were 
kept  during  the  summer  months  in  a  close 
box,  where  no  moth  could  possibly  get  at 
them.  I  have  several  times  had  worms  get 
among  them  when  I  was  so  careless  as  to 
leave  them  exposed  during  warm  weather, 
and  one  season  I  found  nearly  1000  combs  so 
badly  infested  that  they  would  have  been 
almost  worthless  in  less  than  a  week.  The 
combs  were  all  hung  up  in  the  honey-house, 
and  then  about  a  pound  of  brimstone  was 
thrown  on  a  shovel  of  coals  in  an  old  kettle. 
This  was  placed  in  the  room,  and  all  doors 
and  windows  carefully  closed.  ]l!^'ext  morn- 
ing I  found  most  of  the  worms  dead  ;  but  a 
few  that  were  encased  in  heavy  webs  were 
still  alive;  after  another  and  more  severe 
fumigation,  not  a  live  one  was  to  be  fomid, 
and  my  combs  were  saved.  I  have  several 
times  since  fumigated  honey  in  boxes  in 
the  same  way.  The  following  extract  from 
Burfs  Materia  Medica  may  contain  some 
hints  as  valuable  to  apiarists  as  to  doctors  : 

In  the  form  of  sulphurous-acid  fumes,  or  g-as,  sul- 
phur is  the  most  powerful  of  all  known  agents  as  a 
disinfectant  and  deodorizer.  To  disinfect  a  room  and 
clothing-  from  infectious  diseases,  as  smallpox,  etc., 
first  close  up  the  chimney,  and  paste  up  all  crevices 
of  the  windows  and  doors  to  prevent  the  escape  of 
gas.  Now  raise  up  all  carpets,  and  hang  up  the 
cloths,  so  that  the  fumes  of  gas  may  have  complete 
access  to  them.  When  this  is  done,  set  a  tub  in  the 
center  of  the  room  with  six  inches  of  water  in  it ; 
in  the  center  of  this  water  place  a  stone  that  comes 
just  above  the  water;  on  this  stone  set  an  iron  ves- 
sel with  two  pounds  of  sulphur  bi'oken  up  into  quite 
fine  pieces  or  lumps ;  on  this  pour  a  few  ounces  of 
alcohol,  to  make  the  sulphur  burn  readily;  set  the 
alcohol  on  fire,  and  leave  the  room,  closing  the  door 
behind  you-  It  is  well  to  repeat  this  fumigation 
three  or  four  times. 

After  the  bees  have  died  in  a  hive,  it 
should  never  be  left  exposed  to  robbers  and 
moths,  but  should  be  carried  indoors  at  once, 
or  carefully  closed  up.  If  you  have  not  bees 
either  by  artificial  or  natm'al  swarming,  to 


BEE-MOTH. 


51 


BEE-MOTH. 


use  the  combs  before  warm  weather  you 
should  keep  a  careful  watch  over  them,  for 
a  great  amount  of  mischief  may  be  done  in 
a  very  few  days.  I  once  removed  some 
combs,  heavy  with  honey,  in  August,  and, 
thinking  no  worms  would  get  into  them  so 
late,  I  delayed  looking  at  them.  A  month 
later,  the  honey  began  to  run  out  on  the 
floor ;  and  upon  attempting  to  lift  out  a 
comb  it  was  found  impossible  to  do  so. 
When  all  were  lifted  up  at  once,  a  mass  of 
webs  nearly  as  large  as  one's  head  was 
found,  in  place  of  the  honey  and  combs.  So 
much  for  not  keeping  a  careful  watch  of 
such  property. 

Instead  of  brimstone  or  sulphm\  some 
bee-keepers  use  bisulphide  of  carbon,  the 
same  drug  that  has  been  spoken  of  under 
the  head  of  Axts,  which  see.  The  combs 
to  be  treated  are  placed  in  a  tight  box  or 
small  room.  A  vessel  of  the  liquid  is  then 
placed  inside  of  the  inclosure.  with  the 
combs  where  the  liquid  will  evaporate,  and 
the  fumes  rise  among  the  combs.  As  these 
fumes  are  very  destructive  to  all  forms  of 
insect  life,  they  make  very  short  work  of 
the  worms  and  moth-millers.  I  have  never 
tried  the  bisulphide,  but  some  prominent 
bee-keei  ers  speak  quite  favorably  of  it.  But 
in  this  connection  I  wish  to  say,  as  I  did 
under  the  head  of  Axts,  that  this  drug  is 
very  explosive ;  and  if  the  fumes  of  it  get 
into  a  room  where  there  is  a  stove,  open 
fireplace,  lamp,  or  gas-jet,  there  is  liable  to 
be  a  terrific  explosion. 

HOW   TO  IvEEP  E3IPTY  C031B>. 

TThen  combs  are  left  in  spring,  after  the 
death  of  the  bees  in  a  hive,  there  is  no  safer 
place  to  put  them  than  in  the  care  of  a  go.  d 
strong  colony.  Brush  oS  the  dead  bees  and 
put  the  combs  in  a  clean  hive  on  the  stand 
of  a  strong  colony,  and  then  place  the  colo- 
ny over  this  hive  of  empty  combs,  so  that 
they  will  be  obliged  to  pass  through  the  hive 
of  combs  to  go  in  or  out.  In  other  words, 
give  the  bees  no  entrance,  except  that  of  the 
lower  hive,  allowing  free  communication  be- 
tween the  two.  The  combs  will  be  kept 
free  from  worms  and  mold,  with  no  care 
whatever  on  your  part,  except  to  keep  the 
entrance  so  small  for  two  or  three  days  at 
fir^t  that  robbers  shall  not  trouble. 

After  the  weather  has  become  warm,  three 
or  four  stories  of  empty  combs  may  be  piled 
on  the  top  of  a  hive  containing  a  colony, 
with  a  queen-excluder  between,  and  a  frame 
of  brood  in  the  upper  story  to  make  sure 
that  the  bees  traverse  all  the  combs. 


By  way  of  summing  up,  I  would  say :  Use 
plain,  simple,  inexpensive  hives:  get  Italians 
as  soon  as  you  can;  keep  your  colonies  strong; 
be  sure  that  none  of  them  by  any  means  be- 
comes queenless,  and  you  need  have  no  so- 
licitude in  regard  to  the  bee-moth  among 
your  bees.  If  you  have  spare  combs,  or 
comb  honey  that  has  been  taken  away  from 
the  bees  in  warm  weather,  keep  an  eye  on  it, 
and  either  destroy  the  worms  as  soon  as 
they  appear,  or  fumigate  them  as  I  have  di- 
rected. When  your  eye  has  become  trained, 
you  will  detect  the  very  first  appearance  of 
a  worm  by  its  excrement,  in  the  shape  of  a 
fine  white  powder.  TTe  sometimes  himt 
them  out  thus  and  destroy  them,  when  they 
are  so  small  as  to  be  only  just  visible  to  the 
naked  eye.  Giving  yoiu'  combs  a  good  freeze, 
say  a  temperature  of  15  or  20^,  will  answer 
the  same  purpose  as  the  fumigation.  Then 
they  must  be  kept  in  a  tight  box.  or  hives 
closed  tight,  to  exclude  moths,  until  wanted. 

BEE-3I0TH  IX  HIGH  ALTITUDES. 

In  Colorado,  or  at  least  in  the  region  . oE 
Denver,  where  the  elevation  is  fully  a 
mile  abcn-e  the  level  of  the  sea,  the  ordinary 
wax- moths  are  unkno^Ti.  The  great  eleva- 
tion seems  to  be  more  than  they  can  stand. 
There  is.  however,  a  very  small  wax-worm, 
but  it  is  not  the  same  that  ordinarily  trou- 
bles bee-keepers. 

The  Government  Entomologist  for  New 
South  Wales,  Australia,  Mr.  Sidney  Olliff, 
wrote  an  article  on  the  subject  of  bee-moth 
for  the  Xew  South  Wales  Agricultural  Ga- 
zette. There  is  so  much  of  value  in  it,  espe- 
cially as  it  describes  the  same  pest  we  have 
here,  that  T  have  dee  ded  to  reproduce  it 
in  these  columns.  The  illustration  accom- 
panying it  is  especially  accurate. 

The  bee-moths,  or  bees%vax  moths,  of  which  there 
are  two  distinct  kinds  commonly  found  in  Australia, 
are  so  well  known,  and  have  been  so  frequentlj-  figured 
and  described,  that  it  will  not  be  necessar>'  to  give 
very  detailed  or  technical  descriptions  of  them  hete. 
A  considerable  number  of  inquiries  have  been  received 
during  the  past  few  years  regarding  these  destructive 
moths,  chiefly  from  amateur  bee-keepers  ;  and  it  may, 
therefore,  be  useful  to  publish  a  few  notes  concerning 
the  habits  and  seasonal  appearan.e  of  these  insects  in 
Australia,  more  especiall5-  as  I  am  able  to  add  some 
information  regarding  remedial  and  preventive  meas- 
ures for  the  suppression  of  the  pests,  which  have  been 
fuund  satisfactory  by  experienced  bee-keepers.  The 
la'gerof  the  beeswax  moths — properly  known  as  GaL- 
leria  yfielloneJla,  r,inn.,  but  sometimes  called  by  the 
name  Galleria  cereava.  Fabr. — appears  to  be  by  far  the 
more  destructive  of  the  two  in«ec  s.  It  i-»  a  ver5'  wide- 
ly distributed  specie-;,  being  found  throughout  Europe 
and  North  America,  in  India,  and  even  in  the  cold  re- 
gions of  Northern  Si  eria  ;  indeed,  ii  appears  to  have  a 
range  that  is  co-extensive  with  that  of  the  bee-hive  it- 


BEE-MOTH. 


52 


BEES. 


self.  Til  warm  countries  it  is  much  more  abundant, 
and  therefore  destruct  ve,  than  in  temperate  or  cold 
climates,  a  fact  which  is  probahh  accounted  fur  ly  the 
varying  number  of  broods  or  generations  which  occur 
in  a  season  under  different  cl.matic  conditions.  With 
us  in  New  South  Wales  the  first  brood  of  moih  appears 
in  the  early  spring  from  caterpillars  which  have  pass- 
ed the  winter  in  a  semi-dormant  condition,  within  the 
walls  of  their  silken  coverings,  and  only  turned  to 
pupae  or  chrysalids  upon  the  approach  of  warm  weath- 
er. These  winter  (or  hibernating)  caterpillars  feed 
very  little,  and  usually  confine  their  wanderings  to  the 
silken  channels  which  they  have. made  for  themselves 
before  the  cool  weather  sets  in.  Upon  the  return  of 
the  desired  warmth  the  caterpillars  spin  a  complete 
cocoon  for  themselves  and  turn  to  the  chrysalis  stage, 
and  in  from  ten  days  to  a  fortnight  the  perfect 
moth  appears.  The  moth  then  lay  eggs  in  any  con- 
venient spot,  such  as  the  sides  and  bottoms  of  the 
frames,  on  the  walls  of  the  hive  itself,  or  on  the  comb. 
In  each  case  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  observing 
the  process,  the  moth  chose  the  sides  of  the  frames, 
as  near  to  the  brood-comb  as  possible,  the  young  larvae 
having  a  decided  preference  for  this  comb.  The  larvae 
having  once  made  their  appearance,  which  they  usual- 
ly do  in  from  eight  to  ten  daj's  after  the  laying  of  the 
eggs,  their  growth  is  exceedingly  rapid,  the  average 
time  before  they  are  ready  to  assume  the  chrysalis 
stage  being  only  some  thirty  days.  The  average  dura- 
tion of  the  chrysalis  period  is  about  a  fortnight,  so  it 
can  easily  be  seen  with  what  great  capabilities  for  rap- 
id reproduction  we  have  to  deal.  As  we  have  said,  the 
number  of  generations,  or  broods,  which  develop  in  a 
season,  i.  e.,  between  early  spring  and  late  autumn, 
varies  with  locality  and  climate,  but  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  record  that,  in  n\y  opinion,  we  have  sufficient 
evidence  to  prove  the  existence  of  four  broods  in  the 
Sydney  district  under  ordinary  circumstances.  I  have 
myself  bred  three  generations,  or  broods,  from  a  comb 
received  in  earlj' spring  from  the  Richmond  River; 
and  I  am  convinced  that  a  fourth  might  have  been 
bred  from  the  same  stock  but  for  an  unfortunate  acci- 
dent to  the  eggs  ohtaine  1  from  my  third  brood  Upon 
first  hatching,  the  larva  is  pale  yellow  in  color,  with  a 
slightly  darkened  head  ;  and,  when  full  grown,  it  is  of 
a  dull  grayish  flesh  color,  with  a  dark  reddish-brown 
head.  Its  average  length  is  about  an  inch,  and,  like 
the  majority  of  the  caterpillars  of  moths,  it  has  six- 
teen legs.  The  chrysalis  of  the  larger  beeswax-moth 
is  of  the  ordinary  type,  and  it  is  inclosed  in  a  very  com- 
pact cocoon  or  tough  white  silk,  usually  spun  up  in  one 
of  the  silken  channels  or  galleries  made  by  the  larva 
which  we  have  previously  referred  to.  The  perfect  in- 
sect, or  moth,  has  reddish  brown-gray  forewings, 
which  are  distinctly  lighter  in  color  toward  the  outer 
or  hinder  margins.  The  sexes  may  readily  be  dis- 
tinguished by  the  outline  of  the  wings,  as  will  readily 
be  seen  by  a  glance  at  the  plate  accompanying  this 
article. 

The  second  species  of  beeswax-moth  is  known  as 
Achrcea  grissella,  Fabr.,  the  lesser  beeswax-moth,  or 
honey-moth,  etc.  Although  not  nearly  so  destructive 
as  the  larger  kind,  it  does  considerable  damage  in  old 
and  neglected  hives.  The  moth  is  much  smaller  than 
Galleria  mellonella,  ■with  which,  by  the  way,  I  have 
founi  it  associited  in  the  same  hive  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  It  is  of  a  dead  gray  color,  with  a  yellow 
head.  This  species  is  not  nearly  so  particular  in 
choosing  its  food  as  the  former  ^ind  {C.  mellonella), 
and  may  frequently  be  found  feeding  on  the  debris 
which  commonly  collects  on  the  bottom  of  a  neglected 
-hive.  f  . . 


It  is  a  well-known  fact,  that  the  beeswax-moths  do 
not  attack  the  Italian  (Ligurian)  bee  to  any  serious  ex- 
tent ;  indeed,  they  are  rarely  attacked  at  all.  It  is  the 
ordinary  black  bee  or  hive-bee  that  suffers  so  greatly. 

In  conclusion  I  would  express  my  thanks,  among 
other  kind  correspondents,  to  Dr.  Dagnell  Clark,  the 
Rev.  John  Ayling.  and  Messrs.  Abram  &  Riddle,  who 
have  been  kind  enough  to  forward  to  the  Department 
specimens  or  information. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware,  very  few  recognizable  figures 
of  the  bee-moths  have  been  published,  so  that  the 
plate  attached,  from  the  pencil  of  Mr.  K.  M.  Grosse, 
will  doubtless  prove  very  acceptable.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  an  excellent  wood  cut  in  Dr.  Taschenberg's 
"Die  Insecten  "  (Brehm's  Thierleben,  Vol.  IX.,  page 
432)  of  the  larger  species,  I  have  not  been  able  to  find 
a  figure  showing  the  stages  or  habits  of  these  moths. 

EXPI^ANATION  OF  PI^ATF;. 
BEESWAX-MOTHS. 

Fig.  1. — I,arva  or  caterpillar  of  I^arger  Beeswax-moth 
{Galleria  niellonella,  lyinn.),  side  view  (much 
enlarged). 

Fig.  2. — The  same  viewed  from  above  (much  enlarg- 
ed). 

Fig.  3. — Cocoon  of  same,  extracted  from  bee-comb  (en- 
larged). 

Fig.  4. — I^arger  Beeswax  -  moth  {Galleria  mellonella^ 

lyinn.),  male  (much  enlarged). 
-Fig.  5. — Forewing  of  same,  female. 
Fig.  6.— Larva  or  caterpillar  of  Lesser  Beeswax-moth 

{Achroea  grissella,  Fabr.),  side  view  (much 

enlarged). 

Fig.  7.— Pupa  or  Chrysalis  of  same  (much  enlarged). 
Fig.  8. — Lesser    Beeswax  -  moth    {Achrcea  grissella, 
Fabr.),  (much  enlarged). 

In  the  background,  above,  a  comb  from  a  frame- 
hive  is  reptesented,  showing  brood-comb  tunneled  by 
the  larvae  of  the  Larger  Beeswax-moth  ( Galleria  mel- 
lonella,  Linh.). 

The  natural  sizes  of  the  insects  are  indicated  by 
hair-line. 

BEE  PARALYSIS.    See  Diseases  of 

BEES. 

EEZSS.  Throughout  this  work  I  deal 
particularly  with  the  Italians  .and  the  com- 
mon blacks  of  this  country,  and  the  crosses 
between  the  two,  because  they  are  used 
alinost  exclusively  by  bee-keepers.  The 
crosses  are  often  incorrectly  denominated 
''hybrids;  "  but  as  that  name  has  been  gen- 
erally adopted,  we  will  use  it.  For  particu- 
lars regarding  these  bees  the  reader  is  refer- 
red to  Hybrids,  which  see.  The  Italians 
are  spoken  of  specifically,  also,  under  head 
of  Italians,  elsewhere  in  this  work. 

BLACK  OR  GERMAN  BEES. 

As  blacks  are  common  in  nearly  every  vi- 
cinity, very  little  description  will  be  neces- 
sary. As  the  name  indicates,  they  are  black. 
One  variety  in  the  South  is  of  a  brownish 
black,  and  another  is  •  distinctly  black,  and 
is,  if  any,  thing,  a  trifle  smaller, 
i  Comparing  the  Germans  with  the  Ital- 
ians, they  are  more  inclined  to  rob,  are  not 
as  good  workers,  but  are  equal  when  nectar 


BEES. 


•53 


BEES. 


is  abundant,  or  when  there  is  dark  honej^ 
like  that  from  buckwheat  to  be  gathered. 
The}'  are  much  more  nervous ;  and  when  a 
hive  of  them  is  opened  they  will  run  like .  a 
flock  of  sheep  from  one  corner  of  the  hive  to 
another,  boiling  over  in  confusion,  hanging 
in  clusters  from  one  corner  of  the  frame  as  it 
is  held  up.  and  finally  falling  oif  in  bunches 
to  the  ground,  where  they  continue  in  their 
wild  scramble  in  every  direction,  probably 
crawling  up  one"s  trousers-leg,  if  the  oppor- 
tunity is  afforded.  Their  queens  are  much 
harder  to  find,  their  bees  are  not  as  gen- 
tle, and,  worse  than  all.  have  a  disagreeable 
fashion  of  following  the  apiarist  about  from 
hive  to  hive  in  a  most  tantalizing  way.  This 
habit  of  poising  on  the  wing  in  a  threaten- 
ing manner  before  one"s  eyes  is  extremely 
annoying,  as  they  will  keep  it  up  for  a  day 
at  a  time  unless  killed.  I  generally  make 
very  short  work  of  them  by  smashing  them 
between  the  palms  of  my  hands,  or  batting 
them  to  death  with  little  paddles  I  keep 
handy  by.  It  is  useless  to  strike  at  individ- 
ual bees  while  they  are  in  the  air,  for  one 
will  be  much  more  liable  to  miss  them  than 
to  hit  them.  My  practice  is  to  take  two 
sticks,  one  in  each  hand,  and  work  them 
back  and  forth  in  front  of  my  face  very 
rapidly,  just  about  as  one  would  operate  a 
fan  on  a  hot  day,  but  using  two  of  them. 
This  rapid  movement  excites  the  anger  of 
the  bees,  with  the  result  that  they  make  a 
dive  for  the  whirring  of  the  stick ;  and  in 
less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it  they  get 
their  heads  rapped,  and  down  they  go  one 
by  one  into  the  grass. 

The  comb  honey  of  the  blacks  is  a  little 
whiter  if  any  thing  than  that  made  by  pure 
Italians,  because  the  capping  is  raised  up, 
leaving  a  slight  air-gap  between  it  and  the 
surface  of  the  honey  in  the  cell.  But  the 
difference  in  the  whiteness  of  capping  is  so 
very  slight  as  compared  with  that  made  by 
the  Italians  that  it  really  cuts  no  figure  in 
the  market.  The  blacks  are  also  easier  to 
shake  off  combs  in  extracting  time,  and  for 
that  reason  alone  some  prefer  them,  or  hy- 
brids, to  pm-e  Italians,  which  can  hardly  be 
shaken  off. 

CARXIOLANS. 

The  Carniolans,  evidently  a  variety  of 
black  bees,  and  which  they  very  much  re- 
semble, were  introduced  into  this  country 
in  1884,  or  thereabouts.  They  are  said  to  be 
very  gentle ;  but  the  few  colonies  of  them 
that  we  have  tried  are  no  more  so  than  the 
average  Italians,  and  in  one  case  m  particu- 
lar they  were  more  vindictive  than  the  Cyp- 


■  rians.  As  stated,  they  resemble  blacks,  and 
might  easily  be  mistaken  for  them ;  but 
there  is  a  difference.  They  are  larger,  and 
their  abdomens  are  more  of  a  bluish  cast, 
the  fuzzy  rings  being  very  distinct.  They 
are  gentler,  as  a  rule,  and  do  not,  like  the 
blacks,  boil  over  in  confusion  when  the  hive 
is  opened,  although  one  of  our  Carniolan 
colonies  did  this  very  thing.  They  have  not 
the  fixitj"  of  character  of  the  Italians — 
colonies  of  the  same  race  differing  quite 
widely.  The  general  verdict  is,  that  they 
are  excessive  s warmers,  and  this  trait  alone 
makes  them  very  undesirable.  Their  close 
resemblance  to  black  bees  makes  it  diflficult 
to  detect  the  crosses  of  the  two  races. 
This  fact,  coupled  with  their  great  swarm- 
ing propensity,  will  largely  prevent  their 
meeting  with  general  favor.^o 

But  Carniolans  have  one  good  trait  in 
their  favor,  and  that  is.  that  they  deposit  as 
little  propolis  as  any  bees  ever  known. 
Some  colonies  that  we  had,  actually  depos- 
ited almost  none.  In  the  production  of 
comb  honey  this  is  quite  an  important  item : 
but  this  trait  seems  to  be  almost  entirely 
overbalanced  in  the  minds  of  bee-keepers  by 
the  swarming  propensity. 

The  Eg5T)tians  have  been  tried  in  our 
country  to  some  extent,  but  are.  I  believe, 
inferior  to  the  Italians,  besides  being  much 
more  vindictive.  Bees  from  the  island  of 
Cyprus  and  from  the  Holy  Land  are  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  Italian  Bees, 
which  see. 

ALB  IXC  s. 

Albinos  are  either  "  sports from  Ital- 
ians, or.  what  is  generally  the  case,  a  cross 
between  Holy  Eands  and  Italians  i  but  after 
testing  them  in  my  omi  apiary,  I  find  them 
little  different  from  the  common  Italians. 
The  fringe,  or  down,  that  appears  on  the 
I  rings  of  the  abdomen  of  young  bees  is  a  trifle 
whiter  than  usual,  but  no  one  would  observe 
it  unless  his  attention  were  called  to  it.  The 
queens  are  very  yellow,  but  the  workers,  as 
honej^-gatherers.  are  decidedly  inferior,  even 
to  the  second  generation:  and  when  we  select 
light-colored  bees  or  queens  for  several  suc- 
cessive generations,  if  we  are  not  careful 
we  shall  have  a  worker  progeny  lacking- as 
honey-gatherers,  and  in  ability  to  endure. 
By  selection  we  can  get  almost  any  thing 
i  we  want,  and  that  quite  speedily  with  bees, 
j  for  we  can  produce  several  generations  in  a 
single  season,  if  need  be. 

EASTERN  EACES  OF  BEES. 

Cyprians,  Holy  Lands,  or  Syrians,  are 
mentioned  later  under  the  head  of  Ital- 


BEES. 


54 


BEES. 


lAKS.  Of  the  other  Eastern  races  I  can  do  I 
no  better  than  to  quote  what  Mr.  Erank 
Benton,  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, Division  of  Entomology,  has  to  say 
of  them  in  a  special  bulletin  issued  by  the 
Department,  entitled  "Honey-bee,"  con- 
taining some  118  pages.  Mr.  Benton  has 
spent  some  of  the  best  years  of  his  life  in 
the  jungles  of  India,  in  search  of  new  bees. 
Eor  this  reason,  if  for  no  other,  he  is  able  to 
give  us  authoratative  information.  From 
the  bulletin  above  spoken  of,  I  make  the 
following  extracts: 

THE  COMMON  EAST-INDIAN  HONEY-BEE. 

[Apis  ludica.  Fab.) 
The  common  bee  of  Southern  Asia  is  kept  in  very 
limited  numbers  and  with  a  small  degree  of  profit  in 
earthen  jars  and  sections  of  hollow  trees  in  portions 
of  the  British  and  Dutch  East  Indies.  The}^  are  also 
found  wild,  and  build  when  in  this  state  in  hollow 
trees  and  in  rock-clefts.  Their  combs,  c  mpo?ed 
of  hexagonal  wax  cells,  are  arranged  parallel  to 
each  other  like  those  of  A.  mellifica,  but  the  woiker 
brood-cells  are  smaller  than  those  of  our  ordinar} 
bees,  showing  3b  to  the  square  inch  of  surface  instead 
of  29;  while  the  c  mb  where  worker-brood  is  reared, 
instead  of  having,  like  that  of  A.  niellijica.  a  thickne.-s 
of  seven-eighths  inch,  is  but  five-eighths  inch  thick. 
(Fig  1.) 

The  workers,  — The  bodies  of  these,  three-eighths 
inch  long  when  empty,  measure  about  one-half  inch 
when  dilated  with  honey.  The  thorax  is  covered  with 
brownish  hair,  and  the  shield  or  crescent  bttween  the 
wings  is  large  and  yellow.  The  abdomen  is  yellow 
underneath.  Above  it  presents  a  ringed  appearance, 
the  anterior  part  of  each  segment  being  orange  yel- 
low, while  the  posterior  part  shows  bands  of  brown  of 
greater  or  less  width,  and  covered  with  whitish-brown 
hairs;  tip  black.  They  are  nimble  on  foot  and  on  the 
wing,  and  active  gatherers. 


FIG.    ].  —  WORKER -CELLS  OF   COMMON  EAST-INDIAN 
HONEY-BEE  (APIS  INDICA),  NATURAL  SIZE. 

The  queens. — The  queens  are  large  in  proportion  to 
their  worker.-,  and  are  quite  prolific;  color,  leather  or 
dark  coppery.  The  drones. — These  are  only  slightly 
larger  than  the  workers;  color,  jet-like  blue-black, 
with  no  yellow,  their  strong  wings  showing  changing 
hues  like  those  of  wasps. 

Manipulations  with  colonies  of  these  bees  are  easy  to 
perform  if  smoke  be  used  ;  and,  though  they  are  more 
excitable  than  our  common  hive  bees,  this  peculiarity 
does  not  lead  them  to  sting  more,  but  seems  rather  to 
proceed  from  fear.    The  sting  is  also  less  severe. 

Under  the  rude  methods  thus  far  employed  in  the 
management  of  this  bee  no  great  yields  of  honey 
are  obtained,  some  10  or  12  pounds  having  been  the 
most  repoited  from  a  single  hive.  It  is  quite  probable 
that,  if  imported  into  this  country,  it  would  do  more. 


These  bees  would  no  doubt  visit  many  small  flowers 
not  frequented  by  the  hive  bees  we  now  have,  and 
whose  nectar  is  thertfore  wasted;  but  very  likely  they 
might  not  withstand  the  severe  winters  of  the  North 
unless  furnished  with  such  extra  protection  as  would 
be  afforded  by  quite  warm  cellars  or  special  leposi- 
tories. 

Here  is  something  exceedingly  interesting 
regarding  the  smallest  honey-bees  in  the 
world.  Just  take  a  look  at  the  s  ze  of  the 
cells  as  shown  in  the  figure,  natural  size, 
and  then  compare  them  in  your  mind's  eye 
with  comb  in  your  own  apiary.  Well,  here- 
is  what  he  has  to  say  : 

THE  TINY  EAST-INDIAN  HONEY-BEE 

{Apis florea,  Vah.) 
This  bee,  also  a  native  of  East  India,  is  the  smallest, 
known  species  of  the  genus.  It  builds  in  the  open  air, 
attaching  a  single  comb  to  a  twig  of  a  shrub,  or  small, 
tree.  This  comb  is  on\y  about  the  Mze  of  a  man's 
hand,  and  is  exceedingly  delicate,  there  being  on  each 
side  100  worker-cells  to  the.  square  inch  of  surface 


FIG.  2  — WORKER  CFLLS  OF  TINY  EAST-INDIAN  HONEY- 
B    K  (APIS  Fi-OREA);  NATURAL  SIZE. 

(Figs.  2  and  3).  The  workers,  more  slender  than 
house-flies,  though  longer-bodied  are  blue-black  in 
color,  with  the  anterior  third  of  the  abdomen  bright 
orange.  Colonies  of  these  bees  accumulate  so  little 
sutp  us  honey  as  to  give  no  hope  that  their  cultivation 
would  be  profitable. 

GIANT  EEES  OF  IKDIA. 
{Apis  dorsata,  Fab.) 

A  few  years  ago  a  great  deal  used  to  be 
said  regarding  the  "  giant,"  or  East  Indian, 
honey-bees,  or  Apis  dorsata,  and  the  possi- 
bilities of  having  them  imported  and  domes- 
ticated in  this  country.  Much  of  truth  and 
nonsense  has  evidently  been  circulated  in 
regard  to  them.  Mr.  Benton,  having  been 
right  in  their  native  land,  gives  us  some- 
thing here  that  can  be  relied  on. 

This  large  bee,  which  might  not  be  inappropriately 
styled  the  Giant  East-Indian  bee,  has  its  home  in  the 
far  East— both  on  the  continent  of  Asia  and  the  adja- 
cent islands.  There  are  probably  several  varieties 
more  or  less  marked,  of  this  species,  and  very  likely 
Apis  zonata,  Guer.,  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  reported 
to  be  even  larger  than  Apis  dorsata,  will  prove  on  fur- 
ther investigation  to  be  only  a  variety  of  the  latter.  All 
the  varieties  of  these  bees  build  huge  combs  of  very 
pure  wax — often  5  to  6  feet  in  length  and  3  to  4  feet  in 
width,  which  they  attach  to  overhanging  ledges  of 
rocks  or  to  large  limbs  of  lofty  trees  in  the  primitive 
forests  or  jungles.  When  attached  to  limbs  of  trees 
they  are  built  singly,  and  present  much  the  same 
appearance  as  those  of  the  tiny  East  Indian  bee, 


BEES. 


LOO 


BEES. 


shown  i:i  the  accompanying  .figure  (Fig.  3\  The 
Giant  hee,  however,  qnlte  in  coutradistinclioii  to  the 
other  .'pecii  s  of  apis  meiitionel  here,  does  not  con- 
struct larg^er  cells  in  which  to  rear  drones,  these  and 


FIG.  3. — COMB  OF  TINY  EA>.T-INDIAN  HONEY-BEE  (APIS 
FLOREA),  ONE  THIRD  NATURAL  SIZE. 


the  workers  being  produced  in  cells  of  the  same  size. 
Of  these  bees— long  a  sort  of  myth  to  the  bee-keepers 
of  America  and  Europe — strange  stories  have  been 
told.  If  has  been  stated  that  they  build  their  combs 
horizontally,  after  the  manner  of  paper-making  wasps; 
thit  they  are  so  given  to  wandering  as  to  make  it  im- 
possible to  keep  them  in  hives,  and  that  their  ferocitj- 
rt- nders  them  objects  greath-  to  be  dreaded.  The  first 
real  information  regarding  these  points  was  given  by 
the  author.  He  visited  India  in'lS80-Sl  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  colonies  of  Apis  dorsata.  These  were 
procured  in  the  jungles,  cutting  the  combs  from  their 
or  ginal  attachments,  and  it  was  thus  ascertained  that 
(  IS  might  have  been  expected  in  the  case  of.  any-  spe- 
cies of  apis),  their  combs  are  always  built  perpendicu- 
la  ly;  also  that  colonies  placed  in  frame  hiyes  and 
permitted  to  fly  freely  did  not  desert  these  habita- 
tio  IS,  and  that,  far  from  being  ferocious,  these  colo- 
nies were  easily  handled  by  proper  precautions,  with- 
oat  even  the  use  of  smoke.  It  was  also  proved  b}^  the 
quantity  of  honey  and  wax  present  that  they-  are  good 
githerers.  The  txecution  at  that  time  of  the  plan  of 
1  ringing  these  bees  to  the  United  States  was  prevent- 
ed only  by  severe  illness  contracted  in  India. 

These  large  bees  would  doubtless  be  able  to  get 
honey  from  flowers  whose  nectaries  are  located  out  of 
reach  of  ordinary  bees,  notably  those  of  the  red  clo- 
ver, now  visited  chiefly  hy  bumble-bees,  and  which  it 
is  thought  the  East-Indian  bees  might  pollinate  and 
cause  to  produce  seed  more  abundantly.  Even  if  no 
further  utilizable,  they  might  prove  an  important  fac- 
tor in  the  production  in  the  Southern  Stales  of  large 
quantities  of  excellent  beeswax,  now  such  an  expen- 
sive article. 

There  are  a  few  in  this  country  wlio  he  • 
lieve  the  introduction  of  the  giant  hees  here 
would  result  disastrously  to  the  business;  I 


that,  as  the  English  sparrow  has  driven  put 
some  of  our  American  song  birds,  so  the 
Apis  dorsata  will  drive  out  the  Italians  and 
black  bees:  that  they  will  take  the  nectar 
i  that  would  otherwise  go  to  Ajjis  mellifica , 
i  and  thus  indirectly  rob  the  bee-keeper.  It 
I  is  also  stated  that  the  A}?is  dorsata  could  not 
be  domesticated,  and  that  they  would  run 
wild  all  over  the  country;  but  from  all  the 
information  I  can  gather  I  have  no  fears  of 
any  of  these  things.   The  facts  prove  that 
they  have  not  run  out  Apjs  Indica^  Apisflo- 
rca,  and  other  Eastern  bees  in  their  owu 
habitats:  furthermore,  it  is  doubtful  wheth- 


NaTIVE  of  CEYLON  C:  IJIBI.NG  A  TREE  FOR  /  PIS 
DORSATA. 


er  they  would  be  able  to  stand  our  ch;  nging 
climate,  even  in  the  South,  for  it  must  be 
imderstood  that  India  and  the  1  hilipi)iues 
have  a  much  warmer  climate  than  our  South- 


BEES. 


56 


BEES. 


ern  States.  That  the  giant  bees  will  ulti- 
mately be  brought  here  and  tested,  there 
can  be  no  question;  but  that  they  will 
ever  prove  to  be  of  any  commercial  value 
or  practical  utility  is  doubtful.  They  are 
too  large  for  the  flora  of  this  country;  this 
very  fact  might  render  them  of  some  little 
benefit  in  fertilizing  certain  flora  that  is  vis- 
ited now  by  only  the  common  bumble-bees; 
and  it  is  the  possibility  of  this  that  has  much 
weight  with  those  who  are  anxious  to  secure 
their  introduction  in  this  country. 

In  subsequent  editions  of  this  book  I  hope 
we  shall  be  in  position  to  speak  more  defi- 
nitely on  all  these  points. 

HOW  BEES  GBOW. 

Having  devoted  so  much  space  to  the 
different  races  of  bees,  it  is  now  in  order  to 
discuss  how  they  grow. 

During  warm  weather,  while  your  bees 
are  gathering  honey,  open  your  hive  in  the 
middle  of  the  day,  and  put  in  the  center  a 
frame  containing  a  sheet  of  fouudation ;  ex- 
amine it  every  night,  morning,  and  noon, 
until  you  see  eggs  in  the  cells.  If  you  put  it 
between  two  combs  containing  brood,  you 
will  very  likely  find  eggs  in  the  cells  the 
next  day. 

If  you  have  never  seen  an  egg  that  is  to  pro- 
duce a  bee,  you  may  have  to  look  very  sharp 
the  first  time,  for  they  are  white  like  polish- 
ed ivory,  and  scarcely  larger  than  one  of  the 
periods  in  this  print.  They  will  be  seen  in 
the  center  of  the  cell  attached  to  the  comb 
by  one  end.  The  egg  under  the  microscope 
has  much  the  appearance  of  the  cut.  It 
is  covered,  as  you  notice,  with  a  sort  of  lace- 
like penciling,  or  net-work  it  might  proper- 
ly be  called.   As  soon  as  you  discover  eggs, 


A  QUEEX"S  EGG  UNDER  THE  MICROSCOPE. 


mark  down  the  date.  If  the  weather  is  fa- 
vorable, these  eggs  will  hatch  out  in  about  3 
days  or  a  little  more;  and  in  place  of  the  egg, 
you  will,  if  you  look  sharp  enough,  see  a 
tiny  white  worm  or  grub  floating  in  a  mi- 
nute drop  of  milky  fluid.  If  you  watch  the 
bees  you  will  find  them  incessantly  poking 
their  heads  into  these  cells,  and  it  is  likely 
that  the  milky  fluid  is  placed  on  and  about 
the  egg  a  little  before  the  inmate  breaks  its 


way  out  of  the  shell.  I  infer  this,  because  I 
have  never  been  able  to  get  the  eggs  to 
hatch  when  taken  away  from  the  bees,*  al- 
though I  have  carefully  kept  the  temper- 
ature at  the  same  point  as  in  the  hive.  The 
net- work  shown  in  the  cut  below  will  allow 
the  milky  fluid  to  penetrate  the  shell  of  the 
egg  so  as  to  furnish  nourishment  for  the 
young  bee  at  just  the  time  it  requires  it. 
These  worms  are  really  the  young  bee  in  its 
larval  state,  and  we  shall  in  future  call  them 
larvae.  They  thrive  and  grow  very  rapidly 
on  their  bread- and-milk  diet,  as  you  will  see 
if  you  look  at  them  often.  They  will  more 
than  double  in  size  in  a  single  half -day,  and 
in  the  short  space  of  12  days  they  will  have 
grown  from  a  mere  speck  (the  larva  just 
hatched)  to  the  size  of  a  full-grown  bee,  or 
so  as  to  fill  the  cell  completely.  This  seems 
almost  incredible,  but  there  they  are,  right 
before  your  eyes.  I  presume  it  is  owing  to 
the  highly  concentrated  nature  of  this  same 
"  bread-and-milk  "  food  that  the  workers  are 
so  constantly  giving  them,  that  they  grow 
so  rapidly.  If  you  take  the  comb  away  from 
the  bees  for  a  little  •while  you  will  see  the 
larvae  opening  their  mouths  to  be  fed,  like 
a  nest  of  young  birds,  for  all  the  world. 


3      4      5      6      9     12  15 

THE  DAILY  GROWTH  OF  LARV^. 


The  figures  underneath  represent  the  age 
in  days  from  the  laying  of  the  egg.  First  is 
the  larva  just  as  it  has  broken  the  egg-shell 
on  the  third  day ;  next,  the  larva  on  the  fourth 
day.  During  the  fifth  and  sixth  days  they 
grow  very  rapidly,  but  it  is  difficult  to  fix  any 
precise  mark  in  regard  to  the  size.  On  the 
ninth  day  the  larva  has  straightened  itself 
out,  and  the  worker-bees  have  capped  it 
over.  I  have  made  a  pretty  accm'ate  exper- 
iment on  this  point,  and  it  was  just  six  days 
and  seven  hours  after  the  first  egg  hatched, 
when  they  got  it  completely  capped  over. 
Just  when  they  begin  to  have  legs  and  eyes, 
I  have  not  discovered;  but  I  have  found 
that  the  wings  are  about  the  last  of  the  work. 

In  regard  to  this  point,  Frank  Cheshire,  in 
his  work  on    Bees  and  Bee-Keeping,"  says: 


*  Since  this  was  written  it  has  been  proven  that 
eggs,  removed  from  the  hive,  when  subjected  to 
proper  temperature  will  hatch  if  supplied  artificially 
with  the  milky  food;  otherwise,  not. 


BEES. 


57 


BEES. 


The  chorion  of  the  egg-  breaks,  usually  after  three 
days  (the  time  varies  according  to  temperature), 
and  a  footless  larva,  with  thirteen  segments,  exclu- 
sive of  the  head,  alternately  straightens  and  bends 
its  body  to  free  itself  of  the  envelope.  It  is  ex- 
tremely curious  that,  before  hatching,  the  larva 
presents  rudimentary  legs,  which  disappear— a  fact 
which  some  have  supposed  to  indicate  "  atavism,"  a 
reference  to  an  ancestral  type  in  which  the  larva 
bore  feet;  but  this  does  not  seem  to  be  valid,  for 
reasons  which  would  encroach  too  much  on  our 
space.  Toward  the  end  of  the  larval  period,  the 
three  segments  following  the  head  have  little  scales 
beneath  the  skin  on  the  ventral  side,  which  are  the 
beginnings  of  the  legs,  and  which  can  not  be  seen 
until  the  creature  has  been  immersed  in  alcohol :  the 
budding  wings  outside  these,  on  second  and  third 
segments,  are,  by  the  same  treatment,  brought  un- 
der view,  as  are  also  the  rudiments  of  the  sting  in 
queen  or  worker  larvee,  the  male  organs  appearing 
in  that  of  the  drone.  After  sealing,  the  fourth  seg- 
ment begins  to  contract,  and  the  fifth  becomes 
partly  atrophied,  so  that,  soon,  the  former  consti- 
tutes only  a  partial  cover  for  the  base  of  the  devel- 
oping thorax,  and  the  petiole  between  it  and  the 
abdomen,  while  the  latter  becomes  the  narrow,  first 
abdominal  segment.  It  has  been  explained  that  the 
last  three  segments  disappear  in  forming  the  sting; 
and  now  we  find  the  fourth  forming  the  petiole,  leav- 
ing nine  of  the  thirteen  original  segments,  of  which 
three  go  to  the  thorax,  and  six  to  the  abdomen. 

After  the  larvae  are  6  days  old,  or  between 
9  and  10  days  from  the  time  when  the  egg 
was  laid,  you  will  find  the  bees  sealing  up 
some  of  the  largest.  This  sealing  is  done 
with  a  sort  of  paper-like  substance  ;  and 
while  it  shuts  the  young  bee  up,  it  still  al- 
lows it  a  chance  to  breathe  through  the 
pores  of  the  capping.  It  is  given  its  last 
feed,  and  the  nurses  seem  to  say,  "  There  ! 
you  have  been  fed  enough;  spin  your  co- 
coon, and  take  care  of  yourself." 

After  this,  as  a  general  thing,  the  young 
bee  is  left  covered  up  until  it  gnaws  off  the 
capping,  and  comes  out  a  perfect  bee.  This 
will  be  in  about  21  days  from  the  day  the  egg 
was  laid,  or  it  may  be  20,  if  the  weather  is 
very  favorable ;  therefore  it  is  shut  up  11  or 
12  days,  ^^'ow,  there  is  an  exception  to  this 
last  statement,  and  it  has  caused  not  a  little 
trouble  and  solicitude  on  the  part  of  begin- 
ners. During  very  Vvwm  summer  weather, 
the  bees,  for  one  reason  or  another,  decide  to 
let  a  part  of  their  children  go  bareheaded," 
and  therefore  we  find,  on  opening  a  hive, 
whole  patches  of  young  bees  looking  like 
silent  corpses  with  their  white  heads  in  tiers 
just  about  on  a  level  with  the  comb.  At  this 
stage  of  growth  they  are  motionless,  of 
course,  and  so  the  young  bee-keeper  sends 
us  a  postal  card,  telling  us  the  brood  in  his 
hives  is  all  dead.  Some  have  imagined  that 
the  extractor  killed  them,  others  that  it  was 
foul  brood;  and  I  often  think,  when  reading 


these  letters,  of  the  family  which  moved 
from  the  city  into  the  country ;  when  their 
beans  began  to  come  up,  they  thought  the 
poor  things  had  made  a  mistake,  by  coming 
up  wong  end  first ;  so  they  pulled  them  all 
up,  and  replanted  them  with  the  bean  part 
in  the  ground,  leaving  the  proper  roots 
sprawling  up  in  the  air.  My  friend,  you  can 
rest  assured  that  the  bees  almost  always 
know  when  it  is  safe  to  let  the  children's 
heads  go  uncovered. 

As  it  is,  many  times,  very  important  to 
know  just  when  a  queen  was  lost,  or  when  a 
colony  swarmed,  you  should  learn  these  data 
thoroughly;  for  instance,  it  will  be  safe  to 
say,  3  days  in  the  egg,  6  in  the  larva,  and 
12  days  sealed  up. 

The  capping  of  the  worker-brood  is  nearly 
flat;  that  of  the  drones,  raised  or  convex; 
so  much  so  that  we  can  at  a  glance  tell 
when  drones  are  reared  in  worker- cells,  as  is 
sometimes  the  case. 

The  yoimg  bee,  when  it  gnaws  its  way 
out  of  the  cell,  commences  to  rub  its  nose, 
straighten  out  its  feathers,  and  then  to  push 
its  way  among  the  busy  throng,  doubtless 
rejoicing  that  it,  too,  is  one  of  that  vast  com- 
monwealth. Xobody  says  a  word  to  it,  or, 
apparently,  takes  any  notice  of  it ;  but  for 
all  that,  they,  as  a  whole,  I  am  well  con- 
vinced, feel  encouraged,  and  rejoice  in  their 
way,  at  a  house  full  of  young  folks.  Keep  a 
colony  without  young  bees  for  a  time,  and 
you  will  see  a  new  energy  infused  into  all 
hands  just  as  soon  as  young  bees  begin  to 
gnaw  out. 

If  you  vary  your  experiment  by  putting  a 
frame  of  Italian  eggs  into  a  colony  of  com- 
mon bees,  you  will  be  better  able  to  follow 
the  young  bee  as  it  matures.  The  first  day 
it  does  little  but  crawl  round;  but  about 
the  next  day  it  will  be  found  dipping 
greedily  into  the  cells  of  unsealed  honey, 
and  so  on  for  a  week  or  more ;  after  about 
the  first  day  it  will  also  begin  to  look  after 
the  wants  of  the  unsealed  larvae,  and  will 
very  soon  assist  in  furnishing  the  milky 
food  for  them.  While  doing  this,  a  large 
amount  of  pollen  is  used,  and  it  is  supposed 
that  this  larval  food  is  pollen  and  honey, 
partially  digested  by  the  young  or  nursing 
bees.  Bees  of  this  age,  or  a  little  older,  sup- 
ply the  royal  jelly  for  the  queen-cells,  which  is 
the  same,  I  think,  as  the  food  given  the  very 
small  larvae.^  Just  before  the  larvae  for  the 
worker-bees  and  drones  are  sealed  up,  they 
are  fed  on  a  coarser  and  less  perfectly  di- 
gested mixture  of  honey  and  pollen.  The 
young  bees  will  have  a  white  downy  look, 


BEES. 


58 


BEES  O^^-  SHARES. 


until  they  are  a  full  week  old,  and  they  have 
a  peculiar  look  that  shows  them  to  be  young  | 
until  they  are  quite  two  weeks  old.   At  j 
about  this  latter  age  they  are  generally  the 
active  comb- builders  of  the  hive.    When  | 
they  are  a  week  or  ten  days  old  they  will  take  ^ 
their  first  flight  out  of  doors,  and  I  know  of  ^ 
no  prettier  sight  in  the  apiary  than  a  host 
of  young  Italians  taking  their  plfiy-spell  in 
the  open  air,  in  front  of  their  hive;  their 
antics  and  gambols  remind  one  of  a  lot  of 
young  lambs  at  play. 

It  is  also  very  interesting  to  see  these  lit- 
tle chaps  when  they  bring  their  first  load  of  | 
pollen  from  the  fields.   If  there  are  plenty 
of  bees  in  the  hive,  of  the  proper  age,  they 
will  not  usually  take  up  this  work  until 
about  two  weeks  old.   The  first  load  of  pol- 
len is  to  a  young  bee  just  about  what  the 
first  pair  of  pants  is  to  a  boj^-baby.  Instead 
of  going  straight  into  the  hive  with  its  load ,  ! 
as  the  veterans  do,  a  vast  amount  of  circling  1 
round  the  entrance  must  be  done;  and  even 
after  it  has  once  alighted  it  takes  wing  | 
again,  rushes  all  through  the  hive,  jostles  j 
the  nurses,  drones,  and  perhaps  queen  too,  | 
and  says  as  plainly  as  could  words, Look  | 
here !   This  is  I.  I  gathered  this,  all  myself.  ! 
Is  it  not  nice  ?  "  j 

We  might  imagine  some  old  veteran  who  j 
has  brought  thousands  of  such  loads,  an-  \ 
swering  gruffly,  "Well,  suppose  you  did;  j 
what  of  it  ?   You  had  better  put  it  in  a  i 
cell,  and  start  off  after  more,  instead  of  i 
making  all  this  row  and  wasting  time,  when  | 
there  are  so  many  mouths  to  feed."  I  said  1 
we  might  imagine  this,  for  I  have  never 
been  able  to  find  any  indication  of  any  un- 
kindness  inside  of  a  bee  -  hive,   i^o  one  : 
scolds  or  finds  fault,  and  the  children  are 
never  driven  off  to  work,  unless  they  wish.  | 
If  they  are  improvident,  and  starvation 
comes,  they  all  starve  alike,  and,  as  I  do  be- 
lieve, without  a  single  hard  feeling  or  bit  of 
censure  toward  any  one.   They  all  work  to- 
gether, just  as  your  right  hand  assists  your 
left;  and  if  we  would  understand  the  econo- 
my of  the  bee- hive,  it  were  well  to  bear  this 
point  in  mind.  j 

Shortly  after  the  impulse  for  pollen -gath- 
ering, comes  that  for  honey-gathering  ;  and 
the  bee  is  probably  in  its  prime,  as  a  worker,  ' 
when  it  is  a  month  old.  At  this  age  it  can,  ' 
like  a  man  of  40,  ''turn  its  hand  "  to  almost 
any  of  the  duties  of  the  hive ;  but  if  the  hive 
is  well  supplied  with  workers  of  all  ages,  it 
would  probably  do  most  effective  service  in 
the  fields.   See  Age  of  Bees.  I 

If  a  colony  is  formed  of  young  bees  entire- 


ly, they  will  sometimes  go  out  into  the  fields 
for  pollen  when  but  5  or  6  days  old.  Also 
when  a  colony  is  formed  wholly  of  adult 
bees,  they  will  build  comb,  feed  the  larvae, 
construct  queen-cells,  and  do  the  work  gen- 
erally that  is  usually  done  by  the  younger 
bees,  but  it  is  probably  better  economy  ta 
have  bees  of  all  ages  in  the  hive. 

BEBS  ON  SHARZSS.  In  some  local- 
ities, notably  in  California,  Colorado,  and 
the  great  West,  bees  are  often  kept  on 
shares  While  this  method  of  doing  busi- 
ness has  been  conducted  quite  successfully 
and  satisfactorily  to  both  parties,  yet  nev- 
ertheless many  disputes  and  troubles  have 


KEEPING  BEES  ON  PHARES 


arisen,  perhaps  because  there  was  a  lack  of 
contract ;  or  if  there  was  one  there  was  no- 
thing in  it  covering  the  point  in  dispute; 
hence  it  may  be  well  to  specify  some  of  the 
conditions  under  which  bees  may  be  kept 
on  shares  in  a  way  th^t  will  be  equitable  to 
both  parties  concerned. 

FORM  OF  AGREEMENT. 

Articles  of  agreement  made  this  day  of  , 

19—,  between  the  party  of  the  first  part,  ,  known 

as  the  owner  of  the  bees,  hives,  and  implements  ;  and 

the  party  of  the  second  part,  ,  who  is  to  perform 

aU  the  necessary  labor. 

If^itnesseth:  That  the  party  of  the  first  part  hereby 
covenants  and  agrees  with  the  party  of  the  second 
part  to  keep  bees  on  shares,  and  to  share  equally  in 
the  h  ney  and  wax,  under  the  following  terms  and 
conditions : 

The  party  cf  the  first  part  agrees  to  furnish  all  the 
bees,  hivcs,  implements,  a  location,  and  every  thing 
necessary  to  carry  on  the  business,  except  that  he  is  to 
pay  half  the  expense  of  the  honey-packages,  whether 
in  the  form  of  shipping  cases,  sections,  cans,  bottles, 
packages — any  and  ever\'  thing  designed  to  put  the 
honey  in  marketable  shape  when  it  is  harvested.  All 
other  materials  and  implements  are  to  be  provided  at 
the  expense  of  the  party  of  the  first  part. 

The  party  of  the  second  part  is  to  perform  all  neces- 
sary labor,  and  in  consideration  for  such  labor  he  is  to 
receive  half  the  honey  crop  and  half  the  wax.  The 
expense   of  sections,  shipping  -  case -,  or  extracted- 


BEES  SHARES. 


59 


BLUE  THISTLE. 


honey  packages,  for  his  share  of  the  crop,  is  to  be 
borne  by  himself. 

All  increase,  swarms  (artificial  or  natural)^is  to  be 
the  property  of  the  party  of  the  first  part,  who  in 
ever>'  case  is  to  furnish  the  necessary  hives,  hive- 
stands,  covers,  bottom-boards,  and  supers  for  such  in- 
crease; but  in  no  case  is  he  to  pay  for  more  than  his 
half  of  the  cost  of  packages  for  the  honej^  of  such 
increase. 

The  paityol  the  .second  part  further  agrees  to  re- 
move the  honey  from  the  hives,  and  place  the  same 
in  the  marketing-packages,  ready  for  delivery  in  the 
market. 

Both  parties  agree  to  pay  their  proportionate  share 
of  the  cartage  to  the  nearest  railroad  station  or  mar- 
ket. At  the  close  of  the  season  the  part}-  of  the  second 
part  is  to  see  that  all  hives  are  doubled  up  or  reason- 
ablj'  strong  for  winter  ;  that  they  are  well  supplied 
with  stores,  and  prepared  for  winter.  If  the  colonies 
require  to  be  fed,  the  part}-  of  the  first  part  is  to  fur- 
nish the  feeders  and  sugar  necessary  for  making  the 
syrup.  Party  of  the  second  part  is  to  make  the  S3-rup 
and  feed  it  to  the  bees. 

If,  during  the  subsequent  winter,  the  bees  are  lost, 
the  party  of  the  first  part  agrees  to  bear  the  loss  unl  s  ; 
he  can  show  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  part}-  of 
the  second  part,  in  which  case  he  may  recover  dam- 
ages in  an  amount  not  exceeding  half  what  it  wouid 
cost  to  replace  the  bees  and  queens. 

It  is  further  agreed  that,  in  case  no  honey  is  secured, 
or  the  amount  runs  below  ten  pounds  per  colony,  the 
part}'  of  the  first  part  is  to  pay  the  party  of  the  second 

part  an  amount  not  exceeding  8  for  the  actual 

number  of  days  spent  on  the  bees. 

Signature.  . 

Signature.  . 

Witness.  . 

Witness.  . 

The  foregoing  will  make  up  the  essential 
features  of  a  contract ;  but  local  conditions 
may  render  it  necessary  to  make  some  mod- 
ifications. 

The  last  clause  in  the  above  contract  is 
inserted  as  a  matter  of  fairness  to  the  party 
of  the  second  part.  If  no  honey  should  be 
secured,  the  paity  of  the  sec  nd  part  has 
performed  his  part  of  the  contract  in  good 
faith,  and,  moreover,  has  improved  the  api- 
ary— perhaps  increased  it — so  that  it  will  be 
in  better  condition  the  following  year  for  a 
honey  crop.  For  this  betterment  it  is  no 
more  than  right  that  the  party  of  the  first 
part  should  pay  the  party  of  the  second  part 
a  reasonable  sum,  whatever  amount  may  be 
agreed  on  ;  or,  if  preferred ,  a  certain  num- 
ber of  colonies.  One  can  readily  see  that, 
in  case  the  honey  season  was  an  absolute 
failure,  the  party  of  the  second  part  would 
suffer  a  total  loss  except  for  a  provision  of 
this  kind,  and  that  the  party  of  the  first  part 
would  still  have  his  bees,  his  implements, 
and  every  thing  necessary  to  carry  on  the 
business  for  another  season. 

By  the  above  c  mtract  it  will  be  to  the  in- 
terest of  both  parties  to  keep  down  increase. 


I  The  party  of  the  second  pait  will  know  if 
j  he  is  a  practical  bee-keeper,  that  the  greater 
I  the  increase  the  less  the  honey ;  and  he  will. 
I  therefore,  bend  all  his  efforts  and  his  skill 
to  keep  the  colonies  in  the  best  pos.-ible  con- 
:  dition  to  produce  a  crop  of  honey. 

Keeping  bees  on  shares  is  practiced  quite 
\  extensively  in  Colorado  and  Calirornia.  It 
•  very  often  happens  that  a  bee-keeper  lately 
from  the  East  desires  to  try  a  locality  to  see 
whether  it  will  be  suited  to  his  health,  and 
!  whether  or  not  he  can  make  the  keeping  of 
I  bees  a  success.   He  accordingly  finds  some 
I  one  who  has  b^es,  but  who  has  other  bnsi- 
i  ness,  and  desires  some  one  competent  to 
i  manage  them  for  him.   But  where  one  is 
well  settled  in  a  locality,  and  has  the  means 
whereby  he  can  purchase  the  bees,  he  had 
better  do  so— bttter  even  go  into  debt ;  but 
ill  this  case,  to  secure  the  owner  I  would 
'  agree  that,  in  case  the  honey  crop  is  insutii- 
cient  to  pay  for  at  least  half  the  bees,  he 
will  then  agree  to  content  himself  with  half 
the  honey  crop  on  the  terms  above  named. 
,    BLEACHING  COMB  HONEY.  See  C03iB 

j  HOXEY. 

BLACK  BROOD.   See  EouL  Beocd. 

BLUE  TKZSTIiE  [Echimn  vidgare). 
If  I  am  correct,  this  plant  is  not  a  thistle  at 
all,  but  more  properly  a  near  relative  of  the 
borage,  which  it  closely  resembles.  It  grows 
in  great  profusion  in  many  of  the  Southern 
and  Middle  States,  but  the  principal  reports 
seem  to  come  from  Virginia,  and  the  valley 
of  the  Shenandoah.  As  it  blossoms  fully  four 
months  in  the  year,  and  produces  a  beautiful 
white  honey,  it  would  seem  that  it  might 
well  deserve  a  place  among  the  plants  on  a 
honey-farm.  If  I  am  correct,  it  needs  but 
little  coaxing  to  cover  whole  farms  ;  and  in 
Virginia,  we  are  told,  there  are  large  areas 
of  it  growing  wild,  as  a  weed.  Over  200  lbs. 
of  white  box  honey  has  been  reported  from 
it,  from  a  single  colony,  in  one  summer.  A 
field  of  blue  is  no  doubt  a  very  pretty  sight 
to  the  bee-keeper  ;  but  to  the  farmers,  who 
find  it  a  great  pest,  it  may  not  look  so  hand- 
some. We  have  really  no  right  to  make  our 
honey-farm  a  nuisance  to  the  neighborhood, 
by  bringing  in  foul  weeds ;  so  perhaps  you 
had  better  take  your  bees  down  where  it 
grows,  instead  of  sending  for  seeds. 

ioier.— Kecent  reports  indicate  that  it  is 
no  worse  a  weed  than  the  borage.  It  dies 
root  and  branch  every  fall,  and  is  therefore 
entirely  unlike  the  dreaded  Canada  thistle. 

BOX  KIVZSS.  It  seems  as  if  a  descrip- 
tion of  a  thing  of  this  kind,  in  a  work  de- 


BORAGE. 


60 


BUCKWHEAT. 


signed  to  teach  modern  apiculture,  would 
be  entire  y  out  of  place ;  but  there  may  be 
many  who  have  never  seen  any  thing  but  a 
movable  frame  hive ;  and  as  the  old  box 
hive  is  occasionally  referreed  to  in  various 
portions  of  this  work,  perhaps  a  brief  de- 
scription should  be  given. 

These  hives,  as  the  name  indicates,  are 
merely  boxes  containing  neither  brood- 
frames  nor  any  movable  fixtures  inside  of 
the  hive.  They  usually  consisted  of  a  rude 
rough  box  about  a  foot  square,  and  from  18 
to  24  inches  high.  Through  the  center  there 
would  be  two  cross  sticks,  the  purpose  of 
which  was  to  hslp  sustain  the  weight  of  the 
combs  that  were  built  in  irregular  sheets 
through  the  hive. 

At  the  close  of  the  season  it  was  the  cus- 
tom for  the  apiarist  to  go  around  and  "heft" 
his  hives.  Those  that  were  heavy  were, 
marked  to  be  brimstoned ;  and  those  that 
were  light  were  left  to  winter  over  for  next 
season  if  they  could.  The  bees  of  the  first 
named  were  destroyed  with  sulphur  fumes, 
and  then  the  bee-bread,  honey,  and  every 
thing  were  cut  out. 

In  the  more  modern  box  hives  there  were 
glass  boxes  that  were  drawn  out  from  the 
upper  part,  leaving  the  lower  part  intact. 
In  this  case  ihe  bees  were  not  destroyed. 
In  any  case  there  was  no  opportunity  to 
inspect  combs,  hunt  queens,  divide,  or  per- 
form any  of  the  hundred  and  one  operations 
of  modern  apiculture. 

When  one  compares  the  crudity  of  these 
methods  with  those  that  are  described  in 
this  book,  he  sees  what  wonderful  progress 
has  been  make  in  apiculture. 

BORAG-ZS  [Borago  Officinalis).  This 
has  been  at  different  times  recommended 
for  bees,  but  as  those  making  the  experiment 
of  planting  several  acres  of  it  did  not  repeat 
it  in  succeeding  years,  I  think  we  are  just- 
ified in  concluding  it  did  not  pay.  I  have 
raised  it  in  our  garden,  and  some  seasons 
the  bees  seem  very  busy  on  it.  It  has  a 
small  blue  blossom,  and  grows  so  rapidly 
that  a  fine  mass  of  bloom  may  be  secured  by 
simply  planting  the  seeds  on  the  ground 
where  you  dig  your  early  potatoes.  If  it  is 
to  be  raised  by  the  acre,  it  should  be  sown 
at  about  the  same  time  and  much  in  the 
same  manner  as  corn,  in  hills  or  broadcast. 

In  1879  I  had  a  ha  If -acre  of  it.  It  was 
moderately  covered  with  bees  for  many 
weeks,  but  was  much  inferior  to  the  Simp- 
son honey-plant. 

BROOD.   See  Bees  ;  also  Foul  Brood. 


BUOOD,  SPREADING.  See  Sfiieadij^& 
Bbood. 

BOTTLING  HONEY.  See  Extracted 
Honey;  also  Peddling  Honey  and  Can- 
died Honey. 

BUCKWHEAT.  This,  for  certain  sec- 
tions of  our  country,  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant honey  plants.  It  is  grown  princi- 
pally on  the  hillsides  of  Eastern  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania,  and  in  these  loca'ities 
where  are  thousands  of  acres  within  a  ra- 
dius of  a  few  miles,  immense  quantities  of 
buckwheat  honey  are  annually  produced. 
On  one  hilltop  in  Schoharie  Co.,  Y.,  near 
Gallupville,  where  I  stood,  I  was  told  that 
within  a  radius  of  three  mihs  the  bees  had 
access  to  5000  acres  of  buckwheat,  all  of 
which  was  within  the  range  of  my  eyes.  So 
great  is  the  acreage  of  it  in  Kew  York  that 
anywhere  from  2000  to  3000  colonies  can  be 
kept  in  some  counties  ;  and  this  means  hun- 
dreds of  bee  -  keepers  who  are  specialist 
honey- growers  and  farmers,  almost  all  of 
whom  keep  at  least  a  few  colonies.  The 
latter  class  reason  this  way  :  That  the  grow- 
ing of  buckwheat  as  a  grain  is  one  of  the 
most  profitable  branches  of  farming;  that 
the  nectar  in  the  blossoms  properly  belongs 
to  them,  and  if  they  keep  a  few  colonies 
they  will  virtually  get  two  crops  from  one 
field— honey  and  the  buckwheat  grain. 

I  have  ridden  on  the  bicycle  ov»  r  the 
buckwheat  legion  of  New  York,  traveling 
all  day,  and  yet  not  getting  out  of  sight  of 
buckwheat  fields  that  seemed  to  cover  every 
available  piece  of  ground  on  both  sides  of 
the  road.  So  immense  are  the  fields  that 
the  atmosphere  st  ems  to  be  heavily  chargt  d 
with  the  aroma  of  the  bloom,  and  if  one  is 
not  a  lover  of  buckwheat  honey  the  odor  is 
somewhat  sickening. 

One  bee-keeper  in  the  heart  of  the  buck- 
wheat country  (W.  L.  Coggshall,  of  West 
Groton)  who  lives  near  Cayuga  Lake,  har- 
vested one  year  with  his  lOOQ  colonies  78.000 
lbs.  of  honey ;  another  year  50,000  lbs  ;  and 
for  a  good  many  years  his  crops  have  rauged 
along  into  the  carloads.  While  this  is  not 
all  buckwheat  honey  by  considerable,  yet  a 
good  big  portion  of  it  is. 

But  the  growing  of  buckwheat  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  the  East.  It  is  gr  .wn  in 
small  acreages,  of  say  one  to  five  acres,  in 
most  of  the  North  Central  States.  It  also  is 
a  paying  crop  for  seed  and  honey  in  the 
South,  being  grown  largely  in  South  Caro- 
lina and  Texas.  But  it  is  in  Eastern  New 
York,  on  the  hillsides,  that  it  seems  to 
thrive  best.  Stalks  of  the  celebrated  Japan- 


BUCKWHEAT. 


61 


BUCKWHEAT. 


ese  variety  that  would  measure  two  feet 
high  in  Ohio,  will  reach  five  or  six  feet  in 
length  in  the  m(^re  favored  locations  in 
New  York.  There  is  something  in  the  cli- 
mate and  ^^oil  of  thos '  great  hills  that  makes 
the  growing  of  this  plant  much  more  profit- 
able in  the  East  than  in  the  West,  although 
it  is  always  a  paying  crop  for  the  grain  in 
nearly  every  locality  where  ordinary  grain 
crops  can  be  grown. 

THE  QUALITY  AND  COLOR  OF  BUCKWHEAT 
HONEY. 

Buckwheat  honey  itself  is  of  a  deep  dark 
purplish  tint,  and  looks  very  much  like  New 
Orleans  or  sorghum  molasses.  It  is  usually 
of  heavy  body ;  and  the  flavor,  to  one  who 
is  a  lover  of  clover  and  basswood,  and  who 
has  never  been  brought  up  on  buckwheat 
honey,  is  more  or  less  rank ;  and  yet  those 
who  have  always  been  used  to  buckwheat, 
or  at  least  a  good  many  of  them,  prefer  it, 
even  to  clover  or  basswood. 

A  lady  from  the  East  once  called  at  our 
store  and  looked  over  our  honey.  We 
showed  her  several  samples  of  choice  clo- 
ver and  basswood  comb  honey. 

"I  do  not  like  this,"  she  said.  "  It  looks 
like  manufactured  sugar  honey.  Haven't 
you  any  buckwheat  V" 

"  Yes,  but  we  did  not  suppose  you.  would 
like  that,  because  such  honey  rarely  sells  in 
our  locality.'' 

We  then  placed  before  her  some  sections 
of  buckwheat  honey,  and  these  suited  her 
exactly. 

"  That  is  real  bee  honey,"  said  she,  with  a 
look  o£  satisfaction,  and  she  took  with  her 
several  sections. 

It  seems  that  her  father  had  been  a  bee- 
keeper, and  about  all  the  honey  she  ever 
saw  w^as  buckwheat ;  and  unless  it  had  the 
strong  flavor  and  dark  color  of  the  honey 
she  was  familiar  with  in  her  girlhood  days 
it  was  not  honey  to  her,  and  there  are  thou- 
sands and  thousands  like  her  in  the  East. 

Yes,  there  is  a  fancy  trade  that  prefers 
buckwheat ;  and  this  trade  is  so  large  that 
buckwheat  honey  in  the  New  York  market 
brings  almost  as  high  a  price  as  the  fancy 
grades  of  white  ;  but  in  the  Western  mar- 
kets, principally  in  Chicago,  "  the  stuff " 
goes  begging  a  purchaser,  and  sells  for  an 
off  grade  or  poor  honey. 

But  notwithstanding  the  color  of  buck- 
wheat honey  itself  is  purplish,  the  cappings 
of  the  combs,  especially  if  made  by  black 
bees,  are  almost  pearly  white.  Buckwheat 
comb  honey — some  of  it  at  least — is  very 
pretty,  and  especially  when  it  is  put  up  by 


I  practical  bee-keepers  who  know  how  to  pro- 
duce a  first  class  grade  of  any  honey. 

IS  BUCKWHEAT  A  RELIABLE   SOURCE  FOR 
HONEY,  AND  WHEN  ? 

In  the  East,  buckwheat  can  be  depended 
on  almost  every  year,  for  a  crop  of  honey  ; 
but  in  the  West  it  is  rather  uncertain — some 
years  yielding  no  honey,  and  others  doing 
fairly  well.  But  when  it  does  yield,  the  bees 
work  on  it  almost  entirely  in  the  morning, 
the  nectar  supply  lasting  up  till  about  ten 
or  eleven  o'clock.  There  are,  however,  ex- 
ceptions. 

In  the  East,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  on  ac- 
count of  the  immense  acreage,  the  bees  are 
kept  busy  gathering  honey  from  morning 
till  night ;  and  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  can 
be  depended  on  almost  absolutely  for  a  yield 
of  honey,  whenever  basswood  or  clover  fails, 
as  it  does  sometimes  in  any  locality,  the 
bee-keeper  is  able  to  pay  at  least  expenses 
and  something  besides.  Indeed,  some  years 
when  there  is  almost  a  total  failure  of  white 
honey  the  Y^ork  State  honey-producers  are 
enabled  to  make  a  fair  living  from  buck- 
\  wheat  alone. 

'  DIFFERENT    VARIETIES    OF  BUCKWHEAT. 

i    The  first  buckwheat  of  which  very  much 
i  was  known  was  designated  as  the  black 
!  and  the  gray  ;  later  on,  the  silverhull  came 
I  into  prominence.   Both  of  these  varieties 
were    finally    displaced    almost  entirely 
I  by  the  celebrated  Japanese.   This  variety 
was  not  only  very  much  more  prolific,  but 
the  kernels,  or  seeds,  are  very  much  larger— 
so  much  larger,  indeed,  that  it  necessitated 
the  use  of  larger  screens  on  the  part  of  the 
millers  who  made  a  business  of  grinding  it. 
At  the  present  time  the  Japanese  is  grown 
almost  exclusively.   The  accompanying  il- 
lustration is  a  very  excellent  one  of  the 
'  buckwheat-plant  in  general ;  and  while  the 
I  kernels  shown  are  a  little  larger  than  the 
j  natural  size  (engravings  usually  exagger- 
ate), yet  they  are  much  larger  than  the  old 
!  varieties  of  silverhull  and  gray. 
!    The  Japanese  is  an  enormous  yielder,  and 
i  has  been  known  to  produce  at  the  rate  of  80 
I  bushels  per  acre,  and  the  crop  has  become  so 
I  profitable  in  localities  favoring  its  growth 
that  it  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  one 
farmer  to  raise  anywhere  from  500  to  1000 
bushels. 

BUCKWHEAT  A  PAYING  FARM  CROP. 

I  have  set  it  down  as  a  rule  in  this  work 
that  it  is  not  profitable  to  grow  any  honey- 
plant  unless  the  seed  will  pay  the  expense 
of  the  crop.   In  this  case  the  buckwheat,  as 


BUCKWHEAT. 


62 


BUCKWHEAT. 


I  have  shown,  is  one  of  the  most  profitable 
grains  that  can  be  grown ;  and  outside  of  any 
honey  it  may  yield,  there  is  "  good  money  in 
it."  In  our  own  locality  the  yield  of  nectar 
from  buckwheat  is  so  irregular  and  so  scant 
from  season  to  season  that  we  do  not  get 
very  much  of  the  honey ;  and  yet  when  it 
does  yield  it  affords  an  excellent  diversion 
for  the  bees,  keeping  them  out  of  mischief 
when  there  would  be  an  absolute  dearth  of 


frosts  after  it  gets  up.  The  extremely  hot 
weather  coming  on  while  it  is  in  bloom  is 
not  favorable  to  the  maturing  of  the  seed. 
Buckwheat  ordinar  ly  should  be  sown  after 
some  other  crop,  anywhere  from  July  1  to 
the  middle  of  August,  depending  on  the  lo- 
cality. Almost  any  soil  can  be  used  for 
growing  it ;  but  the  better  the  soil,  the 
larger  the  crop,  of  course.  Some  recom- 
mend a  loose  mellow  ground,  or  a  clover 


JAPANESE  BUCKWHEAT, 


honey  from  every  other  source  ;  but  even  in 
Ohio  it  pays  to  grow  it. 

HOW  TO  PREPARE  THE  SOIL  FOR  GROWING 
BUCKWHEAT,  AND  WHEN  TO  SOW. 

Two  crops  of  buckwheat  can  1  e  grown  in 
a  season,  but  usually  it  does  not  pay.  In 
such  case  it  must  be  sown  very  early — so 
early  that  it  is  liable  to  be  killed  by  the  early 


>od  turnel  under.  Others  say  plow  imme- 
diately after  sowing  oats  or  planting  corn. 
Buckwheat  requires  a  great  deal  of  moist- 
ure ;  and  by  working  the  soil  early  it  be- 
comes settled  and  holds  the  moisture  ;  and 
the  result  is,  the  seed  will  till  better.  After 
I  plowing,  the  ground  should  be  thoroughly 
I  harrowed,  and  then  the  seed  may  be  sown 


BUCKWHEAT. 


63 


BUYING  BEES. 


with  a  drill.  If  a  fertilizer  is  used,  it  should 
be  put  in  at  the  same  time  with  the  seed 
and  run  through  the  drill.  One  experienced 
grower  says  that  the  sowing  should  be  done 
while  the  ground  is  dry  and  dusty,  and  nev- 
er immediately  after  a  rain.  After  the  sow- 
ing, the  surface  should  be  immediately  rolled 
to  compact  the  soil,  as  the  grain  sprouts 
quicker,  and  it  is  sometimes  out  of  the 
ground  in  less  than  four  days. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Kennedy,  of  Queiiamo,  Kan., 
tells  us  of  a  crop  of  116  bushels  of  Japanese 
buckwheat  that  cost  hioa  next  to  nothing. 
After  turning  under  his  oat  stubble  in  July, 
as  it  was  too  early  to  put  ia  wheat  he  sowed 
the  ground  to  buckwheat  with  a  drill.  This 
came  oH  so  soon  that  the  ground  was  in 
almost  as  good  condition,  apparently,  for 
sowing  wheat  as  it  was  when  first  prepared. 
He  then  put  the  drill  right  on  to  the  buck- 
wheat stubble,  and  next  season  reported 
that  the  wheat  sown  on  this  stubble  looked 
exactly  as  well  as  the  rest  sown  on  other 
ground.  It  is  probable  that  a  plant  so  dif- 
ferent in  its  habit  from  wheat  will  take  little 
if  any  of  the  necessary  material  for  wheat 
from  the  soil ;  and  it  is  a  common  remark 
that  nothing  fits  the  ground  so  nicely  for  a 
succeeding  crop  as  buckwheat. 

As  to  the  amount  of  seed  to  the  acre,  it 
varies  according  to  the  locality.  On  good 
land  two  pecks  per  acre  is  recommended  as 
enough  ;  on  thin  soil,  three  pecks.  One  can 
increase  the  yield  on  thin  soils  by  the  use  of 
50  lbs.  of  phosphate  and  50  lbs.  of  plaster 
mixed  and  diilled  in,  according  to  W.  L. 
Coggshall,  of  West  Groton,  Y.,  to  whom 
I  have  already  refei red.  The  same  author- 
ity estimates  that  buckwheat  is  one  of  the 
best  crops  to  subdue  rough  land,  and  that  it 
always  leaves  the  ground  in  good  condition 
for  potatoes  and  oats,  and  almost  any  crop 
except  corn. 

Buckwheat  as  a  fertilizer  of  soil  is  one  of 
the  best.  Sometimes  after  late  sowing,  early 
frosts  nip  the  stalks.  In  such  cases  I  would 
always  recommend  plowing  it  under  before 
the  plants  wiit.  It  will  more  than  pay  for 
its  cost  as  a  fertilizer,  and  some  buckwheat- 
growers,  I  understand,  enrich  their  soil 
every  so  often  in  this  way,  even  if  the  frosts 
do  not  come  in  to  spoil  the  crop.  In  this 
case  they  wait  till  after  the  blooming  to  get 
the  honey  and  then  plow  under.  Indeed, 
several  prominent  men  recommend  plowing 
in  two  and  even  three  crops  of  buckwheat, 
one  after  another,  when  shoit  of  manure, 
and  it  is  desired  to  get  the  ground  into  a 
high  state  of  cultivation. 


The  best  crop  of  buckwheat  we  ever  h-^d 
was  from  plowing  under  a  crop  of  red  clo- 
ver. Under  the  influence  of  clover  and 
abundant  rains  the  grain  matured  in  just  OS- 
days  after  the  sowing ;  and  as  the  seed  was 
not  sown  in  the  first  place  till  after  the  15th. 
of  August,  our  experiments  showed  that, 
under  favorable  circumstances,  buckwheat 
is  a  very  speedy  crop.  There  was  no  killing 
frost  that  season  until  the  last  of  October,, 
but  this,  of  course,  is  unusual. 

SOWING   BUCKWHEAT  AND  CRIMSON  CLOVER 
AT  THE  SAME  TIME. 

During  the  last  two  or  three  years  we  have 
had  excellent  success  in  sowing  crimson  clo- 
ver with  buckwheat,  especially  where  both 
were  put  in  along  the  last  of  July  or  first  of 
August.  They  come  up  together  ;  but  the 
buckwheat,  being  the  stronger,  takes  the 
ground,  and  the  crimson  clover  makes  but 
little  showing  until  after  the  buckwheat  is- 
harvested.  Then  the  crimson  clover,  dur- 
ing the  cool  moist  fall  weather,  rapidly  cov- 
ers the  ground.  If  frost  should  kill  the 
buckwheat,  the  crimson  clover  will  rise  up 
above  it  and  hide  its  black  unsightliness  in 
a  very  brief  period ;  and  the  dead  buck- 
wheat seems  to  be  just  the  sort  of  mulching 
that  the  clover  needs.  The  finest  crop  of 
crimson  clover  I  ever  grew  or  saw  was  put 
in  in  this  way,  and  was  turned  under  (June, 
1900)  for  planting  potatoes.  Among  bee- 
men,  where  the  main  thing  is  to  get  a  crop 
of  honey,  a  little  turnip  seed  can  be  thor- 
oughly mixed  in  with  the  clover  seed.  In 
this  way  at  one  sowing  we  have  three  honey- 
plants.  Buckwheat  gives  a  crop  of  honey  in 
the  fall ;  the  turnips,  if  allowed  to  remain 
in  the  ground  over  winter,  would  blossom 
in  the  spring,  almost  the  first  plant  to  yield 
honey  ;  and  the  clover  will  come  into  bloom 
shortly  afterward,  and  so  we  may  get  a  crop 
of  grain,  quite  a  crop  of  nice  turnips,  and 
clover  to  feed,  to  plow  under,  or  a  crop  of 
clover  seed  next  season.  See  Crimson  Clo- 
ver. 

BUTIITG  Buns.  If  one  is  an  experienced 
bee-keeper,  no  advice  need  be  given  ;  but  if 
he  is  a  novice  in  the  business,  then  I  would 
strongly  urge  him  to  make  a  small  begin- 
ning with  as  little  expense  as  possible,  for 
nothing  is  more  discouraging,  after  having 
plunged  into  the  business  extensively,  blind- 
folded as  it  were,  than  to  lose  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  bees  either  through  wintering  or 
from  some  other  cause— all  for  the  want  of 
a  little  practical  experience,  or  even  a  theo- 
retical knowledge.  Many  a  person  has  met 
with  disaster  from  starting  out  with  bees  on 


BUYING  BEES. 


64 


BUYING  BEES. 


too  large  a  scale.  Sometimes  one  is  offered 
a  bargain  of  25  or  30  colonies  including 
hives,  bees,  implements,  smokers,  etc.,  at  a 
ridiculously  low  price,  and  the  temptation 
is  strong  to  buy.  I  would  not  advise  the 
purchase  unless  the  prospective  buyer  can 
get  hold  of  some  practical  bee-keeper  who 
can  instruct  him  in  the  rudiments  of  bee- 
keeping. If  he  is  an  unusually  bright,  smart 
young  fellow  he  might,  and  probably  could, 
if  he  read  this  book  carefully,  be  able  to 
manage  the  whole  apiary  without  previous 
experience,  successfully. 

My  advice  has  always  been  to  make  a 
small  beginning ;  and,  after  having  invest- 
ed $20.00  or  $25.00,  put  no  more  into  the 
business  until  the  bees  bring  in  some  re- 
turns. In  other  words,  malce  the  bees  pay 
their  way.  It  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  blow 
in  a  lot  of  good  money  "into  the  venture 
and  get  no  returns,  because  bee-keeping  as 
a  business  is  something  that  depends  more 
upon  the  weather  than  perhaps  any  other ; 
and  I  do  not,  therefore,  recommend  any  one 
to  make  bees  his  sole  means  of  livelihood. 
True  it  is  that  there  are  many  bee-keeping 
specialists  ;  but  they  are  men  who  have 
gradually  grown  into  the  business,  and  as  a 
general  rule  have  a  specially  favorable  loca- 
tion, and  keep  anywhere  from  500  to  1000 
colonies. 

The  keeping  of  bees  is  generally  more  suc- 
cessfully carried  on  in  connection  with  some 
other  business.  Many  a  professional  man 
desires  some  sort  of  light  recreation,  and  a 
few  bees  will  afford  him  just  the  diversion 
he  needs.  Farmers,  fruit-growers,  or  horti- 
culturists, can  keep  from  50  to  100  colonies 
without  greatly  interfering  with  any  other 
work ;  and  nearly  every  one,  as  explained 
under  Apiary,  can  keep  a  few  colonies  in 
his  back  yard.  Ten  or  twenty  colonies  will 
yield  almost  a  certain  return,  a  much  larger 
revenue,  per  colony,  than  ten  times  that 
number.333 

Having  considered  some  of  the  difficulties 
and  uncertainties  of  bee-keeping,  one  may 
now  inquire  whether  he  desires  to  go  into 
the  business  at  all.  With  the  knowledge 
that  from  10  to  20  colonies  can  usually  be 
handled  successfully,  and  at  a  good  profit, 
the  beginner  will  naturally  desire  to  try  his 
hand  at  it.  How  shall  he  make  his  start  V 
If  he  can  visit  some  practical  bee-keeper 
for  a  day  or  two,  he  will  be  able  to  get  hold 
of  many  of  the  ''tricks  of  the  trade."  He 
will  learn  enough  so  that  he  can  take  up 
this  work  and  read  it  and  digest  it  in  a  way 
he  could  not  otherwise ;  and  I  strongly  urge 


any  one,  who  can,  to  visit  some  bee-keeper — 
a  practical  man — and  then  buy  of  him  one 
or  two  colonies.  As  to  price,  a  strong  col- 
ony of  Italian  bees,  with  tested  queen,  in  a 
new  Dovetailed  hive,  or  in  any  modern  hive, 
in  fact,  might  be  worth  $10.00.  This,  ordi- 
narily, would  be  considered  the  outside 
price.  Ordinarily  bees  that  are  hybrids  or 
black,  in  movable-frame  hives,  second  hand, 
sell  anywhere  from  $3.00  to  $5.00  per  stock, 
including  hive.  If  there  are  no  modern  bee- 
keepers in  the  vicinity  one  may  have  to  pur- 
chase a  box  hive  or  two  with  the  combs  all 
built  solid  into  the  hive— see  Box  Hives. 
The  price  of  these,  if  they  are  blacks  and 
hybrids,  will  be  anywhere  from  $2.00  to  $3.00 
per  hive.  But  the  person  who  keeps  bees 
in  such  hives  will  not  be  able  to  impart  very 
much  in  the  way  of  modern  apiculture,  and 
the  only  thing  one  can  do  in  such  a  case  will 
be  to  study  this  work  carefully. 

To  move  the  black  bees  in  box  hives,  turn 
the  hive  upside  down,  and  tie  over  the  end 
a  piece  of  cheese-cloth.  The  moving  should 
be  done  at  night,  or  at  least  on  a  cool  day. 
They  should  then  be  carried  a  distance  of 
at  least  a  mile  and  a  half,  otherwise  many 
of  the  bees  will  return  to  their  old  location. 
See  Moving  Bees. 

In  some  localities  it  may  not  be  possible 
to  buy  bees  of  any  one.  In  such  case  send 
to  the  nearest  dealer  for  a  one  or  two  frame 
nucleus.  If  one  doesn't  care  for  expense  let 
him  purchase  four  or  five  nuclei  and  then 
proceed  to  build  them  up  as  described  under 
Nuclei  and  rEEDiNG.335 

But  before  purchasing  any  bees  he  should 
get  of  his  dealer  or  manufacturer  five  or  ten 
modern  hives  in  the  flat.  As  there  are  sev- 
eral such  hives  on  the  market,  all  of  them 
fairly  good,  the  beginner  may  be  at  a  loss  to 
know  which  of  them  to  choose.  All  things 
considered,  for  most  localities  I  would  rec- 
ommend the  eight-frame  Dovetailed  hive, 
using  Hoffman  self -spacing  frames. 337  See 
Hives.  These  are  sold  by  all  the  dealers, 
and  as  these  hives  are  used  largely  by  expert 
bee-keepers  who  carry  on  the  business  quite 
extensively  with  good  results,  the  novice 
will  not  go  far  astray  to  adopt  them. 

As  soon  as  the  hives  are  received  in  the 
flat,  nail  them  up  and  paint  them,  for  with 
every  lot  of  hives  there  will  be  sufficient 
nails  of  the  right  kind  to  put  them  together. 
If  one  can  not  afford  to  take  the  time  him- 
self, let  him  employ  some  carpenter,  who, 
with  the  printed  directions,  will  be  able  to 
put  them  together  in  a  workmanlike  man- 
ner. 


i 


1 


NO.  JO. -APIARY  OF  J.  F.  m'iNTYRE,]xEAR  VENTURA,  CAL. -LOOKING  EASTWARD. 


BUYING  BEES. 


65 


BVYIXG  BEES. 


Having  the  hives  all  in  readiness,  five  or 
ten,  as  the  case  may  be,  one  can.  vrixh  his 
two  or  three  nuclei,  huild  them  up  by  feed- 
ing, and  then  divide  as  recommended  under 
Xl'Clet  and  Fekdixg. 

If  the  beginner  is  successful  thus  far.  he 
may  then,  with  some  assurance,  purchase  of 
his  dealer  one  or  two  Italian  queens,  which 
he  can  easily  introduce  to  the  nuclei.  See 
liSTTEODTTCiNG.  In  dividing  or  forming  nu- 
clei, one  should  of  course  put  the  new  queen 
he  just  purchased  with  the  bees  that  are 
made  queenless.  After  he  has  had  a  little 
more  experience  in  watching  and  studying 
bees  he  may  then  be  able  to  do  something  at 
queen-rearing.  See  Queexs  and  Queex- 
KEAKiNG.   To  avoid  trouble  with  robbers 


(  he  should  then  read  very  carefully  the  sub- 
I  ject  of  Stixgs  and  Eobbixg.  Toward  the 
'  close  of  the  season  he  should  then  take  up 
I  AViXTEKiXG.  as  found  in  its  alphabetical  or- 
I  der.  reading  this  carefully ;  for  more  disas- 
I  ters  in  apiculture  result  from  failure  to  win- 
ter bees  properly  than  from  any  other' cause. 

Xuclei  of  one  or  two  frames  can  be  pur- 
chased of  some  of  the  dealers.   These  will 
be  placed  in  hght  shipping-boxes,  and  will 
usually  contain  500  to  1000  bees,  one  or  two 
frames  of  brood,  and  a  little  honey.   As  the 
I  express  charges  on  these  bees  will  be  dou- 
I  ble  first-class,  it  is  always  cheaper  and  bet- 
I  ter  to  buy  common  bees  in  one's  vicinity 
!  where  possible,  and,  after  transferring,  in- 
I  trcduce  ItaUan  queens. 


3 


c. 


CAGXSS  rOR  QUEEWS.   See  I^^tro- 

DUCI-N-G. 

CAVTDV  rOR.  BEES.  There  is  jnst 
one  candy  that  is  used  universally  by 
bee-keepers.  Though  used  particularly  as  a 
food  in  queen-cages  and  pound  cages,  it  is 
also  used  for  feeding  during  winter  or  early 
spring.  It  is  none  other  than  what  is  pop- 
ularly termed  the  Good  "  candy,  after  I.  E. 
Good,  of  Kappanee,  Ind.,  who  introduced  it 
in  this  country.  It  was,  however,  first  in- 
vented by  a  German  by  the  name  of  Scholz 
many  years  before  Mr.  Good  introduced  it. 
See  "Langstroth  on  the  Honey-Bee,''  p.  274, 
of  1875.  By  Europeans  it  is  therefore  called 
the  Scholz  candy. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  IT.  | 

Make  a  stifE  dough  out  of  a  first  quality  of 
extracted  honey  and  powdered  sugar.  These 
are  all  the  directions  that  were  given  at 
first,  but  it  would  seem  that,  from  the  dif- 
ference in  results,  more  specific  directions 
are  necessary.  Mr.  J.  D.  Fooshe  (or,  rather, 
his  wife,  who  makes  it  for  him)  has  been 
very  successful  in  making  candy.  Their 
method  is  as  follows :  Take  good  thick  hon- 
ey and  heat  (not  boil)  it  until  it  becomes 
very  thin,  and  then  stir  in  pulverized  sugar.* 
After  stirring  in  all  the  sugar  the  honey 
will  absorb,  take  it  out  of  the  utensil  in 
which  it  is  mixed,  and  thoroughly  knead  it 
with  the  hands.  The  kneading  makes  it 
more  pliable  and  soft,  so  it  will  absorb,  or, 
rather,  take  up,  more  sugar.  For  summer 
use  it  should  be  worked,  mixing  in  a  little 
more  sugar  until  the  dough  is  so  stiff  as  not 
to  work  readily,  and  it  should  then  be  al- 
lowed to  stand  for  a  day  or  two;  and  if 
then  so  soft  as  to  rmi,  a  little  more  sugar 
should  be  kneaded  in.  A  good  deal  will  de- 
pend upon  the  season  of  the  year.  There 
should  be  more  sugar  in  proportion  to  the 
honey  in  warm  or  hot  weather,  than  for 
cool  or  cold  weather.   It  should  not  be  so 

*  Confectioners'  sugar — a  grade  of  pulverized  sugar 
— will  not  answer,  as  it  generally  contains  starch. 
While  the  latter  is  all  rieht  for  frosting  for  cakes  it  is 
death  to  bees.  Be  sure  the  sugar  is  pure.  If  you  can't 
get  what  you  want,  pound  up  granulated  sugar  with  a 
mortar  and  pestle. 


hard  in  winter  but  that  the  bees  can  easily 
eat  it,  nor  should  it  be  so  soft  in  summer 
as  to  run  and  daub  the  bees.  For  this  rea- 
son the  honey,  before  mixing,  should  be 
heated  so  as  to  be  reduced  to  a  thin  liquid. 
For  shipping  bees,  the  main  thing  to  look 
out  for  is  to  see  that  the  candy  does  not  ran 
nor  yet  get  hard.  It  is  one  of  the  nice 
points  in  making  this  candy  to  make  it  just 
right.  Don't  delude  yourself  by  the  idea 
that  a  second  quality  of  honey  will  do.  Al- 
ways use  the  nicest  you  have.  We  have 
had  the  best  results  with  first  quality  of 
clover  extracted.  Sage  honey,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  has  the  property  of  render- 
ing the  candy  in  time  as  hard  as  a  brick, 
and,  of  course,  should  not  be  used. 

With  the  Good  candy  we  have  been  en- 
abled, with  the  Benton  cage,  to  send  queens 
not  only  across  the  continent  and  to  the 
islands  of  the  sea,  but  even  to  Australia,  on 
a  journey  of  37  days.  There  is  not  very 
much  trouble  in  mailing  queens  to  Austra- 
lia, if  the  candy  can  be  made  just  right  so 
as  not  to  become  too  hard  nor  too  soft  on 
the  journey.  If  it  retains  a  mealy,  moist 
condition,  the  bees  will  be  pretty  sure  to  go 
through  all  right.   See  Benton  cage,  under 

iNTRODUCmG. 

HARD  CANDY  FOR  FEEDING. 

There  are  some,  perhaps,  who  would  like 
to  make  the  hard  candy.  The  following  are 
the  directions  we  have  used  in  the  older 
editions  of  this  work.  The  candy  answers 
a  very  good  purpose,  but  it  is  a  good  deal 
more  trouble  to  make  it,  and  it  can  be  used 
only  for  winter  and  spring  feeding. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  HARD  CANDY. 

Into  a  tin  sauce-pan  put  some  granulated 
sugar  with  a  little  water— a  very  little  water 
will  do.  Make  it  boil,  and  stir  it ;  and  when 
it  is  done  enough  to  ''grain"  when  stirred 
in  a  saucer,  take  it  quickly  from  the  stove. 
While  it  is  "cooking,"  do  not  let  the  fire 
touch  the  pan,  but  place  the  pan  on  the 
stove,  and  there  will  be  no  danger  of  its 
burning.  Cover  the  dining-table  with  some 
newspapers,  that  you  may  have  no  trouble- 
some daubs  to  clean  up. 


CA^q^DlED  HONEY.  67  CAi^^DIED  HO^^^EY. 


To  see  when  it  is  just  right  you  can  try 
dropping  some  on  a  saucer;  and  while  you 
are  at  work,  be  sure  to  remember  the  little 
folks,  who  will  doubtless  take  quite  an  in- 
terest in  the  proceedings,  especially  the 
baby.  You  can  stir  some  until  it  is  very 
white  indeed  for  her ;  this  will  do  very  well 
for  cream  candy.  We  have  formerly  made 
our  bee-candy  hard  and  clear;  but  in  this 
shape  it  is  very  apt  to  be  sticky,  unless  we 
endanger  having  it  burned,  whereas  if  it  is 
stirred  we  can  have  dry  hard  candy,  of  what 
would  be  only  wax  if  cooled  suddenly  with- 
out the  stirring.  Besides  we  have  much 
more  moisture  in  the  stirred  sugar  candy, 
and  we  want  all  the  moisture  we  can  possi- 
bly have,  consistent  with  ease  in  handling. 

If  your  candy  is  burned,  no  amount  of 
boiling  will  make  it  hard,  and  your  best 
way  is  to  use  it  for  cooking,  or  feeding  the 
bees  in  summer  weather.  Burnt  sugar  is 
death  to  them,  if  fed  in  cold  weather. 

CAITDIED  KOSTEIT.  All  liquid  hon- 
ey, and  some  comb  honey,  is  liable  to  cloud 
and  partially  solidify  at  the  approach  of  cold 
weather;  that  is,  it  assumes  a  granular 
mealy  condition,  something  like  moist  In- 
dian meal,  and  again  li'tve  moist  fine  white 
granulated  sugar.  The  granules  of  candied 
honey  are  about  the  size  of  grains  of  ordi- 
nary table  salt,  but  may  be  much  tiu'er  with 
some  grades  of  honey.  Ccmih  honey  granu- 
lates to  a  very  limited  extent,  and  after  a 
much  longer  period,  than  extracted.  While 
cold  weather  is  much  more  conducive  to 
granulation,  yet  in  some  localities,  and  with 
some  honeys  especially,  it  takes  on  the  semi- 
solid form  even  in  ivann  weather.  Some 
honeys  will  candy  in  a  month  after  being 
taken  from  the  comb,  and  others  will  re- 
main liquid  for  two  years.  The  honey  most 
liable  to  granulate  is  extracted  alfalfa,  as 
this  does  so  in  from  three  to  five  months. 
Mountain  sage  from  California  may  remain 
liquid  for  a  whole  year,  and  sometimes 
longer ;  but  in  any  case,  no  matter  what  the 
source,  the  thicker  the  honey— that  is,  the 
better  ripened— the  longer  the  period  before 
it  assumes  the  granular  form.  Ordinary 
comb  honey  in  sections,  if  well  ripened  in 
the  hives  before  it  is  taken  oH,  will  usual- 
ly remain  liquid  for  a  year.  After  that 
time,  especially  if  it  has  been  subjected  to 
cold  during  the  previous  winter,  there  are 
liable  to  be  a  few  scattering  granules  in 
each  cell.  These  gradually  increase  in  num- 
ber until  the  comb,  honey,  and  wax  may  be- 
come almost  one  solid  mass.  In  such  condi- 
tion it  is  fit  neither  for  the  market,  the 


table,  nor  for  feeding  back,  and  should  be 
treated  by  the  plan  I  will  describe  presently. 
IS  grajSttjlatiox  a  test  of  purity? 
In  the  eyes  of  the  general  public,  granu- 
lated honey  is  not  pure  ;  some  think  it  has 
been  "  sugared,"'  either  with  brown  or  white 
sugar.   But  the  very  fact  that  it  granulates 
;  solid  is  one  of  the  best  proofs  of  its  puri- 
ty.  If  honey  granulates  only  partially,  in 
streaks,  it  may  be  an  evidence  of  the  fact 
that  it  has  been  adulterated  with  glucose. 
But  even  pure  honey  will  assume  this  con- 
dition ;  but  a  honey  that  is  nearly  two-thirds 
or  three-quarters  glucose  will  granulate  but 
very  little.   But  here,  again,  it  must  not 
I  be  taken  that  it  is  positive  evidence  that, 
I  because  the  honey  refuses  to  granulate,  or 
1  only  slightly  so,  therefore  it  is  adulterated. 
!  The  purity  of  any  honey  can  usually  be  de- 
I  termined  by  the  taste  by  an  expert  bee- 
keeper who  has  tested  various  grades  of 
honey,  and  knows  their  general  flavor.  But 
here,  again,  even  taste  can  not  be  consider- 
ed an  infallible  test.   Doubts  can  be  re- 
moved only  by  referring  a  sample  or  sam- 
ples to  an  expert  chemist. 

now  TO   PEEVEXr  HOXEV  FROM  CANDY- 
ING. 

There  is  no  plan  that  will  act  as  an  abso- 
lute preventive ;  but  by  a  method  which  I 
will  describe,  granulation  may  be  deferred 
for  one  and  possibly  tjvo  years.  But  even 
after  treatment,  if  the  honey  is  subjected  to 
a  freezing  temperature  for  a  series  of  days  it 
will  be  almost  sure  to  start  candying  again. 
After  the  first  few  days  the  honey  will 
appear  to  be  slightly  cloudy.  The  cloudy 
appearance  is  more  pronounced,  and  granu- 
lation proceeds  more  rapidly  then,  until  the 
point  of  solidification  is  reached.  But  there 
is  no  excuse  for  having  honey  at  any  time, 
either  comb  or  extracted,  kept  in  a  zero  or 
freezing  temperature ;  and  for  all  practical 
purposes  we  can  prevent  honey  from  candy- 
ing for  a  year  on  the  average.  The  treat- 
ment, in  a  word,  is  simply  to  place  the  honey 
in  a  vat  where  its  temperature  can  be  raised 
gradually  to  the  point  of  about  160  degrees 
Eahr. ,  and  maintained  there  until  the  honey 
is  all  liquid.  It  should  not  be  allowed  to 
become  hotter,  as  that  will  have  a  tendency 
to  darken  the  color  and  mar  the  flavor 
slightly.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  heat- 
ing the  honey  to  only  160^  Eahr.  has  a  ten- 
dency to  change  the  flavor  very  slightly,  but 
so  little,  indeed,  that  the  average  consumer 
will  never  detect  it.  If  the  two  samples 
were  placed  side  by  side,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  he  could  tell  which  was  which. 


CAI^DIED  HOXEr. 


68 


CAOTIED  HONEY. 


After  the  honey  is  sealed  it  should  be  kept 
in  a  room  where  the  temperature  does  not 
go  below  60°  in  winter.  If  it  can  be  kept  up 
to  an  ordinary  living-room,  all  the  better. 

To  liquefy  honey  in  the  candied  state,  or 
heat  it  to  prevent  its  getting  into  that  con- 
dition, the  honey  should  be  placed  in  a  dou- 
ble boiler— that  is  to  say,  the  tank  should  be 
double-walled,  the  space  between  the  walls 
being  filled  with  water.  This  may  be  placed 
on  the  stove  and  filled  with  honey.  The 
double  boiler  used  by  the  Rauchf  uss  broth- 
ers, of  Denver,  Col.,  is  shown  in  the  annexed 
engraving,  and  its  manner  of  construction 
will  be  apparent. 

■  But  where  one  doesn't  have  such  a  boiler, 
and  can  not  afford  one,  he  can  make  a  very 
good  substitute  by  taking  a  common  wash- 
boiler.   Into  this  he  is  to  place  some  blocks 


DOUBLE  BOILER  FOR  LIQUEFYING  H  NEY 

of  wood  about  an  inch  square.  On  these 
blocks  he  is  then  to  place  three  or  four  more 
tin  pails,  or  as  many  as  he  can  get  into  the 
boiler.  If  he  has  something  larger  than  a 
wash-boiler  it  would  be  all  the  better.  The 
honey  is  then  poured  into  the  tin  pails.  If 
it  is  candied  solid  it  may  be  handled  with  a 
spade.  Water  is  then  poured  into  the  wash- 
boiler  so  that  it  will  come  within  two  inches 
of  the  top  of  the  pails.  The  whole  may  then 
be  placed  on  the  stove,  and  subjected  to  a 
slow  heat.  When  the  water  reaches  a  tem- 
perature of  160,  or  nearly  that,  the  fire 
should  be  checked;  the  honey  should  not 
become  any  hotter  than  the  temperature 
named,  as  one  may  otherwise  injure  the 
flavor  as  well  as  the  color.  Honey  should 
never  be  brought  to  a  boiling  temperature 
except  to  kill  the  germs  of  foul  brood,  and 
all  such  honey  should  be  fed  back  provided 


it  has  boiled  at  least  two  hours.  See  Foul 
Brood. 

When  the  heated  honey  is  brought  to  a 
clear  liquid  condition  it  may  be  placed  in 
self-sealing  glass  jars  or  cans,  and  ftealed 
while  hot.   If  it  is  put  into  ordinary  Muth 
jars,  the  corks  should  be  dipped  in  paraffine 
or  hot  beeswax,  or,  better  still,  a  mixture 
of  paraffine  and  resin.   After  dipping  they 
should  be  pushed  into  the  bottles  while  the 
honey  is  still  hot,  after  w^hich  the  tops  of  the 
bottles  and  the  corks  may  be  paraffined  and 
covered  with  tinfoil.   The  purpose  of  the 
waxing  of  the  corks  is  to  make  them  more 
impervious  to  the  air.  An  authority  on  bot- 
j  tling  says  waxed  corks  are  much  better  than 
plain  ones  for  the  prevention  of  granulation. 
I    If  Mason  jars  are  used — something  that  is 
kept  in  almost  every  house  for  preserving 
fruit — no  waxing  of  rubbers 
will  be  necessary  ;  simply 
secure  the  covers  down  tight 
with  a  wrench;  for  the  tight- 
I     er  the  sealing,  the  longer 
will  the  honey  keep  liquid. 
Honey  that  is  brought  to 
i     a  temperature  of  ICQOFahr., 
I     and  held  at  that  point  until 
I     it  is  perfectly  clear,  may  be 
i     placed  in  self -sealing  tin 
^  cans,  square  cans,  or  in  any 

3      receptacle  that  permits  air- 
-XJ^  ■      tight  sealing. 

^'  When  this  bottled  honey 

is  placed  on  the  shelves  of 
the  dealer  he  should  ba 
shown  the  importance  of 
having  the  temperature  of 
the  room  kept  as  nearly 
uniform  as  possible,  and  under  no  circum- 
;  stances  to  let  it  get  down  to  freezing.  The 
I  nearer  he  can  keep  the  room  at  all  times  to 
j  70°  Fahr.  the  longer  the  honey  will  be  kept 
I  liquid.  If  it  clouds  it  should  be  taken  off 
I  the  shelves  and  replaced  with  other  liquid 
!  honey. 

I  In  the  great  majority  of  markets,  espe- 
!  cially  in  the  East,  it  is  not  advisable  to  put 
out  honey  in  the  candied  form.  It  is  very 
hard  to  convince  consumers  that  it  is  not 
sugared ; "  and  if  the  honey  is  to  be  bot- 
tled, it  should  always  be  heated  in  the  man- 
ner stated,  and  tfien  sealed  while  hot — mark 
that. 

CAUSE  OF  GRAKULATIOX. 

I  As  already  stated,  the  primal  cause  is  cold 
I  weather.  But  as  some  honeys  differ  chem- 
1  ically,  it  may  be  assumed  that  there  is  some 


CANDIED  HONEY. 


69  CANDIED  HONEY. 


other  cause  that  operates  to  bring  about  the 
solid  condition.  Just  what  that  is,  we  do 
not  know;  but  we  do  know  this,  that  stir- 
ring or  violent  agitation  hastens  granula- 
tion ;  and  we  also  know  that,  if  some  gran- 
ulated honey  is  mixed  with  ordinary  liq- 
uid extracted,  the  latter  will  candy  much 
more  rapidly ;  for  when  honey  once  starts 
to  granulate,  the  process  goes  on  very 
rapidly,  although  it  may  take  from  one 
to  two  months  even  then  for  tlie  honey  to 
pass  from  the  liquid  condition  to  that  of 
the  semi-solid. 

PUTTIXG  CANDIED  HONEY  ON  THE  MAR- 
KET. 

Although  I  have  ad^ised  against  this  for 
.most  localities  in  the  East,  yet  in  some 
places  in  the  West,  where  candying  takes 
place  very  soon  after  the  honey  is  taken 
from  the  comb,  it  has  been  found  advisable 
to  put  the  honey  on  the  market  in  the  gran- 
ulated form.  In  such  cases  there  should 
always  be  a  label  explaining  how  to  liquefy 
the  honey  by  placing  the  can  in  a  vessel  of 
hot  water,  and  leaving  it  there  until  the 
honey  tm^ns  back  to  the  liquid  condition. 
It  is  also  necessary  to  explain  that  pure 
honey  is  almost  sure  to  granulate  solid  like 
so  much  lard.  Where  the  general  public 
understands  all  this  there  is  no  trouble  in 
disposing  of  the  goods. 

Mr.  R.  C.  Aikin,  of  Loveland,  Col.,  has 
made  quite  a  specialty  of  selling  his  crop  of 
extracted  honey  in  large  tin  pails.  Soon 
after  it  is  taken  from  the  combs  it  is  drawn 
off  into  these  pails,  and  allowed  to  stand 
until  it  becomes  thoroughly  candied.  As 
these  pails  are  not  self-sealing  they  would 
leak  if  turned  upside  down ;  consequently 
the  honey  is  not  marketed  until  it  is  granu- 
lated hard.  It  may  then  be  handled  like  so 
much  lard,  for  indeed  it  is  of  about  the 
same  consistency.  In  the  illustration  will 
be  seen  Mr.  Aikin's  packages  for  candied 
extracted  honey.  He  has  sold  his  product 
in  this  way  for  a  number  of  years,  putting 
the  price  so  low  that  consumers  can  afford 
to  buy  it  in  preference  to  other  sweets 
which  are  less  wholesome.  His  trade  has 
come  to  like  honey  in  this  form,  many  of 
his  customers  preferring  it  for  eating  in 
that  way,  while  others  reliquefy  before  us- 
ing. His  manner  of  shipping  is  to  pack 
these  pails  filled  with  candied  honey  in  or- 
dinary barrels.  Straw  is  packed  in  around 
them ;  the  barrels  are  headed  up,  and  are 
then  ready  for  any  kind  of  jom'ney,  clear 
across  the  continent  if  need  be. 


CANDIED-HONEY  CONFECTIONERY. 

If  we  allow  a  barrel  of  linden  or  clover 
honey  to  become  candied  solid,  and  then 
scoop  out  the  center  after  one  of  the  heads 
is  removed,  we  shall  find,  after  several 
weeks,  that  the  honey  around  the  sides  has 
drained  much  after  the  manner  of  loaf  su- 
gar, leaving  the  solid  portion,  sometimes, 
nearly  as  white  as  snow,  and  so  dry  that  it 
may  be  done  up  in  a  paper  like  sugar.  If 
we  now  take  this  dry  candied  honey  and 
warm  it  in  an  oven  until  it  is  soft,  it  can  be 


AIKIN'S  pails  for   CANDIED  EXTRACTED 
HONEY. 

worked  like  ''taffy,"  and  in  this  state  we 
shall  find  it,  perhaps,  the  most  delicious 
confectionery  we  ever  tasted.  We  can  also 
make  candy  of  honey  by  boiling,  the  same 
as  molasses.   See  Recipes  of  Honey  as 

EOOD. 

FREAKS   OF  HONEY-CANDYING. 

This  problem  of  honey-candying  is  a  very 
interesting  one.  It  sometimes  happens  that 
of  two  lots  taken  from  the  same  barrel  or 
can,  and  placed  in  two  self-sealing  pack- 
ages, that  the  honey  in  one  will  be  candied 


CANDIED  HO^^EY. 


70 


CATNIP. 


iTThile  in  the  other  it  will  remain  liquid,  not- 
withstanding that  both  packages  have  been 
subjected  to  the  same  temperature  and  the 
sariie  general  conditions. 339  if  this  happened 
in  the  case  of  sealed  packages  only  we  might 
suppose  that  the  sealing  in  one  package  was 
less  perfect  than  in  the  other  ;  but  that  the 
candying  does  not  depend  on  the  sealing  al- 
together is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  two 
lots  of  honey  may  not  be  sealed,  and  yet  one 
of  them  will  turn  to  a  solid  while  the  other 
will  remain  liquid.  But  it  should  be  stated 
that  these  instances  are  by  no  means  fre- 
quent ;  indeed,  they  are  rare  ;  but  they 
occur  just  often  enough  to  excite  our  cu- 
riosity. 

Another  interesting  fact  is  that,  while 
honey  may  candy  solid  within  six  months 
from  the  time  it  is  taken  from  the  comb, 
yet  if  it  is  kept  in  the  same  cans  and  in  the 
same  condition  for  a  period  of  two  or  three 
years  a  gradual  change  takes  place,  or  at 
least  has  been  known  to  do  so.  I  hav<e  seen 
alfalfa  honey  after  it  had  been  in  glass  jars 
for  seven  years,  and  was  told  that  it  was 
candied  solid  within  a  few  months  after 
being  taken  from  the  extracting-cans.  At 
the  time  I  saw  it  (seven  years  after),  it  was 
going  back  to  the  liquid  condition.  Some 
cans  were  almost  entirely  liquid,  and  others 
had  streaks  of  candied  honey  reaching  out 
like  the  branches  of  an  evergreen-tree  all 
through  the  package.  These  same  jars  are 
being  watched  with  the  expectation  that 
the  honey  will  ultimately  turn  back  to  the 
liquid.  But  there  is  no  probability  that  it 
will  taste  the  same  as  before  it  candied.  In- 
deed, there  is  every  evidence  to  show  so  far 
that  it  has  undergone  a  slight  chemical 
change.  Whether  that  change  is  due  to  the 
continued  effect  of  light  upon  the  granules 
is  not  known. 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  GRANULATION. 

While  we  do  not  know  very  much  as  yet 
about  the  theory  of  honey-candying,  yet  we 
do  know  this :  That  while  the  nectar  of  the 
flowers  may  be,  chemically,  cane  sugar,  yet 
after  it  has  been  stored  in  the  hive  by  the 
bees,  and  digested  or  worked  over  as  ex- 
plained under  Honey  elsewhere, it  is  known 
in  science  as  invert  sugar.  Ordinary  honey 
is  a  solution  of  dextrose,  levulose,  and  wa- 
ter, of  approximately  equal  proportions. 
"  Honey  candies  upon  standing,"  says  Dr. 
Headden,  of  the  Colorado  Experiment  Sta- 
tion at  Eort  Collins,  "because  of  the  ability 
of  the  dextrose  to  assiune  a  crystalline  form 
much  more  readily  than  the  levulose."  At 
the  Colorado  State  bee-keepers'  convention, 


he  showed  us  samples  of  free  dextrose  and 
of  levulose.  The  former  looked  like  a  very 
nice  light-colored  brown  sugar  ;  the  latter 
appeared  like  a  cheap  grade  of  dark-colored 
molasses.  The  doctor  went  on  to  explain 
that,  if  candied  honey  were  subjected  to  a 
sufficient  pressure,  the  greater  portion  of 
the  levulose  could  be  obtained,  leaving  the 
solid  mass  largely  dextrose.  While  the  lev- 
ulose of  the  honey  candies  slightly,  yet  it 
is  very  different  in  appearance  from  the 
dextrose  portion  of  it. 

HOW    TO    GET    CANDIED    HONEY    OUT  OF 
brood-combs  and  yet  save  BOTH 
THE  COMB  AND  THE  HONEY. 

Honey,  if  candied  at  all  in  brood-combs, 
will  usually  be  only  partially  so.  After  un- 
capping, M.  M.  Baldridge,  of  St.  Charles,* 
111.,  recommends  placing  all  such  combs  in 
the  extractor,  and  throwing  out  any  of  the 
liquid  portion  of  the  honey  then  remaining. 
He  next  lays  the  combs  in  the  bottom  of  a 
clean  wash-boiler,  and,  with  a  dipper  of 
water  elevated,  pours  the  water  slowly  into 
the  cells.  He  then  turns  the  comb  over  and 
treats  the  other  side  the  same  way.  As  fast 
as  the  combs  are  splashed  with  water  he 
places  them  in  a  hive  or  super.  When  they 
have  all  been  doused  he  takes  them  out  and 
sets  them  over  strong  colonies.  The  bees, 
by  the  aid  of  the  water,  will  liquefy  the 
whole  mass,  he  says,  clean  the  combs  out, 
and  save  both  the  combs  and  honey. 

Comb  honey  in  sections  that  is  candied 
can  scarcely  be  treated  in  this  way,  as  it 
would  be  impracticable  to  uncap  the  cells. 
These  had  better  be  placed  in  a  solar  ex- 
tractor (see  Wax),  and  allowed  to  remain 
there  until  the  sun  melts  out  both  comb  and 
honey.  The  wax  will,  of  course,  rise  to  the 
top  in  the  receiving-pans,  and  the  honey  will 
settle  to  the  bottom.  The  former  will  be  first 
grade,  while  the  latter  can  be  used  only  for 
feeding  back  for  brood-rearing,  because  both 
color  and  flavor  will  be  a  little  "  off." 

CARM'IOIiAN'S-see  Bees. 

CAT9TIF.  {Nepeta  Cataria).  This  is  a 
near  relative  of  Gidl-over-the-ground, 
which  see.  Quinby  has  said,  that  if  he 
w^ere  to  grow  any  plant  exclusively  for  the 
honey  it  produced,  that  plant  would  be  cat- 
nip ;  and  very  likely  he  was  not  far  from 
right.  But  as  we  have  never  yet  had  any 
definite  report  from  a  sufficient  field  of  it  to 
test  it  alone,  either  in  quality  or  quantity  of 
the  honey,  we  remain  almost  as  much  in  the 
dark  in  regard  to  it  as  we  were  at  the  time 
he  made  the  statement,  many  years  ago. 


CLOVER.  71 


CLOYER. 


Several  have  cultivated  it  in  small  patches, 
and  have  reported  that  in  a  state  of  cultiva- 
tion it  apparently  yielded  more  honey  than 
in  its  wild  state,  for  bees  are  found  on  it 
almost  constantly,  for  several  months  in  the 
year;  yet  no  one,  I  believe,  is  prepared  to 
say  positively  that  it  would  pay  to  cultivate 
it  for  this  purpose. 

CLIPPING  QUEENS.    See  QUEEXS. 

CIiOVISR  [Trifolium).  I  think  we  may 
safely  say  this  is  by  all  odds  the  most  im- 
portant honey-plant  on  the  Xorth  American 
continent,  and  I  do  not  know  but  of  the 
world.  So  important  is  it  that,  when  it  fails 
to  yield  nectar  generally,  there  is  a  failure 
of  the  honey  crop  throug'hout  the  comitry. 
The  plant  is  made  thus  important  because 
of  its  general  distribution  over  the  conti- 
nent. It  is  scattered  over  Southern  Canada, 
Eastern  and  Xorthern  United  States,  and 
even  tinds  its  way  into  our  Southern  States. 
Should  some  insect  pest  within  a  year  or  so 
destroy  all  the  clover  in  the  United  States, 
the  bee  business  for  over  half  of  the  local- 
ities in  the  country  would  be  practically 
ruined,  and  one  of  the  finest  honeys  (and  by 
many  considered  the  best)  would  for  ever  be  ' 
banished  from  the  markets.  This  would  i 
mean  that  the  annual  crop  of  all  honey,  in- 1 
eluding  that  not  marketed  but  consumed  at 
home,  for  the  United  States  alone  would  be 
cut  down  perhaps  50  per  cent. 

"While  some  persons  seem  to  tii-e  in  time 
of  almost  any  one  kind  of  honey,  that  from  ' 
clover  seems  to  wear  like  bread  and  butter, 
for  it  is  a  great  staple  in  the  markets  :  and 
where  one  can  recommend  his  honey  as  be- 
ing entirely  from  white  clover  he  has  said 
about  all  he  can  for  it. 

If  we  look  over  the  markets  we  find  that 
such  honey  is  generally  listed  at  the  highest 
price.  There  may  be  other  honeys  that  are 
quite  as  good,  if  not  a  little  better,  in  flavor : 
but  its  general  reputation  is  such  that  the 
public  throughout  the  country,  when  it 
wants  the  best,  calls  for  white  clover. 

Years  ago.  white  clover  was  regarded  as 
an  mifailing  supply  for  nectar  :  but  within 
the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years,  for  causes  for 
which  we  can  assign  no  reason,  our  great 
standby  honey-plant  has  come  to  be  some- 
what irregular.  While  it  may  grow  profuse- 
ly, and  while  it  may  blossom,  and  all  the 
conditions  seem  favorable  for  the  secretion 
of  nectar,  yet  it  will  occasionally  fail  abso- 
lutely to  give  up  its  sweetness :  and.  worst 
of  all.  there  may  be"  three  or  four  seasons 
running  when  there  is  but  very  Little  honey 


!  from  it.  Then  it  is  the  bee-keeper  sees  real 
"hard  times."  especially  if  he  has  his  aU 
invested  in  the  business. 

The  reduction  in  the  amount  of  clover  is 
!  partly  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  waste 
lands  and  pastures,  formerly  so  thickly  cov- 
,  ered  with  the  plant,  have  given  place  to  in- 
I  tensive  agriculture.   This  is  especially  true 
;  near  the  large  centers  of  population  where 
every  foot  of  land  must  be  tiu'ned  to  accoimt 
to  pay  taxes.   But  even  making  a  liberal 
allowance  for  all  this  there  are  some  condi- 
tions that  have  operated  to  prevent  the  se- 
cretion of  nectar  from  clover  some  seasons. 

VARIETIES  OF  CLOTEK. 

The  most  important  is  the  common  white 
clover  [Trifolium  repens).  which  everybody 
knows.  We  could  better  spare  any  of  the 
rest,  and  I  might  almost  say  all  the  rest, 


AVHITE  CLOVER. 

than  oiu'  white  clover  that  grows  so  plenti- 
tifuUy  as  to  be  almost  unnoticed  nearly 
everywhere.  But  little  effort  has  been 
made  to  raise  it  from  the  seed,  because  of 
the  difiiculty  of  collecting  and  saving  it. 

There  is  a  large  variety  kno^Ti  as  white 
Dutch  clover,  that  is  sold  by  our  seedsmen, 
to  some  extent.  I  have  not  been  able  to 
gather  whether  it  is  superior  to  the  com- 
mon.s^i  The  common  red  clover — T.pratense 
— yields  honey  largely  some  seasons,  but  not 
as  generally  as  does  the  white,  nor  do  the 
bees  work  on  it  for  as  long  a  period.^Q  While 
working  on  red  clover,  the  bees  bring  in 
small  loads  of  a  peculiar  dark-green  pollen ; 
and  by  observing  this  we  can  usually  tell 
when  they  are  bringing  in  red  -  clover 
honey.  The  Italians  will  often  do  finely  on 
red  clover,  while  the  common  black  bees 
will  not  even  so  much  as  notice  it.  The 
cultivation  is  much  like  that  of  alsike, 
mentioned  further  on :  but  the  safest  way 
for  a  beginner  is  to  consult  some  good  farm- 
er in  his  own  neighborhood,  as  different  lo- 
calities require  slightly  different  treatment. 
The  same  will  apply  to  saving  the  seed, 
which  can  hardly  be  saved  profitably  vrith- 


CLOVER. 


72 


CLOVER. 


out  the  use  of  a  clover-huller  made  espe- 
cially for  the  purpose. 


PEAVINE,   OR  MAMMOTH  RED  CLOVER. 

This  is  the  largest  kind  of  red  clover 
known,  as  its  name  indicates;  and  it  does, 
many  seasons,  furnish  a  very  large  amount 
of  honey.  As  a  rule,  however,  like  the  red 
clover  mentioned  above,  it  is  seldom  worked 
on  by  the  common  bees ;  but  nearly  every 
season  it  is  visited  more  or  less  by  Italians  ; 
and  some  seasons,  w^here  large  fields  are 
near  by,  the  bees  store  very  large  amounts 
of  very  fine  honey  from  this  source  alone. 
As  it  is  in  bloom  principally  during  the 
months  of  August  and  September,  it  is  a 
very  important  honey-plant. 5o  Although  the 
hay  is  hardly  equal  to  that  from  the  common 
red  clover,  it  is  perhaps  the  best  forage  plant 
to  plow  under,  known.  When  well  started 
it  will  grow  on  almost  any  soil ;  and  once  a 
good  stand  is  secured  and  plowed  under, 
the  ground  will  be  in  condition  to  furnish  a 
fair  crop  of  almost  any  thing. 

ALSIKE  CLOVER. 
This  was  formerly  supposed  to  be  a  hy- 
brid, since  in  appearance  it  is  so  nearly 
intermediate  between  the  white  and  red 
clover;  hence  its  name,  Trifoliumliyhridum, 
Linn.  It  is  now  known  that  it  is  not  a  hy- 
brid. While  it  furnishes  full  as  much  honey 
as  the  red,  the  petals  are  so  short  that  the 
bees  find  no  difficulty  in  reaching  it.  If  you 
imagine  a  large  head  of  white  clover,  with 
the  extremities  of  the  petals  tipped  with  a 
beautiful  pink — equal  in  beauty  to  a  dahlia 
if  they  were  not  so  common — you  will  have 
a  very  good  idea  of  the  alsike.^^s  The  leaf 
is  much  like  that  of  other  clovers,  except 
that,  in  color,  it  is  a  soft  clean  bright  green, 
without  the  spots  of  down  that  are  seen  on 
the  white  or  red. 


If  alsike  clover  came  into  bloom  at  a  sea- 
son when  bees  could  get  little  else,  as  buck- 
wheat does,  I  should  place  it,  instead  of 
buckwheat,  first  on  the  list  of  plants  for  ar- 
tificial pasturage.*  Where  white  clover  does 
not  grow  spontaneously,  alsike  is,  undoubt- 
edly, ahead  of  every  thing  else  now  known. 
It  not  only  produces  honey  in  large  quanti- 
ties, but  the  quality  is  not  excelled  by  any 
thing  known  in  the  world. i-  It  is  true,  many 
people  will  prefer  basswood,  mountain  sage, 
and  other  aromatic  flavors,  at  first  taste,  but 
I  believe  every  one  tires  of  these  after  a 
time,  and  clover  stands  almost  alone,  as  the 
great  staple  for  every -day  use,  with  and 
like  our    bread  and  butter. "3*5 

CULTIVATION^,  Ai^D  SOWING  THE  SEED. 

The  cultivation  is  so  much  like  that  of  red 
clover,  that  w^hat  applies  to  the  one  will  do 
for  the  other.  As  the  seed  of  the  alsike  is 
much  smaller,  a  less  quantity  is  required ; 
the  general  rule  is  four  pounds  to  the  acre. 
As  it  blossoms  only  the  second  year,  or  very 
sparingly  the  first,  with  ordinary  cultivation 
it  may  be  sown  almost  any  time,  and  in  fact 
it  is  often  sown  on  wheat  on  the  snow  in 
March.  In  this  way  we  can  see  just  how 
evenly  we  are  getting  it  on  the  ground.  The 
farmers  near  me  who  furnish  the  finest  seed 
say  they  have  the  best  success  with  that 
sown  with  their  oats  in  the  spring.  Al- 
though alsike  will  produce  some  honey  with 
almost  any  cultivation,  it  is  important  to 
have  the  ground  nicely  prepared,  if  we  wish 
to  get  large  yields  of  either  hay  or  honey. 
With  good  mellow  ground,  finely  pulverized, 
we  may  get  a  growth  of  3  feet  in  height,  and 
a  profusion  of  highly  colored  blossoms  that 
will  astonish  one  who  has  never  seen  such  a 
sight ;  especially  when  the  field  is  roaring 
with  the  hum  of  the  busy  Italians.  As  a 
heavy  growth  is  liable  to  lodge  badly  during 
wet  weather,  it  may  be  well  to  sow  a  sprink- 
ling of  timothy  seed  with  it.  If  put  in  ear- 
ly, it  may  on  good  soil  produce  considerable 
bloom  the  first  season,  but  not  much  is  to  be 
expected  until  the  second  year,  when  it  is  at  - 
its  height.  It  will  give  a  fair  crop  the  third 
year;  but  after  that,  if  we  would  keep  up  a 
yield  of  honey  it  must  be  sown  again. It 
may  be  sown  in  the  spring  on  fall  wheat; 
but  wiiere  timothy  has  been  sown  with  the 
wheat  in  the  fall,  it  is  apt,  on  some  soils,  to  • 
choke  out  the  alsike. 

*If  alsike  is  cut,  or  even  pastured  off,  just  before 
coming"  into  bloom,  it  will  blossom  ag-ain,  just  after 
white  clover  is  gone,  and  give  a  crop  of  clover  hon- 
ey just  when  we  most  need  it.  One  of  our  leading- 
honey-men  says  this  fact  alone,  learned  at  a  con- 
vention, has  been  worth  more  than  S50.00  to  him. 


CLOYER. 


73 


CLOVER. 


SAVIXG  THE  HAY. 

If  raised  for  the  hay  and  honey,  without 
any  reference  to  saving  the  seed,  it  will  give 
at  least  two  good  crops  every  season;  in 
this  case,  it  is  cut  when  in  full  bloom.  In 
our  locality  it  usually  blooms  the  last  of 
June,  and  sometimes  furnishes  considerable 
honey  before  the  white  clover  is  out.  The 
hay  is  admitted  by  all  to  be  equal  to  any  of 
the  grasses  or  clovers  in  use.^J'  and  the  pas- 
turage, after  the  clover  is  cut.  is  most  excel- 
lent for  all  kinds  of  stock. 

Its  value  for  milch  cows  is  shown  by  the 
following,  taken  from  GJ:anings  in  Bee  Cul- 
ture. Vol.  XIII..  page  161 : 

.AS  A  FUHAGE-PLA^T 

it  has  no  superior,  producing-  a  larg-e  fio^vofvery 
ricli  milt.  June  ioth.  ^vhen  I  shut  The  stock  out  of 
the  alsike,  I  allowed  them  to  run  in  a  field  of  red 
clover  that  was  just  coming-  into  blossom,  and  at 
the  eud  i>f  the  third  day  the  five  cows  had  shrunk 
their  m'lk  to  the  amount  of  9  quarts  to  the  milking-. 
'J'lien.  in  Octol  er,  to  test  it  further  for  feed,  as 
there  was  quite  a  growth  of  lea  res  on  the  ground  I 
again  allowed  the  cows  in  the  field.  You  may  judg-e 
of  my  surpiise  when  1  found,  at  tlie  end  of  a  week, 
they  had  made  a  gain  of  10  quarts  to  the  milking-. 
Millington.  Mich.  M.  D.  York. 

SAVIXG  THJE  SEED. 

The  seed  is  always  saved  from  the  first 
crop  of  blossoms,  and  it  should  be  allowed 
to  stand  about  two  weeks  longer  than  when 
cut  for  hay.  If  you  wish  to  get  a  good  price 
for  yom'  seed,  it  must  be  very  nicely  cleaned. 
It  is  thrashed  out  with  a  clover-huUer,  made 
expressly  for  clover  seed,  and  then  cleaned 
with  a  fanning -mill,  with  the  appropriate 
sieves.  As  timothy  seed  is  very  nearly  of 
the  same  size,  it  is  difficult  to  remove  it  all. 
unless  by  a  fanning-mill  having  the  proper 
blast  arrangement.  As  the  alsike  weighs 
60  lbs.  to  the  bushel,  and  timothy  only  4-5. 
there  is  no  great  difficulty  in  doing  it  elfec-  , 
tually.  I 

I  need  scarcely  add,  that  whoever  raises  | 
seed  for  sale  should  exercise  the  most  scru- 
pulous care  to  avoid  sending  out  foul  seeds 
of  any  kind  ;  and  where  Canada  thistles  or  j 
weeds  of  that  class  prevail.  I  would,  under  i 
no  cii'cumstances,  think  of  raising  seed  to  be  | 
sent  all  over  the  land.    If  they  are  in  your  j 
neighborhood,  raise  hay  and  honey,  and  let  i 
seed  be  fm-nished  by  some  one  who  is  differ- 
ently situated. 

PROFIT  OF  THE  CROP. 

The  seed  has  for  a  number  of  years  sold  ' 
for  from  S5.50  to  S8.00  per  bushel,  and  the  | 
average  yield  of  seed  is  about  four  bushels 
per  acre.   It  retails  for  15  to  18  cents  per 
pound,  and  60  lbs.  is  reckoned  as  a  bushel. 
See  Clover. 


]  The  following,  taken  from  The  Fcmner, 
j  of  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  not  only  shows  what 
I  profit  may  be  realized  in  raising  alsike,  but 
i  is  another  proof  of  its  value  as  a  hay  crop. 
The  reader  will  observe  that  the  writer  is  in 
I  no  way  interested  in  bees. 

I  -WILL  IT  PAY  FARMERS  TO  RAISE  ALSIKE  WITHOUT 
ANY  REFERENCE  TO    BEE-KEEPING  AT  ALL  ? 

About  20  years  ago  I  bought  my  first  alsike  clo- 
;  rer  seed,  and  sowed  it  alone  on  the  south  side  of  a 
:  hill.  The  season  was  dry,  and  it  grew  only  about  a 
foot  high;  and  as  it  was  said  the  first  crop  produced 
the  seed,  T  cut  it  for  seed  and  felt  disappointed  at 
getting  so  little  thatlAvas  readj"  to  pronounce  it  a 
humbug,  and  plowed  it  up  the  same  fall.  Some 
years  afterward  I  saw  a  bushel  of  seed  at  the  Dane 
I  County  Fair,  at  Madison.   I  inquired  of  the  owner, 
\  Mr.  Woodward,  how  he  liked  it,  and  if  it  was  a 
'  profitable  crop.   He  said  he  got  four  bushels  of 
seed  per  acre,  and  sold  it  at  §10  per  bushel;  that 
the  hay,  after  being  hulled,  was  better  than  the 
best  red-clover  hay.  and  that  his  cattle  ate  it  in 
preference  to  any  other  hay.   T  bought  two  bush- 
els of  the  seed  and  sowed  about  one  bushel  to 
twelve  acres,  mixing  one-third  timothy,  hy  mea- 
sure, where  I  wanted  it  for  pasture  or  hay,  and 
about  the  same  quantity  of  pure  alsike  where  I 
1  wanted  it  for  seed.   It  does  not  raise  st  ed  the  same 
j  year  it  is  sown,  but,  like  red  clover,  the  next  year. 

I  have  sown  it  with  wheat,  barley,  and  oats.  It 
;  does  best  with  spring  wheat  or  barley. 

I  hulled  110  bushels  this  year  from  20  acres.   I  ex- 
pect to  get  ST.OO  per  bushel,  and  T  have  at  least  25 
tons  of  good  hay.  after  hulling,  worth  enough  to 
'  pay  all  expenses  of  cutting  and   hulling.  Some 
;  years  ago  I  sold  my  whole  crop  on  the  Board  of 
!  Trade  in  Chicayo  for  ??11.00  per  bushel, 

Mr.  George  Harding,  of  Waukesha,  a  breeder  of 
Cotswold  sheep  and  short-horn  cattle,  and  one  of 
Wisconsin's  most  wide-awake  farmers,  showed  me 
a  small  field  of  one  of  his  neighbors  that  he  said 
produced  seven  bushels  of  alsike  seed  per  acre, 
and  that  he  sold  it  in  Milwaukee  for  S12.00  per 
bushel.  I  have  SO  acres  in  alsike;  and  so  long  as  it 
pays  me  as  well  as  it  has  done,  I  will  sow  it. 

The  first  crop  the  next  year  after  sowing  is  the 
seed  crop.  It  can  be  cut  for  seed  for  several  years. 
It  is  not  a  biennial  plant  like  red  clover,  but  a  per- 
ennial. It  hHS  one  tap  root  with  many  branches, 
and  does  not  heave  up  bj-  frost,  like  red  clover, 
which  has  but  one  tap  root. 

I  prefer  it  to  red  clover  for  several  reasons. 
When  sown  with  timothy  it  matures  with  timothy. 
(Medium  red  clover  matures  before  timothy  is  fit 
to  cut.)  I  cut  about  the  lOth  to  15th  of  July;  red 
clover  should  be  cut  iherei  about  the  20th  of  June. 
Alsike  is  not  easily  injured  by  dew  or  light  rains 
after  being  cut.  It  has  none  of  the  "  fuzz  "  that 
red  clover  has,  making  it  so  unpleasant  to  handle 
as  hay  or  seed.  Tlie  stem  is  not  so  coarse  nor  so 
hollow,  and  has  more  branches,  leaves,  and  blos- 
soms. The  blossom  is  of  a  pink  color.  Red  clover 
must  be  cut  when  we  are  in  the  busiest  time  work- 
ing our  corn.  Alsike  is  cut  after  corn  work  is 
over.   This  is  of  great  advantage  in  a  corn  region. 

Alsike  makes  a  good  fall  pasture  after  the  seed 
is  cut.  My  stock  will  eat  it  in  preference  to  red 
clover,  timothy,  or  blue  grass.  Blue  grass,  or,  as  it 
is  often  called  in  this  country,  June  grass,  is  a 
good  early  and  late  grass,  but  in  midsummer  it 


CLOVER. 


74 


CLOVER. 


dries  up;  and  had  it  not  been  for  clover  we  should 
have  been  badly  off  for  pasture  this  dry  year. 
Dane  Co.,  Wis.  (Hon.)  Matt.  Anderson. 

The  next,  from  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture^ 
Vol.  XIV.,  page  327,  is  of  so  much  import- 
ance in  regard  to  raising  alsike  or  other 
honey-yielding  plants,  that  we  give  it  here 
entire  : 

A  SUGGESTION    TO    BEE-KEEPERS    IN    REGARD  TO 
HAVING  ALSIKE  RAISED  BY  THE  FARMERS 
OF  THEIR  OWN  NEIGHBORHOOD. 

I  have  manag-ed  to  supplement  the  natural  supply 
for  my  bees  during-  the  last  five  or  six  years  as 
follows:  I  first  tried  sweet  clover  with  but  poor 
success,  so  I  took  up  alsike  clover,  and  this  is  the 
way  I  work : 

About  this  time  of  the  year  I  buy  from  200  to  400 
lbs.  of  best  alsike  clover  seed  in  Montreal  at  whole- 
sale price.  This  year  I  can  g-et  it  for  12  cts.,  perhaps 
less.  I  expect  to  buy  my  supply  next  week.  It  will 
cost  me  H  ct.  freig-ht,  and  1  shall  probably  sell  it 
to  the  farmers  who  are  within  two  miles  of  my  apia- 
ry, for  10  cts.  per  lb.  At  this  price  it  is  readily 
taken  up  by  all  who  are  "  seeding  down  "  land  suit- 
able for  alsike,  as  the  price  in  the  stores  here  is 
from  16  to  18  cts.  Three  pounds  mixed  with  tim- 
othy will  seed  an  acre  very  well,  so  you  see  I  get 
pasturage  which  will  last  from  two  to  five  years,  of 
the  very  best  quality  of  honey,  at  the  small  cost  of 
$7.50  for  one  hundred  acres.  I  can  not  conceive  of 
any  plan  which,  with  me,  would  be  cheaper,  less 
trouble,  or  that  would  give  as  quick  and  reliable  re- 
turns. I  could  get  a  good  deal  of  seed  sown  by  sell- 
ing it  at  cost;  but  I  find  that  taking  off  two  or  three 
cents  per  pound  makes  a  great  difference  in  the 
amount  sown.  As  white  and  alsike  clover  are  the 
most  reliable  hoaey-plants  we  have  here  —  very 
rarely  failing  entirely— the  results  have  been  very 
marked  and  satisfactory. 

To  those  who  wish  to  try  this  plan  I  would  say, 
Work  up  the  matter  personally;  canvass  every 
farmer  within  two  miles  and  more  in  every  direc- 
tion from  your  apiary  (those  living  more  than  two 
miles  should  pay  cost  of  seed),  showing  them  a 
sample  of  your  seed,  pointing  out  its  advantages, 
etc.  Although  alsiiie-clover  hay  will  not  weigh  so 
heavy  as  red  clover,  it  is  far  sweeter  and  better,  and 
all  stock  far  prefer  it  to  eat.  One  pound  of  seed, 
also,  will  go  as  far  as  two  pounds  of  red  clover,  as 
the  seeds  are  so  much  smaller. 

Canvassing  the  farmers  should  be  done  at  once, 
as  every  good  farmer  plans  his  work  and  buys  his 
seed  early.  After  you  have  finished  canvassing, 
add  up  your  orders,  send  to  a  reliable  seedsman,  dis- 
tribute, and  get  pay  for  your  seed,  and  your  work 
for  the  season  is  done;  but  it  should  be  repeated 
every  season,  to  enlarge  your  "  base  of  supply  "  as 
much  as  possible.  Of  course,  you  will  have  to  wait 
one  season  before  the  alsike  will  bloom. 

In  localities  where  different  apiaries  are  near  to- 
gether, if  the  seed  is  furnished  under  cost  the  par- 
ties should  make  up  the  amount  of  the  difference 
pro  rata,  according  to  the  number  of  colonies  they 
have. 

A  WORD  OF  CAUTION  ABOUT  SOWING  ADSIKE. 

First,  get  the  very  test  seed  you  can  find.  Poor 
seed  is  an  abomination.  Don't  sow  it  on  dry,  sandy 
land,  for  alsike  delights  in  a  moist  soil. 


This  simple  plan  of  increasing  pasturage  may  not 
be  new,  but  I  never  heard  it  mentioned,  though 
doubtless  some  have  tried  it. 

Danville,  Quebec,  Can.         Geo.  O.  Goodhue. 

We  need  hardly  add,  that  the  above  plan 
can  be  carried  out  with  buckwheat,  rape, 
and  any  other  honey-yielding  plants  that  are 
of  value  to  farmers. 

SWEET  CLOVER. 
Within  the  last  few  years  this  plant,  com- 
monly denominated  a  weed  by  town  councils 
and  by  ignorant  farmers,  is  finding  its  way 
over  the  entire  United  States.  I  can  remem- 
ber a  few  years  ago,  when  a  plant  of  sweet 
clover  was  unknown  around  here.  The  first 
few  plants  that  I  ever  saw  created  quite  a 
sensation,  both  on  the  part  of  the  bee-keeper 
and  of  the  general  public  ;  bee  luse,  during 
the  time  they  were  in  bloom,  they  were  fair- 
ly covered  with  bees.  So  far  from  being  a 
noxious  weed  it  is  really  a  valuable  forage- 
plant  in  some  localities  and  while  the 
white  clover,  for  some  unaccountable  reason, 
is  not  yielding  as  it  did  some  years  ago.siceet 
clover,  a  wonderful  honey-plant,  seems  de- 
termined to  make  up  for  the  loss  by  spread- 
ing itself  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other.  It  takes  special  delight  in  growing 
on  waste  places,  even  on  the  hardest  and 
roughest  clay,  along  common  wagon-roads 
and  railroads.  It  is  scattered  over  the  for- 
mer by  being  carried  on  the  wheels  of  the 
wagons  when  the  roads  are  muddy,  and 
as  a  consequence  the  plants  may  be 
found  along  most  of  the  highways  of  the 
country.  Over  the  steam  roads  the  rap- 
idly moving  trains,  by  reason  of  the  great 
suction  generated,  gather  up  the  seeds  and 
drop  them  along  their  journey,  with  the  re- 
sult that  the  seed  is  scattered  by  the  cars 
from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other ; 
but  it  never  occupies  the  good  arable  fields 
of  the  farmer,  for  it  is  very  easily  extermi- 
nated. From  the  very  fact  that  it  will  grow 
in  waste  places  where  nothing  else  would 
eke  out  a  living,  we  may  say  that  it  is  really 
adding  to  the  wealth  of  the  country.  In 
some  localities  it  affords  the  only  forage- 
plant  that  will  grow,  and  as  such  is  very 
valuable.  In  other  localities  where  it  grows 
by  the  roadsides  and  along  railway  tracks,  it 
furnishes  a  little  honey  to  the  bees  during 
that  time  of  the  year  when  no  nectar  can  be 
obtained  from  any  other  source  :  and  if  it 
were  grown  in  great  patches  instead  of  in 
streaks  a  mile  or  a  hundred  miles  long  it 
might  be  much  more  important  as  a  honey- 
plant;  but  as  bees  will  not  ordinarily  fly 
much  more  than  one  or  two  miles,  the 


CLOVER. 


75 


CLOVER. 


amount  of  acreage  of  the  plant  within  range 
of  their  flight  is  very  limited. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  sweet  clover,  the 
white  and  the  yellow.  The  white  is  almost 
universal,  while  the  yellow  is  seen  only  in 
occasional  patches.  The  former  is  larger, 
stronger,  and  more  thrifty  than  the  yellow. 
The  latter  seems  to  be  almost  identically  the 
same  thing,  only  that  it  is  smaller,  and  the 
flowers  yellow.35i 

QUALITY  OF  SWEET-CLOVER  HOJfEY. 

On  this  point  there  is  a  great  difference 
of  opinion.  Some  assert  that  it  is  of  very 
fine  quality  :  but  in  the  vicinity  of  some  of 
the  cities  it  is  pronounced  to  be  a  very  poor 
rank  stuff.  While  it  is  admitted  that  a  little 
of  it  in  any  honey  is  pleasant,  jet  the  pure 
stuff  is  denominated  as  very  poor :  yet  it 
seems  to  be  generally  admitted  that,  when 
the  honey  is  well  ripened,  its  flavor  is  not 
bad.  Bat  the  sweet  clover  of  the  cities  is 
probably  not  pure :  that  is,  the  bees  have 
put  with  it  some  vile  honey  from  some  weed. 
I  have  tasted  a  number  of  samples  that 
have  come  from  localities  where  nothing 
but  sweet  clover  is  grown.  While  the  color 
is  of  a  little  greenish  cast,  and  the  body 
good,  the  flavor  is  very  fair,  and  I  should 
say  the  honey  ought  to  rank  good  enough  to 
sell  as  white  honey.  I  shoLdd  hardly  con- 
sider it  equal,  however,  to  white  clover  or 
alfalfa.353 

Sweet  clover  is  quite  an  important  honey- 
plant  in  Utah.  One  of  our  subscribers,  Mr. 
J.  C.  Swaner,  has  had  considerable  experi- 
ence with  this  plant.  In  an  article  for 
Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  for  Jan.  1,  Vol. 
XVil.,  he  WTites  : 

Sweet-cloYer  grows  liere  along  the  watci'-courses, 
moist  waste  places,  along-  the  roadsides,  and  in  neg-- 
iected  fields.  It  g-rows  from  six  inches  to  as  many 
feet  in  height,  according-  to  the  location,  and  it  is 
covered  with  an  abundance  of  bloom  from  top  to 
bottom,  yielding  in  most  seasons  an  abundance  of 
nectar,  wliich.  after  being-  gathered  and  stored,  pro- 
duces honey  of  the  very  best  quality  and  color.  It 
does  not  generally  bloom  in  the  first  year;  but  in 
the  second  it  commences  about  the  first  Of  July,  and 
keeps  up  a  continual  bloom  until  killed  by  frost, 
furnishing-  bees  with  pasturage,  generally  from  the 
middle  of  July  until  the  latter  part  of  Aug  ust. 

Sweet  clover  is  sometimes  used  for  pasturage,  and 
also  for  making-  hay,  if  cut  when  young,  though  it  is 
a  long  way  behind  alfalfa  for  that  purpose.  Though 
it  is  sometimes  relished  by  stock,  very  few  would 
sow  it  for  feeding.  If  eaten  while  green  it  is  in  a 
measure  a  cause  of  hoven,  or  bloat,  in  cows.  If  you 
wish  good  milk  or  butter  you  had  better  not  feed  it 
to  milch  cows,  as  it  imparts  a  very  disagreeable  taste 
to  it.  If  eaten  off  by  stock  it  will  soon  recover,  and 
produce  an  abundance  of  bloom  for  the  bees. 

As  sweet  clover  is  a  biennial  it  is  not  a  very  hard 


weed  to  eradicate,  and  very  seldom  ,  troubles  culti- 
vated fields,  though  it  will  sometimes  seed  a  field; 
and  if  such  field  is  planted  to  grain  the  following 
'  season,  it  will  come  up,  and  is  cut  off  only  with  the 
j  reaper.   Next  season,  if  the  same  field  be'  neglected, 
it  will  quite  likely  be  covered  with  sweet  clover,  and 
j  that,  too,  sometimes  as  high  as  your  head.   If  a  field 
is  cultivated  as  it  should  be  for  two  seasons,  the  clo- 
ver will  entirely  disappear.   The  plant  requires  a 
little  moisture  in  the  soil  the  first  year;  but  after 
that  it  will  grow  without.   I  consider  it,  for  my  part, 
j  a  great  deal  better  to  see  a  roadside  lined  with  it 
!  than  the  sunflowers,  etc.,  tbat  generally  grow  in 
such  places. 

!  Now,  to  sum  up,  sweet  clover  is  our  main  honey 
crop  in  this  locality.  It  is  our  best  honey ;  and  said 
honey,  I  may  say  without  boasting,  compares  favor- 
ably with  the  best  grades  known. 

j  I  do  not  think  it  will  pay  to  sow  it  for  honey  alone, 
unless  on  such  land  as  is  considered  worthless ;  but 
I  think  it  would  be  a  benefit  to  such  land. 

As  to  the  amount  of  nectar  it  will  produce  per 
acre.  I  am  unable  to  say ;  but  I  think  it  will  compare 
favorably  with  white  clover;  in  fact,  I  think  that  it 
produces  fully  two-thirds  of  our  honey  crop  in  this 
locality,  and  I  should  consider  this  a  poor  country 
for  honey  if  it  were  destroyed ;  but  as  it  is,  we  gen- 
erally get  a  crop ;  that  is.  the  bees  generally  have 
some  honey  to  spare.  J.  C.  Swaxer. 

Salt  Lake  City.  Utah. 

H.  R.  Boardman,  in  Gleanings,  Vol.  XXII., 
writes  of  it  as  follows: 

I  am  surprised  that  any  bee-keeper  of  experience, 
who  has  had  a  reasonable  opportunity  of  observing, 
I  should  report  sweet  clover  anything  less  than  a  first- 
'  class  honey-plant:  and  yet  I  am  aware  there  are  a 
few  adverse  reports  coming  from  reliable  sources. 

I  am  quite  sure  —  yes,  I  think  I  know  from  my  own 
experience  and  observations  with  this  plant,  extend- 
ing through  a  period  of  a  dozen  years  or  more  —  that 
it  is  unsurpassed,  and  equaled  only  by  tlie  noted  al- 
falfa: and  these  con\'ictions  are  supported  by  the 
opinions  of  some  of  the  most  practical  and  reliable 
bee-men  of  my  acquaintance. 

I'he  season  of  1893  was  the  first  for  several  years 
when  white  clover  alone  yielded  me  any  surplus,  and 
this,  too,  with  the  fields  white  with  its  bloom  in  every 
I  direction  as  far  as  bees  could  fly;  and  yet  I  should 
I  not  be  warranted  in  claiming  that  white  clover  is  not 
a  good  honey-plant.   It  has  a  world-wide  reputation 
that  is  unimpeachable.   If  it  were  no  more  abundant 
than  its  cousin  it  would  hardly  have  gained  this  envi- 
able reputation— certainly  not  in  the  last  few  years. 
I  think  it  has  been  generally  conceded  by  practical 
\  bee-keepers  that  it  will  not  pay  to  plant  for  honey 
1  alone.   This  conclusion  is  undoubtedly  a  safe  one, 
:  We  must,  then,  look  for  some  value  besides  that  of 
honey,  in  order  to  recommend  sweet  clover  as  a  field 
crop. 

AS  A  FORAGE-PLANT. 

I  once  supposed,  as  most  people  do  now,  that  sweet 
clover  was  entirely  woi-thless  as  a  forage-plant  for 
stock— that  nothing- would  eat  it;  but  I  have  demon- 
i  strated  to  my  entire  satisfaction  that  horses,  cattle, 
i  and  sheep,  ■v\-ill  not  only  learn  to  eat  it.  but  will  thrive 
1  upon  it,  both  as  pasture  and  dried  as  hay,  and  that 
hogs  are  fond  of  it  in  the  green  state.   I  sa}%  they 
learn  to  eat  it,  because  most  stock  have  to  acquii'e  a 
taste  for  it,  not  taking  readily  to  it  at  first.   I  gave  it 
a  fair  trial  for  pasture  last  summer.   My  horses  and 


CLOVEK. 


76 


CLOVER. 


family  cow  fed  upon  it  almost  entirely  during-  the  dry 
part  of  the  season.  They  became  fat  and  sleek,  witJi- 
out  the  help  of  grain  or  other  feed.  The  milt  and 
hutter  from  the  cow  showed  no  objectionable  flavor. 
The  amount  of  feed  furnished  was  something  sur- 
prising. It  has  a  habit  of  continually  throwing  out 
or  rene^ving  its  foliage  and  its  bloom;  also,  when  cut 
or  fed  back,  it  keeps  it  constantly  fresh.  After  gain- 
ing a  growth  of  four  or  five  feet  in  height  in  dense 
masses  in  my  pasture  it  was  fed  down  entirely,  even 
the  coarse  stalks,  so  that,  at  the  close  of  the  season, 
nothing  was  left.  The  seeding  was,  of  course,  de- 
stroyed ;  but  in  my  desire  to  put  to  a  severe  test  the 
feed  value  of  the  crop,  this  was  lost  sight  of. 

Sweet  clover,  like  the  alfalfa,  sends  its  great  roots 
down  deep  into  the  hardest,  dryest  soils,  thus  enabl- 
ing it  to  withstand  severe  drouths  as  no  other  plant 
can.  This  gives  it  great  value  as  a  fertilizer;  and 
growing  as  it  does  upon  the  hardest,  poorest  soils,  it 
recommends  itself  for  reclaiming  soils  too  poor  for 
raising  other  crops.  It  has  a  habit  of  taking  posses- 
sion of  vacant  lots  and  roadsides,  which  has  caused 
some  alarm  with  those  unacqiuiinted  with  its  habits, 
fearing  it  would  spread  over  the  fields  and  prove  to 
be  a  pest.  I  can  assure  you  it  will  do  no  such  thing. 
In  all  my  acquaintance  with  it  I  have  never  seen  it 
spread  into  cultivated  or  occupied  fields  to  any  ex- 
tent. I  have  been  very  reckless  with  the  seed  about 
my  own  premises;  and  if  there  had  been  any  danger 
in  this  direction  I  should  have  found  it  out  long- 
ago. 

Some  time  during  the  latter  part  of  last  summer 
(1893)  I  made  a  trip  through  a  part  of  the  State  where 
a  severe  drouth  was  prevailing.  The  cattle  and  sheep 
looked  gaunt  and  hungry,  and  were  roaming  over 
the  farms  here  and  there,  adding  still  further  to  the 
look  of  desolation.  In  places  the  cows  had  been 
turned  into  the  growing  corn,  the  only  green  forage 
in  sight.  I  wondered  again  and  again  how  it  was 
possible  for  the  stock  to  escape  entire  starvation.  A 
field  of  sweet  clover,  with  its  dark-green  foliage, 
would  have  made  a  refreshing  picture  amid  this  des- 
olation. It  would  have  been  more  than  a  picture.  It 
would  have  supplied  a  place  where  it  would  have 
been  most  heartily  welcome  and  appreciated  in  this 
trj-ing  emergency.  I  think  it  will  recommend  itself, 
and  come  to  be  appreciated  soon  in  such  times  of  se- 
vere drouth.  It  makes  a  slender  growth  the  first 
year.  It  is  this  crop  that  is  most  valuable  for  hay, 
and  cutting  it  will  not  interfere  with  the  second 
year's  growth.  Tlie  second  year  it  gTOWs  coarser; 
blossoms,  seeds,  and  dies  root  and  branch.  If  cut  for 
hay  in  the  second  j^ear  it  should  be  cut  just  as  it  is 
beginning  to  bloom..  A  second  crop  may  be  cut  late 
in  the  season.  It  should  be  well  dried,  and  it  needs 
good  weather  to  do  it  in.  If  cut  for  seed  it  may  be 
thrashed  and  hulled  Avith  a  machine,  as  with  red  clo- 
ver, or  the  seed  may  be  sown  without  hulling. 

Now,  don't  be  induced,  by  the  bright  piciure  I  have 
drawn,  to  seed  your  whole  farm  to  sweet  clover,  for 
it  would  result  in  an  unprofitable  failure,  I  am  sure. 
But  if  you  desire  to  test  its  value,  do  it  on  a  small 
scale,  with  an  acre  or  two,  and  do  it  thoroughly.  I 
have  found  it  no  easy  thing  to  succeed  in  making  it 
grow  as  a  field  crop,  and  I  would  advise  sparing  no 
pains  in  getting  it  started.  When  once  it  gets  pos- 
session of  the  ground  it  will  stay  if  allowed  to  ripen  a 
late  crop  of  seed.  Sow  with  winter  wlieat  or  rye  in 
the  spring,  the  same  as  other  clover.  I  have  no  seed 
to  spare.  H.  E.  Boardman. 

East  Townsend,  O. 


It  is  now  well  established,  that  cattle  da 
sometimes  eat  sweet  clover  green,  although 
some  say  it  is  objectionable  as  pasturage. 
Prof.  Tracy,  of  the  Mississippi  Agricultu- 
ral College,  speaks  highly  of  it  as  a  hay 
plant,  but  says,  as  do  others,  that  stock 
must  learn  to  eat  it.  Livingston's  catalogue 
says  it  is  "  quite  valuable  for  soiling."  Its 
general  character  as  a  good  honey-plant  is 
well  established,  and  it  may  be  well  worth 
while  to  give  it  a  thorough  test  as  a  forage- 
plant. 

There  is  still  another  very  important  clo- 
ver ;  viz. ,  alfalfa,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  call- 
ed, lucerne.   See  Alfalfa. 

CRIMSON  CLOVER. 

This  species,  if  grown  largely,  would 
certainly  have  one  special  advantage  over 
any  of  the  other  clovers,  in  that  it  comes 
into  bloom  before  any  other,  and  very 
soon  after  apple-blossoms ;  in  fact,  it  fills 
the  gap  between  apple  -  bloom  and  white 
clover.  The  color  of  the  bloom  is  quite  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  the  common  red  clover  ; 
in  fact,  it  looks  more  like  a  great  long  lus- 
cious strawberry  than  any  thing  else.  Al- 
most every  season,  while  ours  is  in  bloom, 
people  stop  their  teams  to  look  at  it  and 
inquire  about  it ;  and  on  Decoration  day 
sometimes  they  come  for  miles  just  to  get 
huge  bouquets  of  these  beautiful  crimson 
blossoms  that  almost  startle  one  by  their 
beauty  and  brightness.  In  visiting  other 
bee-keepers  where  they  have  succeeded  in 
growing  it,  I  found  a  similar  report;  and 
one  who  has  never  seen  an  acre  of  crimson 
clover  in  bloom  can  scarcely  comprehend  its 
beauty,  not  only  by  the  gorgeous  blossoms, 
but  by  the  beautiful  clean  bright-green  foli- 
age that  distinguishes  it,  as  wrll  as  the  colors 
of  the  blossoms,  from  any  other  plant,  even 
when  seen  from  a  distance. 

While  this  variety  ( Tn/oZ mm  incarnatum) 
is  not  exactly  new,  the  idea  that  it  may  be 
sown  in  July  or  August,  so  as  to  winter  over 
as  far  north  as  the  State  of  Ohio,  is  a  com- 
paratively new  discovery.  In  States  south 
of  the  Ohio  River  it  may  be  sown  in  Septem- 
ber, October,  and  even  November.  In  our 
locality  we  obtain  excellent  results  by  sow- 
ing it  the  same  time  we  do  buckwheat  (for 
particulars  see  Buckwheat)  ;  or  it  may  be 
sown  with  all  sorts  of  garden  crops,  espe- 
cially those  that  are  to  come  otf  soon,  all 
through  tlie  months  of  July  and  August. 
With  very  favorable  fall  weather  it  may 
succeed,  or  partially  succeed,  through  the 
month  of  September.   Some  of  our  best 


CLOVER. 


77 


CLOVER. 


crops  have  been  secured  by  broadcasting  it 
among  early  corn,  just  before  it  is  cultivat- 
ed the  last  time.  If  you  want  to  raise  some 
nice  turnips,  without  any  additional  ex- 
pense, mix  thoroughly  an  ounce  of  turnip 
seed  with  five  pounds  of  crimson  clover  be- 
fore the  clover  is  sown.  In  sowing  it  among 
corn,  as  mentioned  above,  we  use  a  broad- 
cast seed-sower,  the  operator  sitting  on  the 
back  of  a  horse  so  as  to  get  him  above  the 
tops  of  the  corn.  In  this  way  w^e  get  a  very 
nice  even  stand. 

SOAVIXG  CEIMSO^f  CLOVER  IX  THE  SPRING. 

As  the  clover  is  a  hardy  cold-weather 
plant,  sowing  it  in  the  spring  is  not,  so  far 
as  I  can  learn,  a  success.  The  trouble  is, 
when  put  in  in  the  spring,  even  if  put  in 
quite  early,  the  blooming  time  is  quite  apt 
to  come  just  when  the 
weather  is  hot  and  dry ; 
and  a  drouth  is  almost 
sure  to  cause  a  failure. 
If,  however,  the  seed  is 
put  in  quite  early,  and 
the  spring  months  hap- 
pen to  be  cool,  with 
plenty  of  rain  clear  in- 
to July  and  August,  it 
sometimes  makes  an 
excellent  crop.  When 
sown  as  above,  it  natu- 
rally makes  a  large 
amount  of  feed,  equal  to 
any  of  the  clovers ;  and 
some  of  om-  experiment 
stations  have  estimated 
that  a  good  stand  plow- 
ed under  while  it  is  in 
bloom  is  equivalent  to 
ten  tons  per  acre  of  the 
best  stable  manure. 

As  it  comes  in  bloom 
a  little  before  any  of  the 
other  clovers  (when  win- 
tered over),  it  may  be 
plowed  under  for  al- 
most any  crop.  On  our 
grounds  we  sow  regu- 
larly four  or  five  acres 
each  year,  and  have  had 
no  failure.  It  is  no 
more  than  fair  to  state, 
however,  that  in  our  lo- 
cality, the  northern  part 
of  Ohio, there  have  been 
many  failures.  In  fact, 
one  of  our  standard  writers  on  agriculture 
says  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  wasted 
by  farmers  in  attempting  to  grow  crimson 


clover.  The  reason  of  our  success  is,  I 
think,  first,  our  ground  is  all  thoroughy 
imderdrained ;  second,  it  has  had  large 


CRIMSOX  CLOVER. 

amounts  of  stable  manure,  and  is  compar- 
atively rich.  The  best  stand  we  ever  had,  I 
think,  is  the  present  spring,  1899.    We  had 


CLOYEE. 


78  COMB  FOU^^DATION. 


several  acres  of  wheat  last  year  that  lodged 
badly.  The  consequence  was,  enough  wheat 
rattled  out  and  was  left  on  the  ground  to 
make  pretty  thorough  seeding.  This  wheat 
grew  up  in  the  fall  so  rank  as  to  fall  down 
before  winter.  Well,  the  crimson  clover 
was  sown  right  on  the  wheat  stubble  in 
August;  and  when  the  wheat  fell  over,  the 
clover  pushed  up  through  and  was  thus  well 
mulched  through  the  winter.  The  conse- 
quence is,  we  have  at  the  present  writing, 
April  25,  a  tremendous  growth  of  clover  and 
wheat  together.  This  we  propose  to  turn 
under  as  soon  as  the  clover  is  in  full  bloom- 
say  the  middle  or  latter  part  of  May.  We 
have  grown  excellent  crops  of  potatoes  on 
crimson  clover  turned  under  in  this  way,  for 
several  years  past;  and,  in  fact,  we  have  se- 
cured a  splendid  stand  of  crimson  clover  by 
sowing  it  after  potatoes  were  dug  that  were 
planted  comparatively  early.  One  year  we 
sowed  crimson  clover  as  fast  as  the  potatoes 
were  got  out  of  the  ground;  that  is,  as  fast 
as  we  dug  fifteen  or  twenty  rows  we  worked 
up  the  ground  with  a  cutaway  and  Acme 
harrow,  and  sowed  the  clover.  The  first  put 
in  (in  August)  wintered  splendidly.  That 
put  in  along  the  fore  part  of  September  did 
fairly;  but  where  we  did  not  get  the  seed  in 
until  the  last  of  September  or  fore  part  of 
October,  it  was  mostly  a  failure.  Perhaps 
one  other  reason  why  we  succeeded  is  that 
our  seed  of  late  years  has  been  of  our  own 
growing.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  grow  seed; 
and  where  it  is  worth  only  $2.50  a  bushel, 
the  present  price,  I  think  the  seed  can  be 
grown  profitably  in  our  locality — that  is, 
with  good  ground  and  other  conditions  men- 
tioned above. 

QUALITY   OF    THE  HONEY  FROM  CRIMSON 
CLOVER. 

The  quality  of  the  honey  from  crimson 
clover  ranks  fairly  with  that  of  any  of  the 
clovers.  Some  have  called  it  superior. 
There  has  not  been  enough  of  it  in  our  lo- 
cality to  make  a  perceptible  difference  in 
the  honey-yield;  but  w^hen  it  is  in  bloom 
there  are  as  many  bees  on  the  same  area  as 
I  ever  saw,  even  in  a  buckwheat-field.  As 
we  plow  it  under  while  it  is  in  full  bloom, 
the  bees  are  gradually  crowded  down  on  to 
the  last  heads  standing;  and  after  the  last 
head  goes  under,  for  some  time  there  will  be 
quite  a  lot  of  bees  swarming  over  the  ground, 
apparently  wondering  what  has  become  of 
their  abmidant  pasturage  in  so  short  a  space 
of  time.  We  have  as  yet  had  no  reports, 
that  I  know  of,  where  hundreds  of  acres  or 
more  are  in  blossom  at  the  same  time,  as  is 


often  the  case  with  alfalfa,  white  clover,  and 
sometimes  red  clover.  With  a  f  -sized 
apiary  it  needs  many  acres  of  any  plant  to 
give  a  good  yield  of  honey. 

COLOR  OP  HONEY.  See  Honey,  Col- 
or OF. 

COMB  FOUn'IlATIOIS'.  This  is 
just  what  the  term  signifies— a  base,  midrib, 
or  foundation,  of  the  honey- comb.  If  we 
take  a  piece  of  comb  and  slice  it  down  on 
both  sides,  nearly  to  the  bottom  of  the  cells, 
we  shall  get  what  is  practically  comb  foun- 
dation. 

The  article  originally  consisted  of  noth- 
ing but  the  midrib,  without  any  walls;  but 
very  soon  after,  there  were  added  walls  to 
stiffen  and  strengthen  the  sheet  and  to  serve 
as  the  beginning  of  the  cells. 

Since  the  introduction  of  foundation, 
within  the  past  few  years,  many  difficult 
points  have  been  solved  completely;  such  as 
how  to  insure  straight  combs,  how  to  insure 
all  worker-comb  or  all  drone-comb,  as  the 
case  may  be,  and  how  to  furnish  the  bees 
with  the  wax  they  need  without  being 
compelled  to  secrete  it  by  the  consumption 
of  honey. 


a  machine  for  engraving  foundation 
rolls. 


The  first'meiition  we  have  of  foundation 
that  was  accepted  by  the  bees  was  described 
in  a  German  bee- journal,  as  long  ago  as 
1857.  Mr.  J.  Mehring,  of  Frankinthal,  Ger- 
many, was  the  original  inventor;  but,  like 
many  another  good  thing,  the  product  was 
introduced  before  its  time,  since  for  nearly 


COMB  FOUND ATIOX. 


79 


COMB  FOUNDATION. 


twenty  years  afterward  it  seems  to  have 
been  Ir  ^  sight  of.  Early  in  the  '60"s  the  la- 
mentea  oamuel  Wagner,  editor  and  founder 
of  the  American  Bee  Journal,  revived  the 
matter,  and  it  was  he  who  conceived  the 
idea  of  adding  some  shallow  side  walls. 

Up  to  this  time  comb  foundation  was 
made  either  on  flat  plates  or  dies.  It  re- 
mained for  A.  I.  Boot  to  suggest  that  so 
useful  an  article  as  comb  foundation  should 
be  made  with  rolls;  i.e., embossed  cylinders 
having  indentures  of  such  a  size  and  con- 
formation as  to  produce  the  proper  configu- 
rations in  the  sheeted  wax.   'the  matter 


ferent  patterns  of  the  mills,  the  rolls  of 
which  were  made  on  this  machine. 


AX  ORIGIXAT.  WASHBUKX  MILL. 

was  referred  to  a  skilled  mechanic,  an  in- 
ventor, and  a  man  of  genius,  Mr.  A.  Wash- 
burn, of  Medina,  uhio.  It  was  not  long  be- 
fore he  produced  a  pair  of  comb-foundation 
rolls  that  would  turn  out  foundation  in  con- 
tinuous sheets.  These  rolls  were  made  by  a 
stamping  process  which  was  very  slow  and 
laborious;  but  even  to  this  day  there  have 
never  been  made  any  more  perfect  mills 
than  Mr.  Washburn  made  at  that  time. 

In  later  years  Mr.  Charles  Ohlm,  of  Fond 
du  Lac,  Wis.,  invented  an  automatic  ma- 
chine that  cut  with  knives  the  embossed 
surfaces  of  the  rolls.  This  greatly  simpli- 
fied the  process  of  making.  The  right  to 
use  this  invention,  and  the  machine,  were 
purchased  by  A.  I.  Boot,  and  were  by  him 
subsequently  turned  over  to  Mr.  Washburn, 
who  built  another,  much  stronger,  as  shown 
in  the  engraving  in  the  preceding  column. 
This  machine  has  probably  made  90  per 
cent  of  all  the  comb-foundation  rolls  in  the 
world.  The  next  two  illustrations  show  dif- 


TEN-IXCH  FOTJXDATIOX-MILL. 

More  recently  still,  Mr.  E.  B.  Weed  con- 
structed rolls,  the  faces  of  which  were  made 
up  of  individual  type-heads  cast  especially 
for  the  purpose.  It  is  too  early  yet  to  say 
very  much  of  the  probable  success  or  fail- 
ure of  rolls  constructed  on  this  principle  ; 
but  from  present  indications  the  foundation 
from  such  rolls  will  be  much  more  perfect, 
because  every  type -head  is  cast  in  the  same 
matrix,  and  hence  each  must  be  an  exact 
duplicate  of  the  others.  See  cut  of  6-inch 
rolls  on  page  «1. 


One  of  the  earliest  successful  plate  ma- 
chines was  made  by  D.  S.  Given,  and  is 
shown  in  the  cut  in  the  next  column. 
The  plates  were  just  the  right  size  to  fill  a 
Langstroth  frame,  or,  in  fact,  any  standard 
frame.  The  sheets  were  cut  and  trimmed 
to  the  proper  size,  placed  between  the  dies, 
and  embossed  by  bringing  doT\Ti  the  lever  as 
shown.  The  claims  made  for  this  press 
were  that  it  would  give  a  thinner  base;  that 


COMB  EOUi^^DATION. 


80 


COMB  rOUNDATIOi^'. 


any  one  could  operate  it ;  that  wires  could  | 
be  incorporated  right  in  the  foundation  at  j 
the  time  of  embossing  the  wax  sheet.  ] 

But  this  process  of  making  foundation 
has  nfever  been  adopted  by  large  manufac- 
turers, because  of  its  slowness  compared 
with  rolls  ;  yet  at  the  same  time  the  writer  I 
believes  that  a  more  perfect  foundation  can  | 
be  made  from  flat  dies  or  plates  than  from  i 
rolls.   The  time  may  come  when  dies  will  \ 
take  the  place  of  rolls.   The  motto  seems 
to  be  nowadays,  not  how  quickly  nor  how 
cheaply,  but  how  good. 

In  former  editions  of  this  work  we  went 
into  an  elaborate  description  giving  the  ex- 
act modus  opera  ndi  of  producing  wax  sheets, 
rolling  them  i^ito  foundation,  cutting  and 
trimming,  etc.;  but  as  the  printed  directions 
that  go  with  the  machines  cover  all  these 
points  very  thoroughly,  it  will  not  be  neces- 
sary to  take  up  valuable  space  in  this  work 
for  what  will  be  of  little  interest  to  the  prac- 
tical bee-keeper  who  cares  not  so  much  how 
to  make  foundation  as  how  to  use  it.  If  he 
ever  aspires  to  make  the  article,  and  sell  it 
to  his  neighbors,  he  had  better  by  all  odds 


GIVEN  FOUNDATION-PRESS. 


follow  the  special  directions  that  go  with 
each  machine  that  is  sent  out,  rather  than 
to  attempt  to  follow  general  directions  that 
might  be  sent  out  with  a  work  of  this  kind. 


FOUNDATION  AND  ITS  ECONOMIC  FSES. 

Comb  foundation  is  divided  intc  wo  gen- 
eral classes:  That  designed  for  td^  brood- 
chamber  and  that  for  the  surplus-apartment. 
Each  of  these  general  classes  is  sub-divided 
still  further.  For  instance,  we  have  what 
we  call  "  thin  super,"  running  10  to  11  square 
feet  to  the  pound;  ''extra  thin,"  12  to  13; 
"  light  brood,"  used  only  in  the  brood-nest, 
running  8  to  9  feet;  medium  brood,"  7  to  8 
feet.  Thin  super  is  generally  used  for  sec- 
tions, and  medium  brood  for  the  brood- 
frames. 


HEAVY  ASD  MEDIUM  BR'  OD.  LIGHT  BKOOD. 


THIN  SUPER.  EXTRA  THIN  SUPER. 


The  four  illustrations  shown  above, 
represent  the  different  grades.  The  medi- 
um has  what  is  called  the  round  cell.  This 
foundation  is  generally  used  for  the  brood- 
nest,  because  of  its  tendency  to  resist  sag 
while  the  bees  are  drawing  it  out  into  comb; 
stronger,  because  there  is  more  wax  in  the 
corners  of  the  hexagons.  It  has  been  found 
that  bees  will  utilize  all  this  wax  in  the  walls, 
and  draw  it  out  into  cells.  The  more  wax 
we  can  give  them  in  the  wall,  the  quicker 
will  they  draw  it  out  into  comb.  The  light 
I  brood,  running  8  to  9  feet  to  the  pound,  has 
what  is  called  the  regular  hexagonal  cell- 
wall.  As  will  be  seen  by  comparison  of  il- 
lustrations, there  is  less  of  wax  in  the  wall, 
and  less  strength  to  the  sheet.  On  this  ac- 
count it  is  not  recommended  that  light  brood 
foundation  be  put  into  brood-frames  that 
are  not  wired.  The  thin  super  has  lighter 
wall  still  than  the  light  brood;  and  the  extra- 
thin  super  lighter  walls  still. 

The  ordinary  thin  super  is  generally  pre- 
ferred because  the  bees  are  less  inclined  to 
gnaw  it  down;  and  when  they  do  begin  work 
on  it  they  draw  it  out  more  readily.  The 
extra-thin  is  preferred  by  some  because  it  is 
believed  it  makes  less  midrib,  or  what  one 


COMB  FOUXDATIOX. 


81 


COMB  FOUNDATION. 


or  two  have  termed  "  gob,"  in  comb  honey. 
When,  »  heavy  a  foandation  is  used  in  the 
section.^/  especially  when  fnll  sheets  are 
used,  the  resulting  comb  honey,  when  eaten. 


that  it  is  as  thin  and  friable  as  the  comb 
honey  they  ate  on  the  old  farm  at  father's.'' 
There  is  some  truth  in  this,  and  for  that  rea- 
.^on  only  thin  super  cr  extra-thin  should  be 


1 


SIX-lNCn  COiSrB-rOUXDATION  POWER  ROLLS  3IADE  W^ITH  TYPE,  AND  STANDARD  POWER 
ROLLS  2i  INCHES  IN  DIAMETEK  CUT  WITH  KNIVES. 


is  quite  apt  to  show  a  midrib,  or  thickened 
center,  and  some  go  so  far  as  to  call  it  man- 
ufactured comb  because  they  can  not  believe 


used;  and  when  one  desires  as  little  midrib 
as  possible,  and  does  not  care  how  readily 
the  bees  may  accept  and  work  out  the  foun- 


COMB  FOUNDATION.  8! 


52  COMB  FOUNDATION. 


dation,  the  extra-thin  super  is  the  one  he 
should  use. 

Because  of  the  tendency  of  foundcition  to 
cause  midrib  in  comb  honey,  some  have  im- 
agined that  using  a  mere  starter  would  re- 
move the  objectionable  feature  ;  because 
they  argue  that  nearly  all  the  comb  would 
have  to  be  natural,  and  it  would,  therefore, 
be  delicate  and  friable  like  the  old  comb 
honey  on  the  farm.  But  it  has  been  shown 
in  the  majority  of  cases  that  the  natural- 
built  will  be  store  or  drone,  the  cells  being 
larger  so  the  bees  can  build  them  more  read- 
ily. Some  recent  tests  seem  to  show  that 
natural  -  built  drone  comb  has  as  much  or 
more  wax  to  the  cubic  inch  than  worker 
comb  built  from  full  sheets  of  thin  worker 
foundation.  If  the  bees,  on  the  other  hand, 
would  make  their  irdtural  comh  all  worker, 
then  we  should  have  a  comb,  the  delicacy 
and  friableness  of  which  would  be  all  that 
one  could  desire. 

Mr.  E.  B.  Weed,  formerly  of  Detroit,  late- 
ly of  Medina,  and  now  of  Cleveland,  has 
probably  done  more  actual  experimenting, 
and  spent  more  time  and  money  on  this 
whole  question,  than  any  other  man  living. 
Indeed,  he  is  the  inventor  of  what  is  now 
known  as  the  "  Weed  New  Process  "  of  mak- 
ing comb  foundation,  the  special  feature  of 
which  is  the  making  of  continuous  sheets  of 
wax  of  any  desired  length,  by  automatic 
machinery.  After  a  long  series  of  experi- 
ments he  ascertained  that  in  the  ordinary 
foundations  on  the  market  there  was  too 
much  wax  in  the  base  and  not  enough  in  the 
wall;  that  whenever  the  base  is  thicker  than 
the  bees  make  it  they  will  rarely  take  the 
trouble  to  thin  it  down;  but,  no  matter  how 
thick  the  wall,  they  will  invariably  thin  it 
down  to  the  thickness  of  the  natural.  Go- 
ing on  this  theory  —  a  theory  which  Mr. 
Weed  practically  demonstrated  —  he  con- 
structed some  special  rolls  and  dies,  which 
were  capable  of  turning  out  a  thin-base 
foundation.  It  looks  like  any  other  founda- 
tion of  commerce ;  but  when  it  is  put  into 
plaster,  and  a  cross-section  made,  it  shows 
that  it  is  very  different.  If  one  were  to  take 
a  knife  and  attempt  to  cut  across  a  sheet  of 
foundation,  he  would  not  be  able,  by  look- 
ing at  the  edge,  to  get  any  sort  of  idea  of  the 
relative  thickness  of  the  base  and  wall,  for 
the  reason  that  the  knife  would  leave  burr 
edges.  To  overcome  this  the  foundation 
and  comb  to  be  tested  should  be  imbedded 
in  plaster  of  Paris ;  and  then  with  a  sharp 
knife  one  can  get  accurate  sectional  views 
showing  the  exact  relative  thicknesses. 


For  the  purpose  of  more  clearly  illustrat- 
ing some  of  these  points  we  haAkseveral 
pieces  of  comb  and  foundation  pi^in  plas- 


Fig.  15. 

ter.  After  a  sharp  knife  had  shaved  them 
down  to  the  proper  point  they  were  photo- 
graphed, and  engraved  by  the  half-tone  pro- 
cess. This  shows  the  speciaiens  as  they  are. 
Figs.  15, 16*  show  ordinary  thin  and  light- 


FiG.  16. 


*  Figs.  15  and  16  were  obtained  from  the  Canadian 
Bee  Journal. 


COMB  FOUNDATION. 


83 


COMB  FOUNDATION. 


brood  foundation,  and  the  comb  that  was 
built  ofMfcom  them  by  the  bees.  It  will  be 
noticed  Wat  the  base  had  not  been  thinned 
down  to  any  appreciable  extent.   Fig.  6 


1  6/v 

shows  a  comb  that  has  been  built  off  from 
foundation  having  a  cross-section  shown  at 
Fig.  7.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  base  is 
scarcely  if  any  thicker  than  it  was  in  the 


original  foundation ;  while  the  heavy  side- 
walls  in  Fig.  7  have  been  transformed  by 
the  bees  into  very  delicate  deep  cells,  show- 
ing that  it  makes  very  litt  e  if  any  differ- 


ence how  heavy  the  wall,  the  bees  reducing 
it  to  the  natural  thickness. 

Fig.  12  shows  the  very  latest  thin  super 
foundation,  running  about  12  feet  to  the 
pound  ;  and  Figs.  11  and  13  show  respective- 


ly the  ordinary  commercial  thin  super  and 
extra  thin,  running  11  and  13  feet  to  the 
poimd.  In  the  last  two  the  reader  will  no- 
tice that  the  walls  scarcely  show,  while  the 
base  is  quite  heavy ;  while  in  No.  12  the 
walls  are  the  prominent  feature,  the  base 


being  so  light  and  gauze-like  that  it  barely 
shows. 

Fig.  1,  as  given  below,  shows  a  natural- 
built  worker  comb  ;  and  although  the  comb 


shown  in  Fig.  6  was  built  off  from  foun- 
dation as  heavy  as  6  feet  to  the  pound,  the 
resultant  comb  is  as  light  and  as  delicate  as 
the  natiu'al-built  product  shown  in  Fig.  1. 


But  the  article  made  wholly  by  the  bees  is 
not  always  as  light  as  shown  in  1.  Under 
some  circumstances  the  bees  build  it  much 
heavier,  as  will  be  evident  by  a  reference 


to  Fig.  2,  also  a  specimen  of  natural-built 
comb. 

Fig.  3  shows  a  specimen  of  natural-built 
drone  comb.    Comparing  this  with  Fig.  1  it 


is  easy  to  see  how  the  natural  (drone)  comb 
might  be  a  good  deal  heavier  than  comb 
built  off  from  the  ordinary  thin  super  form- 


COMB  FOUNDATION.  84  COMB  FOUNDATION. 


dation,  because  there  is  a  surplus  of  wax  in 
both  the  base  and  the  walls. 

Another  interesting  fact  brought  out  by 
these  plaster  casts  is  that  the  midrib,  or 
base,  of  natural-built  comb  increases  in 
thickness  from  the  bottom  to  the  top.  The 
reason  of  this  is  perfectly  plain.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  the  upper  portioji  of  the  comb  has 
to  withstand  the  weight  of  that  which  is  be- 
low; and  the  midrib  increases  in  thickness 
as  it  approaches  the  top  of  support.  One 
can  not  but  wonder  at  the  beautiful  har- 
mony we  find  in  the  manifestation  of  God  s 
laws  in  the  construction  of  the  honey-comb. 
Thousands  of  little  individuals  are  engaged 
in  the  construction  of  a  certain  piece  of 
work.  They  work  in  an  apparently  haphaz- 
ard way,  as  I  have  elsewhere  spoken  of ;  and 
yet  when  this  comb  is  completed  it  is  one 
complete  whole,  stronger  near  the  top  than 
at  the  bottom. 

THE  WEED  NEW  -  PROCESS  FOUNDATION  ; 
HOW  IT  IS  MADE. 

Perhaps  three- fourths  of  all  the  founda- 
tion made  in  the  United  States,  and  half  of 
that  made  in  the  world,  is  now  turned  out 
by  what  is  termed  the  "  Weed  New  Pro- 
cess." The  new  foundation  was  first  put  on 
the  market  in  1896,  and  its  quality  was  so 
superior  in  point  of  toughness  and  trans- 
parency that  it  won  favor  at  once.  Indeed, 
it  was  so  much  stronger  that  lighter  weights 
of  foundation  could  be  used  all  around  with- 
out detriment.  The  new  process  not  only 
produced  a  very  much  superior  article  but 
made  a  great  reduction  in  the  labor  of  sheet- 
ing, milling,  and  trimming.  The  old  way 
was  to  dip  a  thin  board  into  a  deep  vessel  of 
wax  enough  times  to  secure  a  sheet  on  both 
sides.  It  was  then  cooled  in  water,  and  the 
film  strifiped  off.  It  was  next  run  through 
the  mills  piece  by  piece,  and  each  time  it 
was  necessary  to  ''pick "  and  "  claw "  at  the 
ends  of  the  sheets  sticking  to  the  rolls  as 
they  came  through.  This  operation  did  not 
improve  the  face  of  the  mills,  or  the  founda- 
tion. After  the  sheets  were  milled  they  had 
to  be  piled  up,  and  cut  to  a  size  by  hand, 
causing  anywhere  from  25  to  33i  per  cent 
trimmings  that  had  to  be  melted  over  again. 
Last  of  all,  the  sheets  were  papered  by  hand 
and  made  ready  for  boxing. 

Now  if  one  were  to  peek  into  a  shop  where 
"  New  Process  "  is  being  made  he  would  see 
an  attendant  pick  up  a  cake  of  yellow  wax 
(60  lbs.)  and  set  it  into  the  machine,  as  it 
were,  and  then  he  leaves  it  and  goes  about 
otiier  work.  After  it  comes  out  it  is  con- 
verted into  along  continuous  sheet  rolled  up 


on  a  bobbin.  This  bobbin  is  then  put  into 
another  automatic  machine  by  thp  ,ame  or 
another  attendant ;  the  machine  ib'^started, 
and  when  this  long  bobbin  begins  to  unreel 
it  is  fed  into  the  comb-mill,  and  is  cut  to  size 
without  waste.  There  is  a  click-clack,  and  the 
trimmed  sheet  is  next  made  to  lie  squarely 
over  a  sheet  of  paper  of  the  same  size  as  it- 
self, and  pick  it  up  ;  another  click-clack,  and 
it  takes  a  hop,  skip,  and  a  jump  on  to  the 
pile;  and  fingers  almost  human,  and  after 
the  manner  of  a  book-cover,  true  up  the  pile 
as  evenly  and  nicely  as  one  could  do  with 
his  fingers; 

FLAT-BOTTOM  FOUNDATION. 

Flat-bottom  foundation  has  been  made, 
which  some  think  is  the  best  surplus  foun- 
dation. It  is  nothing  but  a  sheet  of  wax, 
embossed  with  hexagonal  cells  inclosing  a 
flat  base.  While  it  makes  very  nice  comb 
honey,  yet  the  testimony  of  many  of  those 
who  have  tried  it  is  to  the  effect  that  it  is 
not  readily  accepted  by  the  bees,  and  conse- 
quently valuable  time  is  lost.  We  do  know 
this  much,  that  they  remodel  and  rebuild 
the  cells  before  drawing  them  out.  Not- 
withstanding this,  there  are  two  or  three 
large  honey-producers  in  the  State  of  New 
York  who  consider  it  the  best  surplus  foun- 
dation—Mr. P.  H.  Elwood,  of  Starkville, 
N.  y.,  an  extensive  bee-keeper  of  large  ex- 
perience, among  the  number. 

SAGGING  OF  THE  FOUNDATION,   AND  HOW 
TO  PREVENT  IT. 

Many  devi  ces  have  been  tried  to  prevent  the 
sagging  of  the  foundation,  and  consequently 
slight  elongation  of  the  cells,  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  comb.  With  the  L.  frames,  this 
is  so  slight  that  it  occasions  no  serious 
trouble  with  most  of  the  wax  of  commerce; 
but  with  deeper  frames,  or  with  some  spec- 
imens of  natural  wax,  the  sagging  is  sufii- 
cient  to  allow  the  bees  to  raise  drones  in 
the  upper  cells.  Paper  has  been  tried,  and 
succeeds  beautifully  while  the  bees  are  get- 
ting honey ;  but  during  a  dearth,  when  they 
have  nothing  to  do,  they  are  liable  at  any 
time  to  tear  the  nice  combs  all  to  bits,  to  get 
out  the  paper,  which  I  have  supposed  they 
imagine  to  be  the  web  of  the  moth-worm. 
In  our  apiary  I  have  beautiful  combs  built 
on  thin  wood ;  but  as  the  bottom  of  the  cell 
is  flat,  they  are  compelled  to  use  wax  to  fill 
out  the  interstices,  and  the  value  of  this  sur- 
plus wax,  it  seems  to  me,  throws  the  wood 
base  entirely  out  of  the  question.  I  do  not 
like  the  foundation  with  wire  rolled  in  it,  on 
account  of  the  greater  expense,  and  because 
we  cannot  fasten  it  in  the  frames  as  securely 


COMB  rOUOTATIO^^. 


85  COMB  POUNDATlOi^^. 


as  we  can  where  the  wires  are  first  sewed 
throug  s^he  frames. 

Before  the  advent  of  the  thick  top-bar,  we 
wired  all  our  frames  with  perpendicular 
wires,  the  wires  being  fed  through  the  top 
and  bottom  bars.  This  made  considerable 
labor,  and  besides  was  hardly  practicable 
wdth  the  Hoffman  frames  described  under 
Hive-making. 

wiring  fkames  horizontally. 

In  our  earlier  experiments  with  wiring 
frames  horizontally,  the  foundation  would 
bulge  between  the  wires,  and  yet  the  Da- 
•dants,  Hilton,  and  others,  assured  us  that 


SPUR  "WIRE-IMBEDDEK. 

they  secured  nice, beautiful,  straight  combs. 
We  have  since  learned  that  our  trouble 
was  due  to  stretching  the  wire  too  tight. 
The  foundation  should  also  be  trimmed  one- 
fourth  inch  or  so  shallower  than  the  inside 
depth  of  the  frame.  Our  later  experiments 
have  shown  us  that  we  have  by  this  means  se- 
cured most  beautiful  frames  of  comb.  The 
end-bars  should  be  pierced  about 
2  inches  apart,  f-inch  from  the 
bottom-bar  and  1  inch  from  the 
top -bar.  This  will  make  four 
horizontal  wires,  the  right  num- 
ber'for  the  Langstroth  frame. 

The  wire  used  is  No.  30,  tinned 
iron  wire.  After  the  wires  are  in 
and  drawn  up  tight,  the  founda- 
tion is  cut  so  as  to  fill  the  frame, 
and  the  wires  are  then  imbedded 
into  the  wax  by  means  of  one  of 
the  various  devices  for  that  pur- 
pose. Dming  this  operation  the 
foundation  is  supported  on  a 
level  board  cut  so  as  to  just  slip 
inside  the  frame,  and  come  up 
against  the  wires.  The  board  is 
to  be  kept  wet  with  a  damp  cloth, 
to  prevent  the  wax  sticking  to  it. 
To  imbed  the  wire  into  the  foun- 
dation an  ordinary  tracing-wheel, 
such  as  the  women-folks  employ, 
may  be  used.  To  make  the  teeth 
straddle  the  wire,  every  alternate  one  should 
be  set  like  the  teeth  of  a  saw.  Lay  the  foun- 
dation on  the  board  just  mentioned,  place 


over  the  wired  frame,  adjust  the  wheel  to 
one  of  the  wires,  and  with  a  light  pressure 
"  wheel "  it  along  the  wire.  If  the  founda- 
tion is  warm,  the  wire  will  be  forced  into 
the  wax.  A  far  nicer  and  quicker  way  is 
to  do  it  by  electricity. 

IMBEDDING  WIRE  BY  MEANS  OF  ELECTRIC- 
ITY. 

If  a  wire  is  too  small  to  carry  a  given  cur- 
rent of  electricity,  it  will  heat ;  and  if  the 
current  is  too  great,  the  wire  will  melt.  Tak- 
ing advantage  of  this  principle  we  can,  with 
a  proper  amount  of  cmTent,  cause  the  wires 
to  heat  to  a  temperature  of,  say,  130  degrees 
Fahr.,  at  which  point  they  will,  when  prop- 
erly applied,  sink  into  the  foundation  ;  then 
when  the  current  is  cut  off,  of  course  the 
wire  cools  immediately,  and  lies  imbedded 
in  the  center  of  the  sheet  of  wax.  With 
the  ordinary  batteries  it  is  not  practicable 
to  heat  all  four  of  the  wires  at  a  time.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  average  person  will  have  to 
heat  one  wire  at  a  time,  and  this  is  accom- 
plished as  shown  in  the  accompanying  illus- 
tration. Fig.  4  is  a  wooden  handle,  at  each 
end  of  which  are  mounted  two  stiif  wires,  G 
G,  flattened  at  the  ends.  To  each  of  these  is 
attached  one  pole  of  the  battery.  When  the 
current  is  on,  the  points  G  G  are  pressed  on 
the  extreme  ends  of  one  strand  of  wire,  w^hile 
the  free  hand  presses  the  sheet  on  top  of  the 
wire  until  it  melts  its  way  half  way  through. 


The  current  is  now  broken  by  lifting  up  the 
handle  H.  The  other  four  wires  are  in  turn 
treated  in  the  same  way. 


COMB  FOUND ATIOH^. 


86 


COMB  HONEY. 


Where  one  has  access  to  an  electric-light 
current,  by  putting  in  sufficient  resistance  he 
can  heat  all  four  wires  at  a  time,  thus  ac- 
complishing tlie  imbedding  at  one  and  the 


DAISY  FOU-NDATION-ROLLER. 

same  operation.  But  the  majority  will  not 
be  so  favorably  situated.  When  battery 
power  is  used,  two  cells  of  what  is  known  as 
bichromate  of  potash,  without  porous  cups, 
will  do  the  work  very  nicely.  The  sticks  K  E, 
forming  one  pole  of  the  battery,  are  simply 
the  ordinary  electric-hght  carbons  without 
copper  covering.  They  are  cut  in  halves  and 
mounted  in  two  rows  in  a  cast-iron  plate  as 
shown  in  the  illustration.  Through  the  cen- 
ter of  this  plate,  and  between  the  carbons, 
runs  an  oblong  slot  to  admit  a  zinc  plate 
which,  of  course,  constitutes  the  other  pole 
of  the  battery. 

I  would  advise  you  to  buy  your  batteries 
of  some  electrical-supply  house,  telling  it 
just  how  much  wire  you  wish  to  heat  to  130 
degrees,  and  its  size.  Better  specify  bichro- 
mate-of-potash  cells  of  about  a  gallon  capac- 
city  each.  If  you've  had  no  experience  with 
batteries  you  better  get  some  one  who  is  able 
to  show  you.  Usually  some  bright  school- 
boy can  be  found  who  would  like  the  job. 

After  the  wires  have  been  imbedded  to, 
say,  100  frames,  we  use  the  Daisy  founda- 
tion -  roller.  The  pressure  of  the  wooden 
wheel  two  or  three  times  will  stick  the  foun- 
dation to  the  comb-guide. 

Another  method  that  is  very  popular  with 
bee  keepers,  for  fastening  foundation  to  the 
top-bar,  is  that  which  is  shown  in  the  next 
illustration.  Mcst  of  the  supply  -  factories 
furnish  these  kinds  of  top-bars  now  because 
bee-keepers  generally  prefer  them.  There  is 
a  double  groove,  one  of  which  is  in  the  cen- 
ter of  the  top-bar.  In  this  groove  is  insert- 
ed the  sheet  of  foundation,  as  at  D.  The 
wedge-shaped  strip  of  wood  E  is  then  driven 
into  the  other  groove,  crowding  the  central 
partition  firmly  against  the  foundation,  and 
holding  it  there. 


Many  bee-keepers  want  the  starter  to  fill 
the  section  as  nearly  as  possible,  llkving  a 
space  of  only  i  or  f  inch  at  the  sides  and 
bottom.  Even  with  so  large  a  starter  as 
this,  the  bees  sometimes  fail  to  fasten  the 
comb  at  the  sides  and  bottom.  It  is  espe- 
cially desirable  to  have  it  fastened  at  the 
bottom,  to  prevent  breaking  out  in  ship- 


STARTERS  FOR.  SECTIOIT  BOXES. 

ping  ;  but  even  if  long  enough  to  touch  the 
bottom,  the  bees  do  not  always  finish  it 
down.  Perhaps  a  safer  way  is  to  fasten  a 
starter  at  the  bottom,  f  inch  wide  or  deep  ; 
then  fasten  at  the  top  a  starter  di  inches 
deep.  This  makes  a  sure  thing  of  having 
the  comb  fastened  to  the  bottom-bar. 

DAISY  FOUNDATION-FASTENER. 

Hundreds  of  bee-keep- 
ers all  over  the  land,  aft- 
er a  thorough  trial,  pro-^ 
nounce  this  by  all  odds 
the  best  machine. 

The  principle  of  the 
machine  is  this:  A  met- 
al plate  or  tongue  is 
kept  heated  by  means 
of  a  lamp  beneath.  This 
plate,  by  a  slight  pres- 
sure of  the  hands  while 
holding  the  foundation,^ 
is  made  to  pass  directly" 
under  and  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  bottom 
edge  of  the  starter. 
Instantly  the  edge  of 
the  foundation  melts;  the  pressure  of  the 
hands  being  released  allows  the  tongue  or 
plate  to  withdraw,  and  the  starter  is  allowed 
to  drop  on  to  the  section,  when  it  instantly 
cools  and  is  held  firm.  This  method  of 
fastening  foundation  is  not  only  more  rapid, 
but' it  does  much  nicer  work,  and  at  the 
same  time  saves  foundation.  The  pressure 
method  spoken  of  in  opposite  column  wastes 
an  edge  of  the  foundation  that  is  bedded 
into  the  top  of  the  section.   This  waste 


COMB  HONEY. 


87 


COMB  HOjS^EY. 


amounts  anywhere  from  i  to  i  of  an  inch. 
All  this 4s  saved  by  the  method  above.  Its 
manner  of  construction  will  be  apparent 
from  the  engraving. 


PARICER  MACHINE  FOR  FASTENING  START- 
ERS IN  SECTIONS. 


The  idea  is,  to  rub  the  edge  of  the  wax 
into  the  wood  of  the  section.  The  motion  of 
the  machine  spreads  the  wax  dow^n,  and 
mashes  it  into  the  wood,  as  it  were.  Above 
is  the  Parker  machine,  W'hich  is  used  quite 
largely ;  in  fact,  many  thousands  of  them 
have  been  sold.  It  does  very  nice  work; 
but  wiiere  thousands  of  starters  are  to  be 
put  in,  it  becomes  a  little  tiresome  on  the 
hands,  and  besides  is  not  as  economical 
of  foundation  as  the  Daisy  foundation- 
fastener. 

COMB  HOSriiV.  I  believe  no  other 
subject  (unless  it  be  that  of  wintering)  has 
been  so  much  discussed  and  so  much  im- 
proved upon  as  the  one  now^  before  us.  Our 
forefathers,  with  their  old  straw  skeps  and 
box  hives,  thought  they  had  done  well  when 


they  had  secured  the  paltry  amount  of  ten  or 
twenty  pounds  of  box  honey.  With  the  mod- 
ern appliances  it  is  possible  to  secure,  in  a 
fair  season,  an  average  of  forty  or  sixty 


pounds  of  section  honey ;  and  occasional  re- 
ports have  shown  that  from  300  to  400  pomids 
have  been  obtained. 

By  the  masses,  a  good  article  of  comb  hon- 
ey is  more  highly  prized  than  an  equally  good 
article  of  extracted  honey  (see  Extracted 
Honey).  While  the  latter  can  be,  and,  in 
the  hands  of  the  expert  producer,  is,  equal  in 
body,  color,  and  flavor  to  the  best  comb  hon- 
ey ;  yet,  as  extracted  ordinarily  runs,  the 
comb  is  a  little  superior  in  the  qualities  I 
have  mentioned. 

Comb  honey  can  not  be  counterfeited,  and, 
consequently,  consumers  are  less  suspicious 
of  it.  Eor  these  and  other  reasons,  nature's 
sweet,  in  its  original  form,  is  in  greater  de- 
mand, and  hence  commands  a  higher  price. 
To  olfset  this,  it  also  costs  more  to  produce 
it,  and  requires,  likewise,  more  skill  and 
more  complicated  surplus  arrangements  to 
get  a  gilt-edged  article.  Years  ago,  all  comb 
honey  was  produced  in  glass  boxes.  These 
were  about  five  inches  square,  fifteen  or  six- 
teen inches  long,  glassed  on  both  ends.  They 
were  not  altogether  an  attractive  package, 
and  were  never  put  upon  the  market  without 
being  more  or  less  soiled  with  burr-combs 
and  propolis.  As  they  held  from  ten  to  fif- 
teen poimds  of  honey  each,  they  contained  a 
larger  quantity  than  most  families  cared  to 
purchase  at  once.  To  obviate  these  and 
other  difliculties,  w^hat  is  popularly  known 
as  the  "  section  honey-box was  invented. 


It  was  what  was  w^anted — a  small  package 
for  comb  honey.  Thus  w^as  accomplished, 
not  only  the  introduction  of  a  smaller  pack- 
age for  comb  honey,  but  one  attractive  and 
readily  marketable.  The  retailer  was  at  once 
able  to  supply  his  customer  with  a  small 
quantity  of  comb  honey  without  daubing,  or 
fussing  with  plates.  The  good  housewife,  in 
turn,  had  only  to  lay  the  package  upon  a 
plate,:pass  a  common  case-knife  around  the 
comb,  to  separate  the  honey  from  the  section 
proper,  and  the  honey  was  ready  for  the  table, 
without  drip. 


COMB  HONEY. 


88 


COMB  HOIS^EY. 


WIDE  FRAMES  A^^D  HIVE-SUPERS. 

The  next  thing  was  something  to  hold  the 
sections  while  on  the  hive  and  being  filled. 
There  was  a  score  of  dilt'erent  sorts  of  racks, 
frames,  trays,  boxes,  clamps,  all  of  which 
possessed  some  special  features.   It  would 


DOUBLE-TIER  WIDE  FRAME. 

be  impracticable  to  show  all  of  these  differ- 
ent devices  ;  but  for  the  sake  of  illustrating 
some  principles  it  may  be  well  to  mention 
some  of  those  that  are  used  most  largely. 

What  was  known  as  the  double-tier  wide 
frame  was  perhaps  the  first  device  for  hold- 
ing sections  in  the  hive.  This  consisted  of 
a  frame  of  the  same  depth  and  length  as  the 
ordinary  brood-frame, but  of  the  same  width 
as  the  section,  as  shown  in  the  illustration 
preceding.  This  was  used  very  largely  at 
one  time ;  but  in  the  course  of  time  it  was 
discovered  that  it  had  several  objectionable 
features.  First,  a  whole  hiveful  of  them 
gave  the  bees  too  much  capacity  to  start 
on  ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  this  discouraged 
them  from  beginning  work.  Second,  they 
did  not  permit  of  tiering  up  to  any  degree 
of  advantage.  Third,  it  was  not  conven- 
ient to  get  them  out  of  the  hive,  and  more 
inconvenient  still  to  get  the  sections  out  of 
the  wide  frames.  For  these  reasons  wide 
frames,  or  crates  holding  only  one  tier  of  sec- 
tions, were  adopted. 


doouittle's  single-tier  wide  frames. 


The  Doolittle  surplus  arrangement  con- 
sists of  a  series  of  single-tier  wide  frames 
having  no  projections  to  the  top-bars,  al- 
though shallow  wide  frames  have  been  made 
with  such  projections. 

Both  the  single-tier  and  doube-tier  shown 
had  tin  separators  nailed  on  one  side  of  each 
wide  frame  ;  but  in  the  arrangement  shown 
at  top  of  next  column  there  is  no  provision 
for  a  separator. 

As  the  engraving  shows,  this  is  simply  a 
shallow  tray  of  the  same  depth  as  the  section, 
plus  a  bee-space,  and  is  divided  off  by  trans- 
verse partitions—these  very  partitions  pre- 
venting, of  course,  the  use  of  separators;  but 
those  who  did  use  this  style  of  crate,  and  use 
it  still,  claim  they  can  get  along  without  sep- 
arators ;  that  they  have  no  difficulty  in  crat- 
ing for  market  all  their  honey.  But  the 
great  majority  of  bee-keepers  decidedly  ob- 
ject to  a  non-separator  crate,  because,  while 
one  can  get  along  without  the  separators,  he 
has  to  be  very  careful  in  handling  the  honey 
in  putting  it  into  the  crate  for  market,  or 


MOORE  (or  HEDDON)  CRATE. 

else  there  will  be  bruised  and  damaged  faces 
to  the  honey.  And  then  it  is  true  that  comb 
honey  produced  without  separators  is  never 
as  even  and  nice  as  separator  honey.  Com- 
mission men,  for  this  reason,  do  not  like 
them,  and  on  this  account  the  T  super  and 
other  forms  of  separator-cases  have  the  de- 
cided preference. 


T  SUPER. 


This  is  one  of  the  most  popular  forms  of 
section-crates  that  was  ever  devised,  and  a 
very  large  number  prefer  it  to  any  thing  else. 


COMB  HONEY. 


89 


COMB  HONEY. 


They  were  so  named  for  the  T  this  that  sup- 
port the  sections.  The  tins  are  folded  in  the 
form  of  a  letter  T  inverted,  such  constrnc- 
tion  making  a  very  stiff  and  rigid  support. 

Some  prefer,  like  Dr.  Miller,  to  have  the  T 
tins  rest  loosely  on  a  little  piece  of  strap 
iron,  both  for  convenience  in  filling  the  su- 
pers, and  in  emptying  the  same  after  the 
sections  are  filled.  But  there  are  others,  like 
George  E.  Hilton,  of  Eremont,  Mich.,  who 
object  to  loose  pieces,  and  prefer  the  super 
with  stationary  tins,  the  tins  being  nailed  to 
the  bottom  inside  edges  of  the  super. 

It  will  be  noticed  also  that  he  prefers  hav- 
ing compression — a  feature  which  he  accom- 
plishes by  means  of  wooden  thumbscrews 
and  a  follower.  There  is  no  denying  the  fact  | 
that  in  any  form  of  surplus  arrangement  the 
sections  and  separators  should  be  squeezed 
together  to  reduce  propolis  accumulations. 
If  there  are  open  cracks  or  spaces  between 
the  sections  the  bees  are  sure  to  fill  them 
with  bee-2,iue. 


HILTON  T  SUPER. 


With  either  form  of  T  super  one  can  use 
wooden  separators,  tin  separators,  or  the 
fences  described  further  along.  The  projec- 
tion of  the  T  is  just  high  enough  to  support 
the  separators  at  the  proper  point. 

But  the  T  super,  perfect  as  it  is,  has  its  ob- 
jections. If  the  sections  are  inclined  to  be 
a  little  out  of  square,  or  diamond-shaped, 
when  folded,  they  will  not  be  squared  up  in 
the  T  super  unless  an  extra  set  of  T  tins  is 
used  or  strips  of  wood  to  fill  up  the  gaps  be- 
tween the  rows  on  top.  And,  again,  it  is  not 
practicable  to  alternate  the  several  rows  of 
sections.  Sometimes,  in  a  poor  honey-flow, 
it  is  desirable  to  move  the  center  row  of  sec- 
tions to  the  outside,  and  the  outside  to  the 
center.  And  still  again,  four-beeway  sec- 
tions, or  plain  sections,  are  not  as  advan- 
tageously used  in  these  supers  as  in  some 
other  form  which  I  shall  presently  describe. 

dov'd  super  with  section-holder. 

This  is  the  form  of  super  that  has  been, 
perhaps,  used  more  largely  than  any  thing 


else.  It  is  a  sort  of  compromise  between  the 
old-style  wide  frames  and  the  T  super.  It 
consists  of  a  series  of  section-holders  that 


are  open  at  the  top.  Kach  holder  is  support- 
ed at  the  end  by  a  strip  of  tin  nailed  on  the 
inner  edge  of  the  ends  of  tiie  super,  as  shown 
in  the  accompanying  illustration. 


Eour  sections  in  each  section-holder  are 
held  snugly  a  id  squarely  in  position  with  no 
spaces  between  each  row  of  sections  as  in 
the  case  of  the  T  super.  When  beeway  sec- 
tions are  used  the  bottom-bars  of  the  sec- 
tions are  scored  out  to  correspond  with  the 
beeways.  Between  each  row  of  sections  is 
dropped  a  wooden  separator,  as  shown  at  B. 
After  they  are  all  in  place,  a  follower-board, 
E,  is  shoved  up  against  them,  and  the  tight- 
ening-strip  G,  that  is  thicker  one  way  than 
the  other,  is  slipped  in  the  narrow  way  be- 
tween the  follower  and  the  super  side,  and 
given  a  quarter  twist.  This  crowds  the  fol- 
lower against  the  sections,  causing  compres- 
sion. 


This  case  is  very  popular  with  farmers. 
Eour  of  them  are  placed  en  the  hive  contain- 
ing the  twelve  sections  without  separators. 


COMB  HONEY. 


90 


COMB  HONEY. 


When  they  are  filled  they  are  taken  off  with- 
out removing  the  sections  from  the  case, 
and  are  put  on  the  market  just  as  they  left 
the  hive.  This  is  a  sort  of  shiftless  way,  be- 
cause some  sections  will  not  be  entirely  fill- 
ed ;  but  it  suits  the  farmer  who  has  no  time 
to  do  the  sorting,  scraping,  and  getting  ready 
for  market ;  and  in  some  local  markets  this 
case  does  very  well. 

THE  FENCE  AND  P LAI N- SECTION 
SYSTEM. 

The  sections  and  section  -  supers  shown 
heretofore  have  all  been  of  the  beeVay  type. 
Brood-frames,  when  in  hives,  must  be  placed 
a  bee-space  apart ;  so  also  must  the  sections. 
Almost  the  first  honey-boxes  that  were  intro- 
duced had  the  bee-space  cut  out  of  the  top 
and  bottom  of  the  sections  themselves,  so 
that  they  could  be  placed  directly  in  contact 
with  each  other  or  the  separator.  This  kind 
of  section  continued  almost  up  to  the  pres- 


ent, but  in  1897  there  was  introduced  a  sec- 
tion w^ithout  beeways,  having  plain  straight 
edges  all  around.  This  had  been  used  some 
ten  or  twelve  years  previously  by  various 
bee-keepers  who  found  them  to  be  in  every 
way  satisfactory.  But  plain  sections  (even 
width  all  around,  without  beeways)  necessi- 
tate S3me  scheme  for  holding  them  a  bee- 
space  apart  while  on  the  hive.  Accordingly, 
a  separator  or  fence  was  devised,  having 
transverse  cleats  at  regular  intervals  on 
both  sides,  binding  the  series  of  slats  to- 
gether—cleats so  spaced  as  to  come  opposite 
the  uprights  in  the  sections.  This  will  be 
shown  more  clearly  in  the  annexed  figure.  It 


will  be  seen  at  once  that  the  new  system 
provides  for  a  narrower  section,  and  yet  this 
same  section  holds  as  much  honey  as  one  f 
inch  w^ider.  because  the  extra  width  is  taken 


up  by  the  thickness  of  the  cleats  on  the 
fences,  as  shown  at  A  A  A  in  the  figure 
above,  or  what  would  be  in  the  old  section 


two  beeways  of  x\  i^ich  each.  In  the  cuts 
shown  above  there  are  specimens  of  beeway 
sections  and  no-beeway,  the  last  being  gen- 
erally termed  plain  sections.  It  will  be  seen 
that  they  save  quite  a  little  wood,  and  con- 
sequently take  some  less  room  in  shipping- 
cases.  In  other  words,  the  12  and  24  pound 
shipping -cases  can  be  some  smaller,  be- 
cause it  is  not  necessary  to  have  each  comb 
bee-spaced  apart  in  the  marketing-cases,  the 
same  as  while  on  the  hive.  Moreover,  the 
plain  straight  edges  of  the  new  sections  offer 
special  advantages  in  the  matter  of  scrap- 
ing. There  are  no  insets,  often  roughly  cut 
(as  in  beeway  sections),  to  work  into  and 
around  with  a  scraping  -  knife.  A  single 
sweep  of  the  knife  on  each  of  the  four  edges 
will  remove  the  propolis,  or,  better  still,  if 
the  blade  of  the  knife  is  long  enough,  one 
can  scrape  two  edges  at  a  time,  or,  still  bet- 
ter yet,  he  can  clean  them  on  machine  sec- 
tion-cleaners described  further  on.  "Weight 
for  weight,  and  of  the  same  filling,  a  comb 
in  a  plain  section  looks  prettier  than  one 
having  beeways.  The  illustration  on  next 
page  shows  beeway  sections  in  one  ship- 
ping-case, and  plain  sections  in  the  other. 
Compare  also  other  cuts  a  few  pages  further 
on  with  these. 

But  there  is  one  more  point  to  be  taken  in- 
to consideration.  The  fences  are  made  up 
of  a  series  of  slats  having  a  scant  bee-space 
between  each  slat ;  and  as  the  cross  cleats^ 
or  posts,  are  i  inch  shorter  than  the  length 
of  the  section,  the  beeway  is  very  much 
wider.  Instead  of  being  a  narrow^  opening 
through  the  top  as  in  the  old  section,  the 
opening  is  clear  across  the  top,  and  part  way 
down  and  up  each  of  the  sides.  'J  his  gives 
the  bees  much  freer  communication,  and,  in 
consequence,  has  a  tendency  to  reduce  the 
size  of  the  corner  holes  in  each  section. 
Then  there  is  that  factor,  namely,  hotizontal 
openings  between  each  of  the  slats.  This 
allows  free  communication  from  one  section 
to  another,  not  only  crosswise  but  lengthwise 
of  the  super.  Both  theory  and  practice  show 
that  this  results,  under  normal  conditions^ 
in  a  better  filling  of  the  boxes.   A  good 


COMB  HOXEY. 


91 


COMB  HOXEY. 


many  have  already  testified  that  they  se- 
cure much  better  and  more  perfect  filling  of 
combs  in  plain  sections  than  in  the  old  st\'le 
T\-ith  solid  separators,  that  the  bees  enter 
them  sooner,  and  that  in  some  markets  bet- 


SUPERS  FOR  PLAIX  SECTIONS. 

In  the  main,  these  differ  very  little  from 
tlie  section-holder  super  already  shown  and 
described  for  the  old-style  sections.  The 


OPEN-CORXER  SECTIONS. 


ter  prices  are  secured.   If  the  colony  is  not 

strong,  the  old-style  super  may  be  the  better  section  -  holders  themselves  are  the  same 
filled.  width  as  the  sections.   Between  each  row  of 

Under  identical  conditions  the  plain  sec-   sections  in  a  section-holder  is  placed  a  fence, 
tions  will  be  fill- 
ed no  better  than 

the  bee  way.  If  - 
there  is  any  differ- 
ence in  the  fill- 
ing it  is  because 
the  one  offers  spe- 
cial advantages  in 
the  way  of  freer 
communic  a  t  i  o  n  ; 
for  in  the  ordinary 
old-style,  with  sol- 
id separator,  each 
section,  so  to 
speak,  is  shut  ofC 
in  a  little  box  by 
Itself,  and  it  has 
been  proven  that 
bees  are  disinclin- 
ed to  work  in  little 
compartments  al- 
most  completely 
shut  off  from  the  rest 

tion,  like  that  shown  at  the  top  of  this  col- 
umn, divided  off  by  the  means  of  slatted 
separators,  without  cleats,  ought  to  be  and 
would  be  filled  just  as  well  as  plain  sections 
divided  off  by  fences ;  for  the  conditions  will 
be  precisely  the  same,  because  the  beeways. 
made  part  and  parcel  of  these  sections,  ex- 
actly correspond  to  the  beeways  (cleats)  on 
the  fences,  liut  one  would  lose  many  of 
the  advantages  of  plain  sections  if  he  were 
to  adopt  the  open-corner  boxes.  They  would 
not  look,  with  even  filling,  as  pretty  as  plain 
sections. 


SHIPPING-CASES  WITH  BEEWAY  AND  PLAIN  SECTIONS. 


An  open-corner  see- 


the end-posts  of  the  fence  resting  upon  the 
strip  of  tin  nailed  on  the  bottom  inside  edge 
of  the  end.  There  is  a  fence  on  the  outside 
of  each  outside  row  of  sections,  because  it 
was  demonstrated  by  S.  T.  Pettit  that  a  per- 
forated divider,  or  what  is  exactly  the  same 
thing  in  principle,  the  fence,  when  placed 
between  the  outside  rows  and  the  super  sides 
will  result  in  having  these  outside  rows  of 
sections  filled,  in  many  instances,  as  weU  as 
those  in  the  center.  The  reason  of  this  is, 
that  it  places  a  wall  of  -bees  on  each  side  of 
the  fence,  between  the  comb  honey  and  the 
super  side ;  and  these  walls  of  bees,  so  to 


COMB  HO^s^EY. 


92 


COMB  HONEY. 


speak,  help  to  conserve  the  heat  so  they  can 
draw  ont  the  comb  and  complete  the  sections 
on  the  outside  as  well  as  in  the  center.  Both 
theory  and  practice  sustain  the  proposition. 


In  the  modern  supers,  and  especially  in 
those  designed  for  plain  sections,  there  are 
used,  instead  of  wedges  and  thumbscrews, 
steel  springs  that  bear  against  the  center  of 
the  fence  as  well  as  against  the  two  ends,  as 
shown  at  S  in  the  accompanying  illustration. 
The  wedges,  tightening -strips,  or  thumb- 
screws, sometimes,  owing  to  excessive  damp- 


ness, cause  trouble  by  every  thing  becoming 
swelled  fast ;  but  the  springs  at  all  times 
present  a  yielding  pressure  ;  and,  what  is  of 
considerable  importance,  they  are  not  affect- 
ed by  propolis ;  at  the  same  time  they  effect- 
ually close  up  all  little  air-gaps  or  interstices 
between  the  sections  and  fences. 

HOW  TO  FBODVCE  COMB  HONEY. 

Bee-keepers  are  not  all  agreed  as  to  the  ex- 
act methods  to  be  employed.  So  much  de- 
pends upon  the  man  and  the  locality,  and 
the  source  of  the  honey,  that  some  slight  de- 
viations have  to  be  allowed.  It  may  be  stat- 
ed that  all  are  agreed  that  a  good  strong 


working  force  of  bees,  of  the  right  working 
age,  should  be  in  readiness  just  before  the 
expected  supply  of  nectar.  It  is  penny  wise 
and  pound  foolish  to  let  the  bees  run  short 
of  stores  in  spring,  just  at  the  time  of  the 
year  when  brood-rearing  should  be  stimulat- 
ed to  its  utmost.  If  necessary,  stimulative 
feeding  should  be  practiced.  If  the  weather 
is  not  cool,  brood  may  be  spread  to  advan- 
tage. This  is  done  by  inserting  an  empty 
frame  of  comb  between  one  or  more  pairs 
of  frames  filled.  But  this  should  not  be  done 
if  there  is  a  scant  supply  of  bees,  or  if  the 
weather  is  cool.  If  the  bees  need  more  room, 
as  some  of  them  undoubtedly  will,  then 
put  on  another  story.  If  colony  is  strong 
enough  let  them  keep  it,  even  after  putting 
on  a  super  of  sections.  If  it  is  not  strong 
enough  take  away  the  upper  story,  crowd 
all  the  frames  of  brood  into  the  lower  brood- 
chamber,  and  then  put  on  the  comb-honey 
supers.  If  we  can  get  a  colony  strong 
enough  the  bees  will  boil  up  into  the  super 
when  it  is  put  on. 

But  all  of  these  plans  will  be  brought  to 
naught  unless  the  queen  is  a  good  one.  In 
general  she  should  not  be  much  over  two 
years  old,  and  should  be  prolific. 

WHE^^  TO  PUT  ON  SUPERS. 

If  the  colony  is  in  one  story  and  the  bees 
begin  to  come  in  from  the  field,  and  combs 
are  whitened  near  the  tops,  frames  fairly 
well  filled  with  brood  and  with  honey.  I 
put  on  supers.  If  I  have  supers  contain- 
ing half -depth  extracting  -  combs,  I  prefer 
to  put  these  on  first,  even  if  I  desire  to  pro- 
duce comb  honey,  for  the  bees  will  enter 
them  much  more  readily,  and  begin  storing 
above.  Then  when  they  are  once  well  started 
1  raise  the  extracting  super  up  and  place 
under  it  a  comb-honey  super  containing  sec- 
tions filled  with  full  sheets  of  foundation. 
(See  Comb  Found atiox.) 

The  usual  practice  is  to  put  the  comb- 
honey  super  on  at  the  start ;  but  in  my  expe- 
rience, Italians  especially  are  loath  to  enter 
the  boxes.  If  they  once  get  into  the  habit  of 
going  above,  they  will  keep  it  up,  ev^en  if  the 
super  is  changed.  The  extracting-super  can 
remain  on  top  of  the  same  hive  on  which  it 
was  put  in  the  first  place,  but  I  would  put  it 
on  some  other  colony  to  give  it  the  "  upstair 
fever,"  after  which  it  should  be  replaced  by 
a  comb-honey  super.  After  a  little  there 
will  be  some  filled  extracting-supers  as  well 
as  those  of  comb.  By  proceeding  on  this 
plan  I  have  found  that  I  can  produce  just 
about  as  much  comb  honey  as  I  should  if  I 
put  the  comb-honey  supers  on  in  the  first 


COMB  HONEY. 


93 


COMB  HOXEY. 


place,  with  the  additional  advantage  that 
the  extracted  honey  obtained  is  just  so 
much  clear  gain.  Bead  what  a  correspon- 
dent of  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  has  to  say 
of  it: 

I  have  been,  for  several  years,  very  much  interested 
in  trying  and  comparing  different  methods  of  han- 
dling bees  for  comb  honey.  I  have  been  in  the  busi- 
ness for  eight  j-ears,  and  have  had  fair  success.  For 
the  first  five  years  I  tried  a  different  method  each 
year.  Three  ^-ears  ago  I  tried  an  experiment  that  suc- 
ceeded so  well  I  have  followed  it  up.  and  have  in  a 
measure  overcome  the  two  greatest  difficulties  that  I 
had  to  contend  with— loafing  and  swarming.  We  use 
the  eight-frame  Dovetailed  hives  with  section-holders 
for  sections.    Our  bees  would  always  begin  to 

loaf  or  hang  out  on  the  front  of  the  hives  when  we  put 
on  the  sections,  and  most  of  them  would  do  but  little 
in  the  sections  until  the\- had  lest  several  daj'S,  and 
then  would  swarm,  thus  losing  several  days  of  the 
first  alfalfa  bloom. 

I  had  sixty  colonies  of  Italians  in  my  out-apiarj',  and 
in  trying  my  experiment  I  tried  to  be  fair.  I  took  30 
supers  of  half-depth  extracting-frames  full  of  comb 
from  the  home  apiary,  and  put  them  on  30  hives  in  the 
out-apiary  at  the  same  time  that  I  put  sections  on  the 
other  30  hives.  In  four  or  five  days  the  extracting- 
combs  were  full  of  new  honey,  and  the  bees  excited 
and  busy  at  their  work,  while  most  of  those  having 
sections  were  loafing,  and  some  had  swarmed. 

I  raised  the  combs  by  putting  a  super  of  sections 
between  them  and  the  braod-nest.  At  the  end  of  two 
weeks  from  putting  on  the  combs  those  sections  under 
the  combs  were  better  filled  than  those  on  the  hives 
that  had  no  combs.  As  soon  as  the  combs  were  sealed 
I  put  them  away  to  extract,  having  that  amount  of 
honey  extra,  and  the  bees  started  nicely  in  their  work. 
I  had  onU'  ab^ut  a  third  as  man5'  swarms  from  those 
hives  as  from  the  ones  with  .-ections  and  no  combs. 

I  liked  the  plan  so  well  that  last  year  I  had  enough 
of  those  little  combs  built  to  furnish  a  super  of  them 
to  every  colony  that  was  to  be  run  for  section  honey. 

I  tried  the  plan  again  this  year,  and  from  75  colonies 
at  the  out-apiary  I  had  8000  fine  white  marketable 
sections,  about  500  lbs.  of  unfinished  and  imperfect 
sections,  1500  lbs.  of  extracted  honey,  au^  60  lbs.  of 
beeswax,  and  two  barrels  of  vinegar.  We  got  short  of 
fixture.s,  and  I  had  to  cut  out  so  ne  of  my  little  combs 
and  have  the  bees  build  them  again  to  keep  them  at 
work.  I  forgot  to  mention  that  we  sell  a  lot  of  those 
combs  to  families  for  home  use,  as  we  can  sell  them 
cheaper  than  sections.  When  we  cut  them  out  we 
do  so  after  extracting,  and  then  the  washings  make 
good  vinegar,  and  the  wax  goes  into  the  solar  extract- 
or, and  is  of  the  best  quality.  We  leave  half  an  inch 
of  comb  at  the  top  of  the  frame,  to  save  putting  in 
foundation.  I  do  not  believe  we  shall  ever  be  able  to 
overcome  swarming  eniirelj',  but  I  believe  my  plan 
stops  the  loafing  better  than  any  thing  else  I  know  of. 
We  had  57  swarms  this  year,  but  no  loafing  in  the  out- 
apiary.  We  have  bought  an  extractor  for  that  apiar^', 
and  will  continue  to  run  on  that  plan  to  start  them  to 
work.  After  the  first  super  of  sections  is  well  started 
there  is  no  more  trouble  about  loafing.  Mj-  neighbor's 
bees  loafed  and  swarmed  through  all  the  best  of  the 
season,  while  mine  were  hard  at  work. 

Mancos,  Col.,  Nov.  17,  1898.       Mrs.  A.  J.  Barber. 

But  there  may  be  some  who  do  not  care  to 
produce  extracted  honey,  or  who.  perhaps,  do 


not  have  any  extractiug-supers  of  any  sort : 
and  it  may  be  true,  also,  that  the  locality  or 
the  bees,  or  the  bee-keeper,  would  render 
such  a  procedure  as  already  explained  not 
as  desirable  as  the  more  direct  method  of 
putting  the  comb-honey  supers  on  the  hives 
at  the  start.  Under  such  conditions  you  will 
proceed  as  given  below. 

WHAT  TO  DO  WHEX  BEES  KEFUSE  TO  EXTER 
THE  SECTIOXS. 

At  times  bees  will  show  a  disposition  to 
loaf,  and  consequently  a  disinclination  to  go 
into  the  sections.  They  will  hang  out  in 
great  bunches  aroimd  the  entrance,  while 
the  surplus-apartment  is  left  almost  entirely 
vacant,  to  say  nothing  of  foimdation  not  be- 
j  ing  drawn  out.  This  condition  may  be  whol- 
I  ly  due  to  the  backwardness  of  the  season. 
.  During  those  years  (which  are  not  frequent 
i  when  the  bees  have  not  yet  filled  their  brood- 
j  combs  after  the  honey  season  is  nearly  over, 
and,  as  the  days  progress,  make  little  if  any 
increase  in  the  quantity  of  honey,  we  can 
I  not  expect  the  bees  to  go  above  until  all  the 
j  available  cell  room  below  has  been  tilled,  as  a 
I  rule.  When  this  is  crammed  full,  and  there 
is  a  rush  of  nectar,  thev  will  commence  work 
in  the  sections.  We  will  suppose  you  have  a 
fair  average  season,  and  some  colonies  are 
storing  honey  in  the  supers,  and  others  are 
not.  With  the  latter,  the  trouble  is  clearly 
with  the  hive  or  with  the  bees.  Some  bees  are 
much  slower  in  going  above  than  others.  If 
honey  is  coming  in  freely,  they  can  be  bait- 
ed, usually,  by  placing  a  partly  filled  sec- 
tion or  two,  of  the  year  previous,  in  the  cen- 
ter of  the  super.  Sometimes  a  little  bit  of 
drone  brood  similarly  placed  may  be  used  to 
advantage,  but  I  should  hardly  recommend 
it.  because  it  is  liable  to  result  in  the  discol- 
oration of  the  sections  next  to  it.^'"^  It  the  use 
of  partly  drawn-out  sections,  as  explained, 
does  not  succeed  in  baiting  the  bees,  go  to  a 
hive  where  the  bees  are  already  working  in 
sections,  if  you  can  have  access  to  such  a  one. 
and  remove  sections,  bees  and  all.  that  are 
actually  at  work  drawing  out  the  comb,  and 
place  them  on  the  hive  that  won't  go  above. 
This  ^ill  start  any  hive  at  work  in  the  sec- 
tions that  contain  bees  enough  to  go  to  work. 
The  sections  should  contain  full  sheets  of 
foundation,  because  it  has  been  shown,  over 
and  over  again,  that  bees  are  much  more 
ready  to  accept  full  sheets- than  starters.  If 
you  have  complied  with  this,  perhaps  the 
hive  is  not  properly  shaded,  and.  as  a  conse- 
quence, the  surplus-apartment  is  overheated 
by  the  direct  rays  of  the  sim.  In  this  event, 
if  you  can  not  extemporize  some  kind  of 


COMB  HOI^EY. 


94 


COMB  HONEY. 


shade,  use  a  shacle-board,  and  smoke  the  bees 
above. 

If  the  methods  given  still  fail  to  force  your 
bees  to  occupy  the  sections,  and  you  have 
followed  faithfully  the  instructions,  the  trou- 
ble may  be  because  honey  is  not  coming  in 
sufficiently  rapid  because  the  brood-nest  is 
not  yet  filled,  or  because  the  colony  is  too 
weak.  It  requires  strong  colonies  under  any 
conditions  to  do  much  work  in  the  supers. 
The  hive  should  b3  boiling  over  with  bees. 

TIERING  UP. 

If  honey  is  coming  in  at  a  good  rate,  you 
may  expect  (if  the  bees  have  got  started 
above)  that  the  super,  or  case  of  sections, 
will  soon  be  filled  about  half  full  of  honey— 
the  sections  being  in  different  stages  of  com- 
pletion. When  the  super  is  about  half  filled 
with  honey,  raise  it  up  and  place  another 
empty  super  under  it.  About  the  time  this 
reaches  the  condition  of  about  half  comple- 
tion, raise  both  supers  and  put  under  anoth- 
er empty  one.  This  process  of  "tiering  up," 
or storifying,"  as  it  is  called  by  the  Eng- 
lish, may  be  continued  until  three  orfourhigh, 
depending  upon  the  length  of  the  honey-flow 
and  the  amount  of  nectar  coming  daily.  In 
the  mean  time  the  ripening  process  of  the 
honey  in  the  first  supers  continues.  Usually 
it  is  not  practicable  to  tier  up  more  than 
two  high. 

CAUTION. 

Care  must  be  exercised  in  tiering  up,  or  a 
lot  of  unfinished  sections  will  be  the  result. 
^Yhen  the  hone5^-flow  is  drawing  to  a  close, 
and  you  discover  that  there  is  an  evident  de- 
crease in  the  amount  of  nectar  coming  in, 
give  no  more  empty  supers.  Make  the  bees 
complete  what  they  have  on  hand,  wliich 
they  will  do  if  you  are  fortunate  enough  in 
your  calculations  as  to  when  tlie  flow  of  nec- 
tar will  end.  If  uncertain  whetlier  another 
super  is  needed  or  not  toward  the  close  of  the 
harvest,  it  is  often  advisable  to  put  another 
super  on  top.^^  The  bees  are  not  likely  to  com- 
mence on  this  till  they  really  need  it.  It  is 
impossible  to  give  general  rules  on  tiering 
up ;  but  with  tlie  assistance  of  the  foregoing 
you  are  to  exercise  your  own  discretion. 

WHEN  AND  HOW. TO  TAKE  OFF  SECTIONS. 

Usually  it  is  not  practicable  to  wait  till 
every  section  in  a  super  is  complete  ;  that  is, 
until  every  cell  is  capped  over.  Those  sec- 
tions most  liable  to  be  unfinished  will  be  in 
the  t^\^o  outside  rows,  and  these  the  bees  will 
be  long  in  completing.  If  the  honey-flow  is 
over  I  would  not  wait  for  them  to  be  com- 
pleted, but  would  take  the  whole  super  off  at 
once.   The  longer  it  remains  on  the  hive. 


the  more  travel-stained  the  honey  will  be- 
come, and  the  more  it  will  be  soiled  with 
propolis.  Bees  have  a  fashion  of  running 
through  their  apartments  with  muddy  feet, 
and  in  tliis  particular  are  not  so  very  much 
unlike  their  owners.  However,  if  you  desire 
a  really  fine,  delicious  article  of  comb  honey, 
one  pleasing  to  the  tongue  and  not  so  much 
to  the  eye,  and  are  not  particular  about  the 
white  marketable  appearance  of  the  cap- 
pings,  leave  the  super  on  the  hive  for  two  or 
three  months.  Most  bee-keepers  agree  that 
comb  honey  left  on  the  hive  acquires  a  cer- 
tain richness  of  flavor  not  found  in  honey 
just  capped  over.  Although  such  honey  is 
really  better,  it  is  not  quite  so  marketable. 

HOW  TO  GET    BEES  OUT  OF  THE  SECTIONS 
WITHOUT  BFE-EeCAFES. 

There  is  one  danger  in  leaving  honey  on 
till  after  the  honey-flow.  As  soon  as  you 
open  the  hive,  the  bees,  especially  hybrids, 
are  apt  to  uncap  and  carry  some  of  the  hon- 
ey down.  Whether  you  leave  it  on  the  hive 
or  whether  you  remove  it  as  soon  as  capped, 
the  methods  of  taking  off  and  getting  the 
bees  out  will  be  much  the  same.  In  the  for- 
mer case,  some  supers  may  not  be  filled  with 
honey,  although  a  glance  at  the  top  may 
show  nice  white  ca])ped  combs.  Satisfy  your- 
self by  lifting  one  up  and  looking  under.  If 
capped  beloAv,  it  may  be  removed.  To  take 
off*,  blow  smoke  into  the  top  of  the  super 
for  a  little  while,  to  drive  most  of  the  bees 
down ;  lift  off  the  super,  and  set  it  on  end 
near  the  entrance  (not  as  it  sits  on  the  hive, 
or  you  will  kill  bees).  If  honey  is  coming  in 
freely,  robbers  will  not  molest,  and  in  two  or 
three  hours  the  bees  will  have  left  the  super 
and  gone  into  the  hive. 

Until  you  hav  ■  had  some  experience,  per- 
haps your  safest  plan  is,  never  to  set  a  su- 
per of  honey  by  the  hive.  Sometimes  it 
may  be  safe  to  let  it  stand  there  all  day 
when  the  bees  have  more  than  they  can  do 
on  the  flowers;  but  again,  all  at  once  it 
may  start  the  bees  to  robbing,  and  demoral- 
ize them  generally. 

After  removing  as  many  bees  from  the  sec- 
tions as  possible,  take  the  crates^s  or  crates, 
with  the  bees  adhering  and  set  them  upon 
end  on  the  ground.  If  many,  pile  them  one 
upon  another,  alternately  crossing.  Now  take 
the  folding  tent  (see  Transferring)  and 
place  it  over  the  crates.  Before  doing  so, 
however,  you  should  make  an  oblong  hole  (if 
there  is  not  one  there  already)  through  the 
mosquito-bar  near  the  peak  of  the  tent.  The 

*  The  plan  here  ^ven  is  the  one  recommended  by 
Dr.  C.  C.  Miller,  Marengo,  111. 


COMB  HONEY. 


95 


COMB  HO^fEY. 


bees,  on  leaving  the  crates,  will  flj^  bumping 
their  heads  against  the  sides  of  the  tent, 
until  they  arrive  at  the  peak,  where  they 
will  make  their  escape  through  the  hole  re- 
ferred to  above ;  but  not  one  will  have  sense 
enough  to  come  back  by  the  way  it  came. 
In  this  way  the  crates  of  sections  will  soon 
be  freed  from  the  bees  ;  and,  as  no  bee  will 
enter  by  the  hole  from  the  top,  there  will  be 
no  danger  from  robbing. 


MILLER  S  TEJ^T  ESCAPE. 

C.  C.  Miller,  carrying  out  the  idea  of  the 
bee-tent,  went  a  little  further  and  construct- 
ed a  miniature  bee-tent  to  set  directly  over 
the  pile  of  filled  supers. 

BEE-ESCAPES. 

The  first  escap^^s  were  in  the  shape  of  ver- 
tical wire-cloth  cones,  hs  shown  in  the  Alley 
trap  in  Droxes  ;  but  as  these  tcok  too  much 
room  in  the  super,  other  forms  of  escapes 
had  to  be  devised  in  which  cones  would  in  a 
sense  be  laid  on  their  sides.  One  of  these  is 
shown  in  the  Keese  horiz  ntal  bee-escape. 


REESE'S  HORIZONTAL  BEE-ESCAPE. 

The  same  principle  carried  a  little  further 
is  shown  in  the  next  engraving,  called  the 
Lareese  escape.  The  two  boards  forming 
the  escape-board"  proper  are  spaced  about 
two  inches  a])art.  On  each  side  are  nailed 
strips  of  wire  cloth  as  shown,  and  between 
these  strips  are  placed  a  series  of  horizontal 


cones  also  of  wire  cloth.  Strips  of  wire 
cloth  like  a  letter  Y  are  fastened  between 
the  strips  of  wire  cloth  nailed  on  both  sides. 
The  Y's  are  made  by  bending  a  strip  of 
wire  cloth  into  a  sort  of  trough.   The  bot- 


LAREESE  BEE-ESCAPE. 

tom  of  the  trough  is  then  slit  through  the 
middle  nearly  to  one  end.  The  ends  are 
spread,  and  nailed  against  the  two  edges 
between  the  boards.  Six  of  these  are  thus 
fastened  as  shown  by  the  light  lines.  This 
is  lleese's  horizontal  wire-cloth-cone  escape 
improved  by  John  H.  Larrabee.  That  it 
works  successfully  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  W.  G.  Larrabee  took  off  with  it,  one 
season,  several  thousand  pounds  of  extract- 
ed honey  without  shaking  or  brushing  a 
comb. 

PORTER  BEE-ESCAPE. 

The  escape  shown  next  page  is,  no  doubt, 
ahead  of  any  of  the  escapes  heretofore 
represented.  The  wire-cone  escapes  do  not 
always  prevent  the  bees  from  getting  back 
the  way  they  came.   But  the  Porter  is  con- 


structed on  a  principle  that  effectually  pre- 
vents any  return.  Every  bee  has  to  pass 
between  the  points  of  two  very  sensitive 
springs  that  readily  yield  as  each  one  passes 
outward,  closing  up  and  absolutely  prevent- 
ing its  return.  With  these  escapes  one  can 
clear  the  bees  from  the  supers  very  easily, 
and  with  but  little  labor. 

The  Porter  is  mounted  in  a  board  as 
shown,  bee-spaced  on  one  side,  and  is  as 
large  as  the  top  of  the  hive. 

My  method  of  putting  on  one  of  these  es- 
cape-boards is  as  follows :  AVith  a  screw- 
driver, putty-knife,  or  pry,  loosen  the  super 
so  that  propolis  connections  will  be  severed 


COMB  HONEY. 


90 


COMB  HOi^^EY. 


or  broken.  'Now  with  one  hand  tilt  the  up 
super  at  one  end  enough  to  make  a  gap,  and 
with  the  other  hand  blow  in  two  or  three 
whiffs  of  smoke  to  drive  the  bees  back. 
ISText  lift  one  end  of  the  super  up  so  that  it 
will  stand  at  an  angle  of  about  45  degrees. 
With  the  free  hand  set  down  the  smoker  and 


pick  up  the  escape-board,  which  should  be 
leaning  convenientl}^  against  your  person. 
Set  this  on  top  of  the  hive  as  far  as  it  will 
go,  bee-space  side  up.  Let  the  super  down 
on  the  escape-board  gently,  and,  last  of  all, 
bring  the  escape-board  and  super  so  they 
will  align  with  the  hive. 

You  will  find  this  method  saves  hard  lift- 
ing, saves  angering  the  bees,  and  saves  kill- 
ing them. 

The  best  time  to  put  on  Porter  escapes  is 
at  night.  If  thirty  or  forty  of  them  are  put 
on,  the  next  morning  about  nine  o'clock  , 
there  will  be  about  thirty  or  forty  supers 
ready  to  come  off,  with  hardly  a  bee  in 
them.  If  there  are  three  or  four  bees  left, 
or  say  a  dozen,  they  will  usually  take  wing 
as  soon  as  the  super  is  uncovered.  If  not, 
one  or  two  whiffs  of  smoke,  and  a  shaking, 
will  dislodge  them. 

THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  ESCAPES. 

In  smoking  out  most  of  the  bees  and  then 
letting  the  remnant  of  them  escape  through 
the  tops  of  bee-tents  and  fly  home  (if  they 
can),  there  will  be  the  young  bees  that  can  not 
fly  home,  and  these  are  quite  apt  to  become 
lost.  The  smoking  is  also  liable,  at  times,  to 
cause  the  bees  to  uncap  the  honey.  With 
any  of  the  last  four  escapes,  both  of  these 
difficulties  are  nicely  avoided.  The  young 
bees  go  down  into  the  hive,  and  every  thing 
is  done  so  quietly  that  there  is  no  micapping, 
no  interruption  of  the  work  of  the  bees  to 
and  from  the  entrance,  and  the  labor  of  the 
apiarist  is  also  saved. 

Any  of  the  last  three  named  can  be  used 
for  Extracting,  which  see. 

SCRAPING  SECTIONS. 

In  order  to  make  sections  present  a  clean 
marketable  appearance,  all  propolis  should 
be  scraped  off.  Some  prefer,  for  this  pur- 
pose, a  case-knife ;  others,  an  ordinary  dull 
jack-knife.  But  whatever  implement  you 
u^e,  scrape  the  sections  nice  and  clean.  Be 
careful  not  to  gash  into  the  honey.  Before 


you  commence  the  operation  you  had  better 
put  on  some  old  clothes,  because  the  parti- 
cles of  propolis  will  be  almost  sure  to  ruin 
good  clothes. 

BOGMHOWER    SECTION  -  SCRAPING  TABLE. 

Mr.  Erank  Boomhower,  of  Gallupville, 
Y.,  has  a  section-scraping  table  like  the  one 
shown  below.   As  will  be  seen,  two  scrapers 
can  work  at  a  time,  the  sides  of  the  box,  or 


tray,  being  cut  away  in  such  a  way  as  to  al- 
low a  knife  to  scrape  down  clear  past  the 
edge  of  the  section.  Each  section,  as  it  is 
scraped,  is  put  into  the  shipping-case.  I 
have  seen  this  table  in  operation  and  know 
that  it  is  just  the  thing  for  hand  scraping. 

MACHINE  SECTION-CLEANERS.  ^ 

rin  1898,  after  plain  sections  had  come 
prominently  to  the  front,  it  became  appar- 
ent that  such  sections  with  their  plain 


straight  edges  could  be  very  easily  scraped 
or  cleaned  with  a  machine,  because  of  there 
being  no  insets  or  beeways  to  work  into. 


COMB  ho:n^ey. 


97 


COMB  HONEjT. 


Several  machines  were  shown  in  Gleanings 
in  Bee  Culture.  But  among  those  that  seem- 
ed to  embod}^  several  desirable  features  was 
one  devised  by  J.  A.  Golden,  His  perfected 
machine,  as  shown  by  the  illustration,  has 
three  wooden  pulleys  perhaps  five  inches 
wide  and  of  a  varying  diameter.  An  ordi- 
nary sand-belt,  such  as  is  used  by  furniture- 
makers,  connects  the  three  pulleys  together. 
To  clean,  the  section  is  laid  gently  on  the 
moving  paper  between  the  two  pulleys  at 
the  top  of  the  machine. 

Mr.  Golden  says  that  this  belt  does  not 
gum  up  with  propolis,  and  that  it  does  very 
thorough  work  and  much  more  rapidly  than 
expert  hand  scraping. 

Another  machine,  devised  by  Mr.  L.  A. 
Aspinwall,  of  Jackson,  Mich.,  makes  use  of 
a  rapidly  revolving  cylinder,  about  two 
inches  in  diameter  and  eight  cr  nine  inches 
long.  This  cylinder  has  mounted  on  its  sur- 
face, in  slots  lengthwise  and  at  equal  inter- 
vals, a  series  of  knives  that  project  up  above 
the  surface  of  the  cylinder  about  as  much  as 
the  blade  of  a  jack-plane  projects  above  the 
plane  itself.  This  rapidly  revolving  cylin- 
der, of  course,  is  mounted  on  a  suitable 
frame,  and  is  operated  by  foot  power.  Mr. 
Aspinwall  writes  that,  with  a  machine  of 
this  kind,  he  can  do  good  and  rapid  work. 

As  yet  the  machine  cleaners  may  be  said 
to  be  in  the  experimental  stage. 357 

TJNFmitHED  SEC'lIUXS. 

The  more  cai  efully  the  apiary  is  manipu- 
lated in  the  matter  of  working  for  comb 
honey,  the  fewer  will  be  the  number  of 
unfinished  sections ;  but  all  such  are  not 
always  the  res'jlt  of  improper  working  of 
the  colonies.  With  the  best  of  care  a  sud- 
den stoppage  of  the  honey-flow  will  throw 
on  the  bee-keeper  a  lot  of  these  sections ;  for 
such  stoppages  of  the  nectar  supply,  no  one 
can  foresee  in  some  localities.  In  the  alfalfa 
regions,  and  in  some  other  places,  it  can  be 
told  within  a  few  days  when  the  hOney  will 
stop :  it  is  then  possible  to  so  arrange  the 
supply  of  sections  on  the  hives  as  to  leave 
very  few  of  them  unfinished  when  the  sea- 
son does  finally  close. 

HOW  DR.  311LLER  PREVENTS  AN  OVERSTJP- 
PLY  OF  rNFINISHED  SECTIONS. 

Dr.  Miller  takes  of£  his  supers  as  soon  as 
a  majority  of  the  sections  in  the  super  are 
finished.  These  latter  are  set  aside  to  be 
scraped  and  cased  for  market,  while  those 
unfinished  are  set  back  into  the  supers— the 
supers  to  go  back  on  the  hives  immediately, 
consequently  before  the  honey-flow  stops.  By 


I  proceeding  thus  he  manages  to  have  fewun- 
I  finished  sections  at  the  end  of  the  season. 
Those  that  are  returned  to  the  hive  he  fitting- 
ly styles  "  gobacks."  These,  as  fast  as  they 
accumulate  in  the  honey-room,  are  put  into 
the  regular  hive-supers.  Part  of  these  go- 
back  supers  may  be  placed  on  colonies  that 
show  a  special  aptitude  *  for  finishing  up 
:  work  already  begun  in  sections,  and  a  part 
i  may  be  placed  on  the  regular  colonies  already 
at  work  on  their  own  sections.  The  great 
advantage  of  this  plan  is  that  it  allows  the 
sections  to  be  taken  off  before  all  in  the 
super  are  finished,  consequently  before  any 
of  the  central  ones  have  lost  their  virgin 
whiteness. 

Such  a  plan  of  procedure  is  possible  only 
in  localities  where  the  honey-fiow  lasts  suf- 
ficiently h  ng,  not  only  to  fill  two-thirds  of 
the  sections  full  in  the  supers,  but  enough 

j  hmger  to  finish  out  supers  of  gobacks  placed 

i  on  hives  afterward. 

'    Iq  any  case,  some  unfinished  sections  will 
'  be  on  hand  at  the  close  of  the  season  ;  for  if 
the  surplus  be  all  stored  in  sections  it  is  not 
possible  to  give  the  exact  number  of  sections 
that  will  be  finished. 

if  honey  is  quoted  in  the  open  market  at  12 
or  15  cts.,  these  unfinished  boxes  will  proba- 
bly not  bring  more  than  8  cts.  per  lb.  As  a 
matter  of  course,  they  do  not  look  finished, 
j  Some  of  the  cells  are  capped  over,  and  those 
that  are  not  capped  are  likely  to  daub  cases 
as  well  as  sections.  At  the  very  best  they 
are  slow  sellers,  and  should  be  either  com- 
pleted on  the  hive  by  feeding  back  after  the 
honey-flow,  or  be  otherwise  disposed  of. 

FEEDING  BACK  AFTER  THE  HONEY -FLOW 
TO  COMPLETE  UNFINISHED  SECTIONS. 

Of  course,  nothing  but  the  best  grade  of 
extracted  honey  should  be  fed.   Under  no 
circumstances  should  sugar  syrup  be  con- 
sidered.  The  supers  of    gobacks  "  should 
be  placed  on  the  hives,  and  then  on  top  of 
them  a  large  feeder,  something  like  the 
Miller,  as  described  and  illustrated  under 
Feeding.   The  honey  should  be  diluted  to 
about  the  consistency  of  raw  nectar,  or  in 
about  the  proportion  of  ten  pounds  of  water 
to  one  of  honey.   The  mixture  should  be 
I  heated,  and  then  placed  in  large  feeders  to- 
j  ward  night.   At  that  time  there  will  be  less 
trouble  from  robbers ;  for  whenever  bees  are 
,  fed  they  will  be  apt  to  rush  out  of  the  hive 
;  pellmell,  and  cause  a  general  excitement. 
I    While  some  have  been  successful  in  feed- 


*Som.e  colonies  are  better  at  finishing  up  work 
already  begun  than  at  starting  it  from  the  raw  foun- 
dation. 


COMB  HONEY. 


98 


COMB  HONEY. 


ing  back,  and  making  salable  nnfinished  sec- 
tions, the  majority  of  bee-keepers,  I  believe, 
have  given  it  up  as  unsatisfactory.  In  the 
first  place,  the  work  has  to  be  done  at  a 
time  of  year  when  robbers  are  the  worst. 
The  cappings  will  appear  to  be  water-soak- 
ed, and  at  other  times  travel-stained.  Dur- 
ing a  dearth  of  honey,  bees  have  nothiDg  to 
do  but  gather  propolis,  dirt,  every  thing  and 
any  thing  that  will  chink  up  and  fill  up 
cracks  and  crevices,  and  the  result  will  be 
that  the  fed-back  comb  honey  will  be  dirty- 
looking  compared  with  that  made  during  a 
natural  honey  flow. 

Eeeding  back  can  be  made  to  pay  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances  and  man- 
agement ;  but  even  then  only  about  3  pounds 
out  of  5  of  honey  fed  will  be  obtained  in 
the  comb  honey.  At  other  times  there  is  no 
appreciable  loss.  A  great  deal  depends  on 
how  the  work  is  done,  and  when.  I  would 
advise  the  beginner  to  try  feeding  back  on  a 
small  scale,  to  weigh  up  the  honey  fed,  and 
the  amount  of  comb  honey  received  over 
and  above  what  was  placed  on  the  hives  in 
the  first  place  in  an  unfinished  state. 

WHAT  TO  DO  WITH  UNFINISHED  SECTIONS. 

Some  prefer  to  dispose  of  unfinished  sec- 
tions by  selling  them  around  home  for  less 
money,  or  using  them  exclusively  for  home 
consumption.  The  honey,  for  eating  pur- 
poses, is  practically  just  as  good :  and  it  is 
the  practice,  in  many  bee-keepers'  families, 
to  consume  all  such  sections  if  they  can, 
reserving  out  those  that  are  marketable  and 
well  finished,  to  be  sold. 

Some  bee-keepers  consider  them  very  val- 
uable for  baits ;  that  is,  they  place  one  of 
these  in  the  center  of  a  super  to  bait  the 
bees  above,  as  has  already  been  explained. 
Others  make  it  a  practice  to  uncap  and  then 
place  them  in  stacked-up  supers  a  few  rods 
from  the  apiary.  A  very  small  entrance  at 
the  bottom  of  the  pile,  large  enough  for  one 
or  two  bees  to  pass  at  a  time,  is  provided. 
By  this  slow  method  of  robbing,  the  bees 
will  empty  out  the  honey  and  carry  it  to  the 
hives  much  more  cheaply  than  the  bee- 
keeper himself  can  afford  to  do  it  by  means 
of  the  extractor.  While  this  slow  robbing 
may  cause  a  little  disturbance  in  the  yard 
at  the  time,  it  does  no  particular  harm.  But 
mark  this  :  Never  give  the  bees  a  wide  en- 
trance at  the  bottom.  It  should  be  only 
wide  enough  to  allow  one  or  two  bees  to 
pass  at  a  time.  This  is  known  as  the  Miller 
plan,  having  been,  I  believe,  originated  by 
Dr.  C.  C.  Miller.    Taking  every  thing  into 


consideration  it  is  the  safer  one  to  follow ; 
but  where  one  is  an  expert  bee-keeper,  and 
has  a  large  lot  of  unfinished  sections  for  the 
bees  to  empty  out,  a  plan  originated  by  the 
late  B.  Taylor  is  perhaps  better.  Dr.  Miller^ 
who  now  uses  the  plan,  thus  speaks  of  it : 

For  a  number  of  years  I  have  used  the  Taylor  plan 
at  the  close  of  every  season.    All  sections  that  are  less 
than  half  filled  are  put  in  supers  in  the  shop  cellar, 
and  the  door  kept  closed  till  the  whole  business  is 
over,  and  all  that  are  to  be  emptied  are  in  the  cellar. 
The  supers  stand  on  end  so  as  to  be  all  open,  or  piled 
in  piles  crossing  each  other.    Whtn  no  more  are  to  be 
taken  into  the  cellar  I  open  the  door,  and  say  to  the 
bees,  "Go  in."    They  go  in,  I  assure  you.    The  air  is 
j  black  with  bees  at  the  door,  and  they  do  more  or  less 
j  sailing  about  in  the  vicinity.    Sometimes  they  do  a  lit- 
I  tie  tearing  of  the  sections,  but  not  much.    There  is  too 
i  large  a  surface  for  them  to  cover.    Gradually  they  give 
up  the  job  as  the  supply  ceases,  but  the  supers  are  not 
taken  away  till  a  week  or  two  after  the  bees  have  stop- 
ped working  on  them.    They  might  as  well  be  put  in 
the  open  air,  only  they  are  safe  from  rain  in  the  cellar. 
Please  remember  that  this  is  what  I  do  at  the  end  of 
every  harvest  after  the  flow  has  stopped. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  use  the  Taylor  oftener  than 
the  Miller  plan.  It  depends  on  the  num'herof  sections 
to  be  emptied  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  bees. 
Whether  little  or  much  is  to  be  emptied,  I  am-  not 
afraid  of  a  rampage.  I  will  set  a  super  of  sections  on 
top  cf  a  hive  and  let  the  bees  rob  it  out,  and  there  will 
be  no  rampage.  But  I  will  be  exceedingly  careful  not 
to  take  away  the  super  until  all  the  honey  is  cleaned 
out,  and  until  at  least  -24  hours  after  the  bees  have  stop- 
ped trying  to  find  any  more  honey  there.  Take  away 
the  super  while  the  bees  are  at  work  at  it,  and  whole- 
sale destruction  would  follow. 

SHALL  WE  USE  SEPARATORS? 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  considerable 
discussion  among  prominent  bee-keepers  as 
to  whether  separators  could  or  could  not  be 
dispensed  with  profitably  in  the  production 
of  comb  honey.  Some  stoutly  maintained 
that  they  could,  and  others  just  as  strenuous- 
ly asserted  that  they  could  not.  The  former 
class  urged  that  they  could  secm^e  more  hon- 
ey without  separators,  and  consequently  that 
they  could  put  up  with  the  inconvenience  of 
some  few  sections  bulged  out  beyond  the 
sides.  While  the  latter  class  were  ready  to  ad- 
mit that  perhaps  a  little  more  honey  could  be 
secm-ed  by  the  non-use  of  separators,  they 
asserted  that  they  obtained  so  much  uncrata- 
ble  honey,  and  were  put  to  so  much  incon- 
venience in  trying  to  so  arrange  the  sections 
as  to  have  them  built  out  evenly,  that  they 
never  wanted  to  dispense  with  separators. 
It  should  be  remarked  right  here,  that,  with 
the  narrow  beeway  sections,  If,  li,  or  If,  the 
separators  are  not  so  necessary  as  with  the 
wide  ones,  such  as  11  or  l^^.  Full  sheets  of 
foundation  in  either  case  greatly  lessen  the 
need  of  their  use.   But  plain  sections  should 


COMB  HOKEY. 


99 


COMB  HONEY. 


always  be  iised  with  fences  or  separators. 
At  the  present  time,  however,  by  far  the 
greater  majoritj^  of  the  producers  of  comb 
honey  ad^'ocate  and  use  fences,  separators, 
or  something  of  that  sort ;  and  as  our  expe- 
rience in  former  years  was  so  misatisfactorj^ 
without  separators,  we  are  compelled  to  agree 
with  the  majority. 

WOOD   OR  Tm  SEPARATORS. 

Objection  has  been  made  to  the  tin  separa- 
tors, because  of  their  metallic  coldness.  It  i 
is  urged,  that  the  smooth  sides  of  the  tin  are 
not  congenial  to  the  bees,  and  that,  further- 
more, the  expense  of  separators  made  of  tin 
is  greater  than  most  bee-keepers  can  afford, 
in  consideration  of  the  low  price  of  their 
product.  Partly  for  these  reasons,  and  part- 
ly for  others,  wood  separators  costing  an  al- 
most insignificant  sum  have  been  made. 
'They  are  sometimes  cut  out  on  a  slicing- 
machine,  and  are  really  thin  veneer  wood, 
€ut  to  the  size  of  the  separator.  Those  cut 
with  a  saw  are  much  better  because  the  grain 
is  not  broken  in  shaving.  The  thickness 
varies  from  28  to  the  inch  up  to  about  16. 
The  preference  seems  to  be  in  favor  of  the 
thicker  ones. 

WHAT  SIZE  OF  SECTION  TO  USE. 

To  answer  this  question  intelligently  for 
oneself,  it  will  be  well  to  consult  the  honey- 
market  reports.  As  a  general  rule,  sections 
holding  an  even  pound  of  honey  are  pre- 
ferred by  consumers,  and,  of  course,  they 
bring  a  higher  price.  Notwithstanding  this, 
few  bee-keepers  think  that  more  honey  can 
be  secured  in  two-pound  sections  than  in 
the  smaller  sizes.  Most  bee-keepers,  how- 
ever, are  not  so  sure  that  it  makes  any  dif- 
ference to  the  bees;  and  while  the  fact  re- 
mains that,  in  most  markets,  they  sell  for 
from  one  to  two  cents  less  per  pound  than 
the  one-pound,  it  behooves  every  bee-keeper 
to  think  carefully  before  he  decides  on  adopt- 
ing two-pound  sections.  The  size  of  sec- 
tion which  seems  to  have  the  general  pref- 
erence is  4i  inches  square  and  1|  inches 
wide  for  the  beeway  style,  and  H  inches  for 
the  plain.  | 

ISTARROAVER  SECTIONS.  ' 

Some  markets  demand  a  smaller  package. 
Instead  of  going  to  the  expense  of  making 
smaller  sections,  supply-dealers  have  been 
In  the  habit  of  making  the  regular  4i  sections  , 
narrower— li.  If,  7  to  the  foot,  H,  If.   The  j 
seven  to  the  foot  hold  about  three-quarters  ; 
of  a  pound,  while  the  li  and  If  hold  about  i 
half  a  pound.  | 


There  is  a  very  great  advantage  in  dimin- 
ishing the  thickness  of  a  section  instead  of 
the  si^e,  for  this  reason :  They  will  fit  most 
of  the  surplus  arrangements  in  use.  and  can 
be  shipped  readily  in  ordinary  shipping- 
cases,  with  but  little  trouble.  In  Canada 
the  narrow  sections  have  the  preference. 

rOUK-BEEWAY  SECTIONS. 

A  few  years  ago  these  were  talked  of  con- 
siderably ;  and  it  was  stated  at  the  time  that 
the  bees  would  enter  them  more  readily ; 
that  they  would  be  filled  better,  and  have  a 
better  appearance  for  market.  Yery  little 
attention  was  paid  to  them  in  this  country, 
although  they  have  been  used  continuously 
in  Great  Britain  ever  since ;  but  since  the 
plain  sections  and  the  fence  have  demon- 
strated the  value  of  free  commmiication 
crosswise  and  lengthwise  of  the  super,  the 
open-side  sections  are  being  talked  of  more 
now  than -they  have  heretofore;  but.  like 
plain  sections,  they  require  a  special  kind 
of  separator ;  and  the  cases  for  holding  them 
would  be  just  about  as  expensive.  If  one 
expects  to  make  a  change  it  would  be  as 
cheap,  and  better,  for  him  to  adopt  the 
plain  section. 

TALL  vs.  SQUARE  SECTIONS. 

The  standard  section  for  a  good  many  years 
is  and  has  been  li  in.  square  ;  but,  notwith- 
standing, during  all  this  time,  a  good  many 
bee-keepers,  principally  in  New  York,  have 
been  using  a  section  taller  than  broad.  Capt. 
j  J.  E.  Iletherington,  who  has  the  reputation 
j  ol;  being  the  most  extensive  apiarist  in  the 
world,  uses  a  section  3|xo.  Other  bee-keep- 
ers in  New  York  use  them  shghtly  larger 
or  slightly  smaller,  but  of  the  same  propor- 
tion.  (See  Hives.) 

Some  of  the  reasons  that  have  been  urged 
in  favor  of  the  tall  section  are  as  follows  : 

1.  ^Veiglit  for  weight,  a  tall  section  pre- 
sents a  larger  surface  of  comb  than  the 
average  square  one.   In  the  4x5  tall  plain 

:  section,  for  example.  If.  we  have  about  the 
same  actual  weight  as  the  4ix4ixli  plain : 
and  yet.  as  will  be  seen  by  the  engraving, 
the  former  looks  to  be  the  larger.  As  a 
result,  the  tall  box  brings  in  some  markets 
anywhere  from  one  to  two  cents  more  per 
pound,  and  sometimes  considerably  more 
than  that.  If  this  were  the  only  reason  why 
the  tall  box  were  preferred,  we  should  say 
nothing  about  it  here :  but  there  are  other 
reasons  for  this  preference. 

2.  By  long  association  we  have  come  to 
hke  the  proportion  of  objects  all  about  us 
that  are  taller  than  broad.   Doors  and  win- 


COMB  HONEY. 


100 


COMB  HONEY. 


dows  of  their  present  oblong  sLape  are  much 
more  pleasing  than  they  would  be  if  they 
were  square.  Nearly  all  packages  of  mer- 
chandise, such  as  of  drugs  and  groceries, 
are  oblong  in  shape  — that  is,  taller  than 


COMPARATIVE  SIZE  OF  TALL  AND  SQUARE 
SECTIONS. 


broad.  To  further  cater  to  this  taste, 
brought  about  by  long  a-sociation  with 
the  common  objects  round  about  us,  the 
tall  section  was  introduced  :  and  outside  of 
its  relative  appearance  of  bigness  as  com- 
pared with  the  square  b 'X,  very  many  con- 
sider the  tall  one  much  more  pleasing. 


4.  A  greater  number  of  tall  sections  hold- 
ing approximately  a. pound  can  be  accom- 
modated on  a  given  hive  surface. 

5.  A  tall  section  will  stand  shipping  bet- 
ter, because  the  perpendicular  edges  of  con- 
tact of  the  comb  itself  are  greater  than  in  a 
square  box.sei 

Just  how  much  there  is  in  these  points  I 
am  not  able  to  say  from  experience ;  but 
certain  it  is  that  the  4x5  and  3|x5  have  of 
late  been  growing  more  and  more  popular 
with  bee-keepers  and  with  commission  men, 
especially  in  the  eastern  markets. 

GLASSED  SECTIONS. 

Glassed  sections  are  simply  sections  of  comb 
honey  with  squares  of  glass  fitted  in  between 
the  projecting  sides  of  the  section.  The 
glass  is  held  either  by  glue,  tin  points,  or 
paper  pasted  over  the  top  and  bottom  of  the 
section,  and  lapping  over  on  to  the  glass  a 
little  way.  When  the  section  is  sold  to  the 
retailer,  the  glass  is  included  in  the  price  of 
the  honey.  Of  course,  the  producer  can  af- 
ford to  sell  glass  at  from  12  to  15  cts.  per  lb. ; 
but  customers  have  sometimes  objected,  and 
justly,  too.    But  in  spite  of  all  this,  glass 


SAME  W^EIGHT  OF  HONEY  IN 

3.  Mr.  K.  C.  Aikin,  one  of  the  closest  ob- 
servers in  all  beedom,  lays  it  down  as  a  rule 
that  'Hn  comb-huilding  the  downward  progress 
exceeds  the  sidewise  in  the  proportion  of  about 
three  to  two.  .  .  If,  then,  comb  con- 
struction goes  on  in  this  way,  a  section  as 
wide  as  deep  will  be  finished  down  the  cen- 
ter before  it  is  at  the  outer  edges."  A  tall 
section,  then,  more  nearly  conforms  to  the 
natural  instincts  of  the  bees. 


SQUARE  AND  TALL  SEC'ilONS. 

sections  have  quite  a  rage  at  times  in  the 
New  York  and  other  eastern  markets,  and 
occasionally  there  is  some  sale  for  them  in 
the  West. 

PASTEBOARD  BOXES  FOR  ONE -POUND  SEC- 
TIONS OF  COMB  HONEY. 

This  package  has  a  bit  of  "  red  tape  " 
attached  to  it,  to  carry  it  by.  It  is  a  safe 
and  pretty  package  for  a  single  section  of 
honey,  being  very  convenient  for  the  cus- 


COMB  HOKEY. 


101 


COMB  HOKEY. 


tomer  to  carry,  or  pack  in  his  valise  or 
trunk,  if  he  wants  to.  It  is  closed  by  a 
tuck  flap,  and  can  be  quickly  opened.  Fine- 
ly colored  lithographic 
labels  may  be  used  on 
one  or  both  sides. 
Their  cost  in  the  flat, 
without  labels,  is  about 
$5.00  per  1000,  and  very 
pretty  labels  can  be  had 
for  about  $8.00. 

Mr.  J.  E.  Crane,  of 
Middlebury,  Yt.,  puts 
nearly  all  of  his  honey  into  cartons.  These 
cartons  are  put  into  unglassed  shipping- 


FOR  CARRYING 
HONEY. 


of  cases  ready  for  market.  The  white-pop- 
lar wood  contrasted  very  neatly  with  the 
stenciling;  and  the  cartons,  with  their 
bright  clean  faces,  as  they  appeared  through 
the  sides  of  the  shipping-cases,  added  not  a 
little  to  the  effect. 

Mr.  Crane  flnds  a  market  for  all  honey  put 
up  in  this  shape,  and  the  demand  is  greater 
than  he  can  supply,  and  he  produces  tons  of 
honey.  His  neighbor,  not  ten  miles  away, 
Mr.  A.  E.  Maniun,  puts  up  his  in  unglassed 
sections,  in  glass  shipping-cases,  and  he  finds 
a  market  for  all  he  can  produce.  There  are 
others  who  glass  a  very  large  part  of  their 
product,  and  this  is  likewise  sold.    What  we 


PHELPS'  BASKET-SPLINT  COMB-HONEY  PACKAGE. 


cases,  the  latter  neatly  stenciled  with  an 
old-fashioned    straw   hive,  and  lettered. 


When  I  visited  his  place  I  could  not  but  ad- 
mire the  beautiful  appearance  of  his  big  piles 


want  to  do  is  to  build  up  a  trade,  and  to  be 
ready  to  supply  what  the  market  demands, 
no  matter  whether  it  be  glassed,  unglassed, 
or  cartoned  goods. 

THE  DANZY  SECTION  CARTON. 

This  is  somewhat  cheaper  than  the  other, 
and  answers  the  purpose  very  nicely.  They 
are  shipped  folded,  and  all  one  has  to  do  is 
to  crowd  on  two  opposite  corners,  when  the 
package  assumes  a  rectangular  form  as 
shown.  This  carton  is  specially  adapted  to 
use  with  a  plain  section,  as  will  be  seen 
from  the  illustration. 

COMB  HONEY  IN  PACKAGES. 

It  is  a  somewhat  difiicult  matter  for  a  gro- 


COMB  HOJ^EY. 


102 


COMB  HON^EY. 


-cer,  unless  he  uses  cartons,  to  put  up  sever- 
al sections  of  comb  honiey  in  such  a  way  that 
they  will  not  be  damaged  in  handling.  Mr. 
N.  T.  Phelps,  of  Kingsville,  Ohio,  appreciat- 
ing this,  makes  use  of  what  he  calls  ordinary 
basket-splints.  They  are  strips  of  veneer, 
about  17  inches  long,  4i  inches  wide,  and 


ferior  sections  mixed  in  with  sections  of  a 
higher  grade  ;  and  if  the  commission  man  or 
buyer  discovers  this  he  is  likely  to  "  knock 
down  the  price  "  of  the  whole  easeful  to  the 
price  of  the  inferior  sections.  It  is  very  im- 
portant to  have  every  section  in  a  case  of 
the  same  grade. 


FAXCY 


NO.  1.' 


NO.  2: 


about  ^  inch  thick.  One,  two,  three,  or  four 
sections  are  laid  on  one  of  these  strips,  and 
a  knife-blade  makes  a  crease  on  each  side  of 
the  sections.  Other  creases  at  each  end  are 
made  at  the  pn  per  points  to  fold  over  the 
top.  The  splint  is  then  folded,  and  tied  with 
a  string  as  shown.  Ordinarily  it  would  not 
pay  to  fuss  with  such  an  arrangement  for 


A  few  years  ago  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
talk  about  "  grading  -  rules,"  and  making" 
everybody  follow  those  rules  ;  but  it  was 
found  to  be  almost  impossible  to  so  arrange 
the  wording  of  each  grading  that  there 
would  not  be  opportunity  for  considerable 
variation  of  judgment  on  the  part  of  the 
grader.    Accordingly  it  was  suggested  that 


"fancy." 

tying  up  one  section,  as  a  carton,  especially  i 
the  Danzy,  would  be  cheaper  and  better.  | 

GRADING  COMB  HONEY. 

In  order  to  get  the  largest  price  possible 
for  comb  honey,  it  will  be  necessary  to  grade 
it ;  and  the  more  thoroughly  and  honestly  it 
is  done,  the  higher  will  be  the  price  secured. 
If  one  is  careless  in  grading  there  will  be  in- 


"NO.  2." 

grading  be  done  by  pictures.  Mr.  S.  A.  i^i- 
ver,  of  I^ew  York,  a  honey-salesman,  and  one 
who  has  given  this  subject  much  thought, 
picked  out  three  samples  which  we  had  pho- 
tographed, and  these  show  in  the  illustration 
showing  the  tall  sections.  But  as  it  w^as 
claimed  that  there  was  too  little  difference 
between  fancy  and  Isfo.  1,  another  set  of  sec- 


"NO.  1." 


COMB  HONEY.  103  COMB  HONEY. 

tions  was  selected  and  photographed,  and  corners.  Xo.  2,  any  section  that  is  below  No. 
shown  below  the  others.  1  or  in  any  way  defective.   That  which  is 

Each  specimen  selected  as  patterns  should  below  No.  2  should  be  sold  for  chimk  honey, 
be  a  little  imier  the  average  of  the  grade  or,  better,  uncapped  and  extracted,  the  sec- 
tor the  honey  that  it  is  intended  to  rep- :  tions  to  be  used  next  year  as  "  baits." 
resent.    ''.Then,"  says  Mr.  Niver,  ''if  the      This  system  of  grading  permits  of  the  use 


FANCY  COMB  HONEY  IN  PLAIN  SECTIONS. 


FANCY  COMB  HDNEY  IN  BEEWAY  SECTIONS. 


honey  sold  is  a  little  better  than  the  grade  i  of  white,  amber,  buckwheat,  and  dark.  For 
calls  for,  there  will  be  vo  lick.''  In  general  I  instance,  there  will  be  "  fancy  buckwheat," 
the  "fancy"  should  be  well  filled,  and  of  even  |  or  ''No.  1  amber ;  "  "  fancy  dark,"  or  "  No. 
surface.  No.  1  grade  should  show  good  even  j  2  Avhite."  The  scheme  on  the  above  grading 
capping  but  not  quite  as  good  filling  at  the  is  simply  this  :  The  terms  "fancy,"*  "No.  1," 


COMB  HONEY. 


104 


COMB  HONEY. 


"  No.  2,"  indicate  filling  and  evenness  of 
comb,  and  condition  of  capping.  The  colors 
— white,  amber,  buckwheat,  and  dark — are 
just  what  the  terms  signify— the  quality  of 
the  honey.  By  combining  the  two  terms  we 
are  able  to  make  at  least  twelve  different 
grades. 

This,  in  brief,  is  the  grading  that  is  adopt- 
ed by  the  bee-keepers  in  New  York,  and,  in 
fact,  is  used  very  largely  in  all  regions  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  even  west  of  it  to 
some  extent.  In  Colorado  the  following 
grading-rules  are  used : 

No.  I. — Sections  to  be  well  filled  ;  honey  and  comb 
white  ;  comb  not  to  project  beyond  the  wood  ;  wood  to 
be  well  cleaned  ;  sections  not  to  weigh  less  than.  21 
lbs.  net,  per  case  of  24  sections  ;  but  cases  in  lots  must 
average  22  lbs.  net. 

No.  2. — Includes  all  amber  honey  not  included  in 
No.  1 ;  to  be  fairly  well  sealed,  and  not  to  weigh  less 
than  18  lbs.  net,  per  case  of  24  sections. 

The  honey  shown  in  the  next  cut  would 
be  what  is  called  fancy  white,"  accord- 
ing to  the  eastern  grading,  for  it  is  white 
honey  put  up  in  plain  sections,  and,  as  the 
illustration  shows,  it  is  evenly  and  nicely 
filled.  If  the  cells  next  to  the  wood  were  all 
sealed,  or  nearly  so,  it  might  be  designated 
as  "  extra  fancy but  as  such  are  the  excep- 
tion rather  than  the  rule  there  will  be  very 
little  "  extra  fancy on  the  market,  although 
such  honey  is  generally  shown  at  exhibi- 
tions when  competing  for  a  prize. 

TRAVEL  -  STAINED   AND   OTHER  SOILED 
SECTIONS. 

There  are  really  four  classes  of  discolored 
sections,  each  due  to  a  distinct  and  separate 
cause.  Eirst  there  is  what  is  called  the  real 
travel-stained  section.  As  its  name  indi- 
cates, the  cappings  are  soiled  because  the 
bees  have  gone  over  the  surfaces  of  the  cap- 
pings with  their  dirty  f eet.ses 

Then  there  is  another  lot  that  are  stained 
because  the  boxes  are  capped  over  in  the 
vicinity  of  old  comb,  dirt,  or  propolis.  If 
the  faces  of  such  sections  are  examined 
carefully  it  will  be  found  that  the  stain  or 
discoloration  goes  clear  through.  These  dis- 
coloration s  are  due  to  the  fact  that  the  bees 
take  up  pieces  of  old  black  wax,  propolis,  or 
any  thing  that  will  answer  as  a  substitute 
or  filler  for  pure  wax.  I  have  seen  the  cap- 
pings of  some  sections  of  this  sort  filled 
with  bits  of  old  rope,  lint  from  newspapers, 
small  hard  chunks  of  propolis,  fine  slivers  of 
wood— any  thing  and  every  thing  that  is 
right  handy.  Sections  of  this  class  often 
look  like  those  of  the  first  class,  hence  the 
frequent  confusion. 


In  the  third  class  are  those  with  soiled 
cappings.  due  to  the  pollen  dust  or  possibly 
a  thin  layer  of  propolis  stain. 

The  fourth  and  last  class  takes  in  all  those 
that  are  called  "  greasy  "  or  "  water-soaked," 
having  cappings  that  lie  on  the  honey.  The 
covering  to  each  cell  is  more  or  less  trans- 
parent, or  water-soaked  —  the  transparent 
part  being  half -moon  shaped,  or  in  the  form 
of  a  ring  encircling  a  white  nucleus  center 
that  is  not  greasy  or  transparent.  The  gen- 
eral surface  of  such  sections  is  mottled  with 
little  transparent  half -moons  or  circles  over 
many  of  the  cells. ses 

If  the  reader  will  look  over  the  unsold 
odds  and  ends  of  the  grocer's  he  will  be  able 
to  find  samples  of  all  these  classes,  and  the 
fall  of  the  year  is  a  good  time  to  find  them, 
as  they  are  the  last  to  sell. 

A  knowledge  of  how  to  make  dark  or 
soiled  sections  No.  1  white,  thus  bringing 
them  at  the  top  of  the  market,  may  be  worth 
hundreds  of  dollars  to  some  bee-keepers ; 
and  while  it  is  probably  not  possible  to 
make  water -soaked  and  certain  kinds  of 
travel  -  stained  sections  white,  there  is  a 
probability  that  a  very  large  class  of  the 
soiled  boxes  can  be  rendered  No.  1. 

BLEACHING  COMB  HONEY. 

Mr.  Byron  Walker,  a  honey-merchant  of 
Chicago,  had  quite  accidentally  placed  some 
yellow  or  pollen-stained  sections  in  his  show- 
window,  w^here  they  were  subjected  to  the 
direct  rays  of  sunlight.  A  short  time  after, 
he  noticed  that  the  faces  of  these  sections 
that  were  next  to  the  light  were  bleached 
white,  while  those  on  the  reverse  side  re- 
tained the  old  color.   Instantly  grasping  at 


white's   bleaching  -  HOUSE   FOR  SOILED 
COMB  HONEY. 

the  suggestion  he  placed  other  secti  -ns  of 
the  same  kind  in  the  same  window,  and  was 
gratified  to  learn  that  these  wei'e  likewise 
bleached  as  were  the  first :  but  so  far  as  I 
know,  Mr.  Walker  was  successful  in  bleach- 
ing pollen  -  stained  or  yellow -faced  combs 


COME  HOXEY. 


105 


COMB  HOXEY, 


only.  The  real  ti'avel-stained  and  water- 
soaked  ones  he  considered  beyond  redemp- 
tion. The  time  required  to  bleach  the  yel- 
low sections  was  anywhere  from  two  to 
three  days,  depending  on  the  weather  and 
the  sunlight.  Mr.  A.  E.  White,  of  Pala.  Cal- 
ifornia, apparently  goes  one  step  fiulher: 
for  in  connection  with  sunlight  he  uses 
sulphur,  which  is  known  to  be  a  powerful 
bleaching  agent.  His  method  of  procediu'e 
is  described  as  follows  : 

"We  first  fumigate  with  sulphiu\  then 
place  the  combs  where  the  sun  will  shine 
on  them,  and  that  is  the  whole  process. 


white's   SL'LFHUR  -  BOX  FOR  BLEACHIXG. 


*•  I  build  a  frame  on  the  south  side  of  my 
honey-house,  and  cover  the  same  with  cot- 
ton cloth.  A  door  opens  from  the  honey- 
house  into  this  room.  I  place  shelves  on  the 
side  and  ends  of  this  room,  the  bottom  shelf 
being  a  wide  board  to  be  used  as  a  table.  I 
place  the  combs  on  these  shelves  so  that  the 
sunlight  will  strike  them.  Dark  combs  will 
require  several  hours.  This  plan  will  whiten 
dark  combs  here  in  California.  If  you  fumi- 
gate a  few  combs,  then  place  them  on  a  win- 
dow-sill where  the  sun  will  shine  on  them, 
you  will  be  convinced. 

In  placing  the  sections  on  shelves  in  the 
morning.  I  find  the  following  plan  good : 
On  the  shelves  at  the  east  and  west  end  of 
the  room  I  place  sections  end  to  end  length- 
wise of  the  shelves,  two  rows  on  each  shelf,  j 
one  row  on  the  outer  and  the  other  on  the  | 
inner  edge.   The  morning  sim  strikes  one  I 
side,  and  the  afternoon  sun  the  other  side. 
On  the  front  shelves  I  set  them  crosswise  of 
the  shelf,  far  enough  apart  so  as  not  to  shade 
each  other. 

I  pack  them  away  every  evening:  all  not 
white  I  put  out  again  next  morning.  Some 
of  them  will  bleach  quite  slowly,  but  I  have 
been  able  to  whiten  the  worst  ones  by  per- 
severance. 

HOW  TO  XAKE  THE  SULPHUH-BOX. 

"  Perhaps  your  readers  would  like  to  have 
a  handy  arrangement  for  fumigating  honey 
or  combs.   I  make  a  box  like  a  watering- 


trough,  the  bottom  as  wide  as  my  hive  is 
long.  I  place  this  bottom  side  up  where  I 
want  to  use  it.  In  one  end  I  put  a  door 
to  allow  me  to  put  in  an  iron  dish  holding 
the  sulphm'.  About  two  feet  from  this  end 
I  bore  a  two-inch  hole  :  measure  off  the 
width  of  my  hive,  and  bore  holes  on  down 
the  box.  I  place  the  supers  over  these 
holes:  tier  up.  and  cover  the  top  one.  If 
my  combs  are  stained  I  sulphur  thoroughly, 
keeping  them  in  the  firrnace  two  or  three 
hoiu's.  If  this  box  is  placed  in  some  build- 
ing, hives  filled  with  combs  may  be  kept 
free  of  moths  by  fumigating  occasionally."" 

SHIPPIXG- CASES  FOB  COMB  HOXEY. 

Just  as  soon  as  the  crop  of  honey  has  been 
secm-ed  and  the  sections  scraped,  they  should 
be  put  immediately  into  shipping-cases,  pro- 
vided there  is  no  storage  room  that  is  bee- 
proof.  The  cases  should  be  glassed  on  one 
side,  in  order  that  the  fragile  condition  of 
the  contents  of  the  case  when  filled  with 
comb  honey  may  be  apparent  to  freight- 
handlers,  dealer,  and  consumer. 

It  is  penny  wise  and  potmd  foolish  to  try 
to  make  one's  own  cases.  They  will  cost  as 
much  as  or  more  than  the  factory-made  ar- 
ticles, and  will  have  an  awkward  and  clumsy 
look.  One  prominent  commission-man  told 
me  that  these  home-made  affairs,  in  his  mar- 
ket at  least.  knocked  the  price  of  the 
honey  down  a  cent  or  two  "  a  poimd. 


XO-DRIP  SHIPPIXG-CASE. 


On  accoimt  of  the  great  liability  of  comb 
honey  being  broken  in  transit,  the  modern 
shipping-case  has  in  the  bottom  of  it  a  folded 
paper  tray,  the  paper  used  being  an  ordinary 
good  grade  of  manilla.  It  is  cut  about  2 
inches  longer  and  wider  than  the  inside  di- 
mensions of  the  case.  Then  with  a  board  a 
little  smaller  than  the  inside  dimensions  it 
is  crowded  down  into  place,  and  the  folds  in 
the  corners  pressed  fiat.  Across  the  bottom, 


COMB  HOIS^EY. 


106 


COMB  HONEY. 


and  on  top  of  this  paper  tray,  are  nailed 
strips  of  wood  from  i  to  f  incli  wide,  and 
from  i  to  I  inch  thick.  'J'hese  are  spaced  off 
in  such  a  way  as  to  support  the  sections  a 
short  distance  above  the  paper. 


THE  THREE  STANDARD  SIZES  OF  SHIPPING - 
CASES. 

The  object  of  this  is  to  keep  the  sections 
up  high  and  dry,  at  the  same  time  to  leave 
room  for  the  honey  to  drip,  without  sticking 
the  sections  to  the  paper  tray,  or,  when  the 
paper  tray  is  not  used,  the  bottom  of  the 
shipping-case.  In  that  case  the  honey  runs 
through,  leaks  on  to  the  other  shipping- 
cases,  and,  as  a  consequence,  smears  all 
the  cases  below  it.  Paper  trays  should  be 
used  by  all  means  ;  and  although  shipping- 
cases  cost  slightly  more  with  what  we  call 
the  "  no-drip  cleats,"  the  commission  men 
and  honey-buyers  generally  will  pay  enough 
more  to  make  up  the  difference. 

The  standard  size  of  shipping-case  is  a 
24-lb.  single-tier,  shown  in  the  middle  of  the 
cut  next  given.    Then  there  is  the  48-lb., 


12  AND  24  POUND  CASES. 

the  same  thing,  only  double-tier,  having  two 
glass  with  a  strip  of  wood  between.  The 
48-lb.  cases  formerly  had  one  large  glass ; 
but  besides  the  fact  that  these  were  much 
more  expensive,  the  honey  actually  shows 


off  better  when  there  is  a  strip  of  wood  cov- 
ering up  the  tops  and  bottoms  of  the  sec- 
tions, leaving  only  the  best  portion  of  the 
honey  to  show.  Another  very  popular  case 
is  the  12-lb.  single  tier  shown  on  the  top  of 
the  pile. 

Some  bee-keepers  and  some  markets  pre- 
fer the  three-row  12-lb.  and  the  double-tier 
three-row  24-lb.  But  these  are  objectionable 
in  that  they  will  not  tier— that  is,  not  pile 
up  on  the  floor  as  well  as  the  flatter  cases. 

MARKETING  COMB  HONEY. 

There  is  nothing  that  can  make  a  bee-keeper  fee] 
better  than  clean  cash  for  his  surplus  honey  at  the 
end  of  the  season. — Adam  Grimm,  page  86,  Vol.  I., 
—Gleanings. 

Every  thing,  nowadays,  depends  on  having 
goods  neat,  clean,  and  in  an  attractive 
shape,  to  have  them  "go  off"  readily;  even 
our  hoes  have  to  be  gilt-edged,  for  I  noticed 
some  at  a  hardware  store  a  few  days  ago, 


STURWOLD  S  SHOW-CASE  FOR  HONEY. 

and  it  seemed  that  those  that  were  gilt,  or 
bronzed,  perhaps,  were  selling  far  in  advance 
of  the  plain  steel  ones.  We  have  been  told 
of  gilt-edged  butter  that  sold  for  fabulous 
prices,  but  I  hardly  think  it  will  be  advis- 
able to  have  pur  honey  put  up  in  that  way, 
although  we  do  wish  it  to  look  as  well  as  any 
other  of  the  products  of  the  farm. 

In  order  to  get  a  fair  price  for  your  honey, 
you  should  watch  the  markets.   To  obtain 


COMB  HO^^^EY. 


107 


COMB  HOKEY. 


this  information,  you  should  take  one  .  or 
more  bee-journals.  Through  the  medium 
of  these  you  will  learn  whether  the  honey 
crop  is  going  to  be  small  or  large.  This  you 
can  not  tell  definitely  irom  your  own  locali- 
ty. If  you  have  secured  a  good  crop  of  hon- 
ey, and  50U  learn  that  the  crop  throughout 
the  country  is  small,  you  must  not  be  in 
haste  to  dispose  of  yours  to  the  first  buyer. 
In  any  case  you  must  exercise  judgment. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  HONEY  SEL,L  IK  THE  LOCAL 
3IAIIKETS. 

Supply  your  grocer  with  a  lot  of  your  choic- 
est extracted,  in  tumblers  and  bottles  ;  and  ! 
also  best  comb  in  shipping-cases.  Some  of  it 
should  be  set  off  in  paper  cartons,  and  some  ; 
of  it  should  be  glasseiise?  When  customers  | 
come  in,  have  in  readiness  strips  of  paper  I 
about  H  by  2  or  3  inches.   Dip  one  of  these  | 
pieces  of  paper,  curled  in  the  shape  of  a  i 
trough,  into  the  extracted.   Twirl  it  around 
till  ail  the  drip  is  off,  and  pass  it  quickly  to  j 
your  customer,  that  he  may  sample.   If  he 
would  like  another  taste,  hand  him  another  | 
slip  of  paper,  which  he  is. to  fold  as  nearly  as  ' 
possible  in  the  form  of  a  spoon.  If  the  honey 
is  ripe — that  is,  good  and  thick— your  taster 
will  want  some.   There  is  one  thing  that  is 
very  important.   You  want  something  to 
draw  a  crowd.   Prepare  a  nucleus  in  a  glass 
hive,  and  put  it  up  near  the  window  where  j 
the  crowd  can  see  the  bees.   Sometimes  the  I 
crowd  will  be  so  great  as  to  block  the  street 
tO:  see  the  queen  or  "king  bee but  you  will  | 
be  the  gainer,  because  ?/oitr  honey  is  inside.  \ 

There  should  be  on  hand  for  a  day  or  two  j 
an  expert  to  explain  about  the  honey,  how 
it  is  produced,  how  good  it  is,  etc.,  and  to  ' 
show  that  it  is  the  most  wholesome  sweet  in  | 
the  world  for  children.  He  should  then  rein- ; 
force  his  arguments  by  handing  out  honey-  \ 
leaflets  that  contain  cooking-recipes,  and 
that  tell  why  the  doctors  recommend  honey  | 
in  preference  to  cane  sugars,  or  why  some  \ 
invalids  can  eat  honey  when  they  can  not 
eat  other  forms  of  sweet.  Perhaps  you  your- ' 
self  will  be  the  best  man  to  do  the  "  talk- 
ing;"  and  therefore  you  had  better  stay  | 
with  your  grocer  for  a  day  or  two,  or  at  j 
least  be  on  hand  when  he  is  liable  to  have  a 
run  of  customers.    Charge  the  grocer  no-  [ 
thing  for  your  services,  telling  him  that  you  | 
will  take  your  pay  out  of  the  increased  sales. 

If  you  succeed  well  in  one  market,  and  the 
novelty  of  the  thing  wears  olf ,  try  another 
one  in  a  neighboring  town,  and  so  on  com- 
plete the  circuit  of  the  towns  roundabout. 
After  you  have  done  all  this  you  will  not 
need  to  ship  much  if  any  to  the  city  markets, 


save  commissions,  save  freight,  and  have 
your  honey  within  a  few  miles  of  where  you 
can  look  after  it,  without  being  at  the  mercy 
of  a  city  commission  house  of  whose  honesty 
you  may  have  grave  doubts.   See  Honey- 

PEDDLmO. 

SENDING  HONEY    TO   COMMISSION  HOUSES. 

I  believe  the  commission  houses  through- 
out our  cities  are  great  aids  to  bee-keepers 
in  disposing  of  their  honey  ;  notwithstand- 
ing, I  want  to  enter  a  word  of  caution  right 
here  against  being  in  too  great  haste  to 
lump  off  your  honey  to  these  places.  You 
may  argue  that  you  have  not  time  to  dis- 
pose of  your  product  in  small  amounts  ;  but 
many  a  bee-keeper  has  found  to  his  sor- 
row the  mistake  he  made  in  contributing  to 
the  flood  of  honey  at  a  certain  commission 
house.  The  consequence  is,  that  at  that 
place  honey  is  "  a  glut  on  the  market,"  and 
must  be  sold  at  a  very  low  price.  Asa  gen- 
eral rule,  I  believe  I  would  sell  elsewhere 
before  shipping  it  off  to  the  city. 

But  it  very  often  happens  that  one  can  get 
a  higher  price  by  sending  to  these  commis- 
sion men.  The  general  trade  looks  to  them 
for  supply,  and  they  make  it  their  business 
to  find  a  market. 

But  never  send  honey  on  commission  or 
outright  sale  to  a  new  firm,  no  matter  what 
it  advertises,  how  big  it  talks  of  its  financial 
standing,  nor  what  promises  it  makes.  Go 
to  the  nearest  bank  and  find  out  regarding 
its  responsibility.  Then  ask  the  commission 
house  to  send  you  the  names  of  bee-keepers 
who  have  dealt  with  the  firm.  I  would  not 
advise  you  even  then  to  consider  this  an  evi- 
dence of  good  faith.  I  would  take  time  to 
write  to  the  parties  and  ask  if  their  dealings 
were  entirely  satisfactory,  and  whether  they 
would  advise  shipping  to  the  commission 
house  in  question.  The  temptations  in  the 
commission  business  are  very  great ;  and  if 
your  man  is  not  honest  to  the  core  he  may 
take  advantage  of  you.  Commission  men 
charge  all  the  way  from  5  to  10  per  cent 
commission  ;  and  in  addition  to  this  the 
shipper  is  required  to  pay  freight,  drayage, 
and  to  stand  all  breakages. 

Most  commission  houses  will  make  ad- 
vances in  cash  on  receiving  the  honey  ;  and 
a  few  of  them  will  make  payments  as  fast  as 
it  is  sold  ;  but  a  majority  make  no  remit- 
tance until  the  honey  is  all  sold,  and  some- 
times not  even  then  until  the  bee-keeper 
writes  complaining,  and  inquiring  regarding 
his  honey  or  his  money. 

I  have  said  that  commission  men  should 
be  honest  to  the  core ;  but  some  of  them 


COMB  HO^^^^EY. 


108 


COMB  HOiVEY. 


yield  to  the  temptation  of  quoting  a  higher 
price  in  the  bee-journals  than  they  are  actu- 
ally realizing  in  every-day  sales. 371  The  bee- 
keeper complains  when  he  receives  his  re- 
turns, and  he  is  met  with  the  statement 
that  his  honey  was  of  poor  quality,  and 
had  to  be  sold  for  less  money;  or  that 
the  honey  came  badly  broken,  aud  had  to 
be  lumped  off  as  chunk  honey ;  or  he  may 
be  told  that  the  "  market  suddenly  fell " 
(Which  may  be  true),  and  it  was  not,  there- 
fore, possible  for  the  house  to  realize  quota- 
tions given  in  the  bee-journals.  It  is  a  com; 
mon  trick  on  the  part  of  dishonest  commis- 
sion men  to  quote  high  prices  if  they  can  get 
their  names  in  the  bee-journals,  and  then 
sell  for  lower  prices  in  order  to  "move  oif 
stock."  But  I  have  had  reason  to  believe 
that  sometimes,  from  the  complaints  that 
have  come  in,  and  from  certain  evidence 
placed  in  my  hands,  honey  has  actually  sold 
at  several  cents  higher  per  pound  than  was 
shown  by  the  account  of  sales  rendered  to  a 
bee-keeper,  and  on  which  commission  was 
based.  In  this  way  commission  men  prac- 
tically take  two  commissions.  Say,  for  in- 
stance, the  honey  sold  for  12  cents.  He 
makes  returns  to  the  bee-keeper  of  10  cents, 
and  then  charges  10  per  cent  commission  on 
this  10  cents.  He  thus  makes  the  2  cents 
which  he  actually  steals,  and  then  the  10  per 
cent  which  is  rightfully  his. 

In  the  foregoing  I  have  endeavored  to  set 
forth  some  of  the  tricks  that  are  practiced 
by  some  of  the  unscrupulous  commission 
houses.  But  I  am  glad  to  say  that  all,  or 
nearly  all,  of  the  men  who  quote  prices  in 
the  bee- journals  are  responsible  and  honest 
men ;  for  no  commission  man  can  hold  his 
name  in  the  advertising  columns  of  the  av- 
erage bee-journal  to-day  if  there  are  com- 
plaints entered  by  bee-keepers  against  him. 
And  right  in  this  connection  I  wish  to  say 
that  the  mere  fact  that  your  bank  says  a 
certain  commission  house  has  good  financial 
rating  should  not  be  considered  as  evidence 
that  the  house  is  also  honest.  I  would 
rather  trust  the  man  who  is  honest  and  not 
responsible  than  the  one  who  is  financially 
good  and  yet  "up  to  the  tricks  of  the  trade." 

When  honey  is  sent  in  small  lots,  say  from 
one  to  two  dozen  crates,  I  would  always  put 
it  into  a  shipping-crate  as  shown  in  cut. 
The  cases  should  be  so  arranged  that  their 
fragile  contents  will  show  through  the  glass ; 
and  when  loaded  on  the  car  the  combs 
should  be  parallel  with  the  rails.  Wherever 
possible,  see  to  loading  the  honey  yourself, 
and  if  you  deal  with  an  honest  commission 


house  it  will  have  a  careful  drayman  to  take 
care  of  your  honey  on  arrival.  If  honey  is 
to  be  shipped  in  car  lots,  then  the  shipping- 
cases  can  be  set  down  in  the  car  on  a  thin 
matting  of  straw;  but  be  careful  to  place 
the  combs  so  they  will  be  parallel  with  the 
rails.  The  cases  should  be  packed  snugly 
together,  and  the  piles  should  not  be  high. 
If  the  honey  is  sent  in  a  carload,  make  the 
load  as  flat  as  possible. 


SHIPPING-CKaTE. 


At  the  time  you  make  shipment,  send  bill 
of  lading  to  the  commission  house,  and  name 
price  below  which  the  honey  must  not  he  sold. 
A  commission  house  has  no  right  to  sell  at  a 
lower  figure  until  you  give  instructions.  Be- 
fore the  honey  is  packed  it  should  be  care- 
fully weighed  so  that  you  will  know  exactly 
how  much  honey  you  'have  sent.  Do  not 
send  large  shipments  at  first.  If  in  any 
case  you  send  honey,  and  the  commission 
house  fails  to  make  returns,  or  refuses  to  do 
so,  it  is  a  criminal  act.  Such  house  has  no 
right  to  appropriate  yom^  money  without 
rendering  to  you  some  sort  of  returns  ;  but 
never  take  a  note  in  payment  from  an  irre- 
sponsible firm  or  individual :  if  you  do  you 
will  be  powerless  to  help  yourself  ;  for  legal- 
ly a  note  is  a  settlement. 

SELLING  FOR  CASH. 

If  you  can  sell  for  cash,  and  the  party  is 
responsible,  by  all  means  do  so,  providing 
you  can  get  market  prices.  Look  out  for 
firms  wanting  to  buy  for  cash  with  no  rat- 
ing. To  make  yourself  secure  send  the  hon- 
ey to  yom-  name  at  the  point  of  destina- 
tion, and  then  send  bill  of  lading  to  some 
bank  in  the  city  with  instructions  to  turn 
over  bill  of  lading  to  purchaser  on  receipt  of 
cash.  Banks  will  charge  you  a  small  fee  for 
doing  the  business,  but  you  will  be  safe. 
The  law  gives  the  producer  greater  protec- 
tion when  his  honey  is  sold  on  commission 
than  when  sold  for  cash,  providing  money 
is  not  received  before  honey  is  turned  over. 
I  wish  to  reiterate  the  point  again:  Never 
deliver  honey  to  a  firm  on  an  outright  sale 


COMB  HO^^EY. 


109 


COi^TRACTION. 


or  deal  till  the  banks  say  your  man  is  entire- 
ly responsible ;  then  if  every  thing  is  in  writ- 
ing you  are  able  to  collect  by  due  process  of 
law ;  but  if  he  is  irresponsible  you  will  be 
throwing  away  good  money  in  trying  to  do 
any  thing  with  him. 

KEEPIKG  COMB  HONEY. 

It  is  sometimes  desirable  to  keep  comb 
honey  for  a  better  market,  or  that  we  may 
have  a  supply  the  year  round,  etc.  Well,  to 
keep  it  with  unimpaired  flavor  it  must  not 
be  subjected  to  dampness.  If  water  con- 
denses on  the  surface  of  the  comb  it  soon 
dilutes  the  honey,  and  then  it  sours,  etc.  On 
this  account  the  honey  should  never  be  put 
into  a  cellai-  or  other  damp  room.  Better 
put  it  upstairs;  and  that  there  may  be  a  free 
circulation  of  air,  without  admitting  bees 
or  flies,  the  windows  should  be  covered 
with  painted  wire  cloth.  We  are  accustom- 
ed to  keeping  comb  honey  the  year  round, 
and  rarely  have  it  deteriorate  in  the  least. 
The  same  remarks  will,  in  the  main,  apply 
to  keeping  extracted  honey.  During  damp 
and  rainy  weather,  the  doors  and  windows 
to  the  honey-room  or  honey-house  should  be 
closed,  and  opened  again  when  the  air  is 
dry. 

Comb  honey  should  under  no  circumstances 
be  stored  where  it  is  likely  to  freeze,  as 
freezing  contracts  the  wax  so  as  to  break  the 
combs  and  let  the  honey  run.  Mouse-traps 
should  be  kept  set  to  catch  the  first  mouse 
that  appears. 


Under  Extracted  Honey  will  be  found 
hints  on  peddling  honey  and  marketing  in 
general.   See  also  Peddling  Honey. 

CONTRACTION'.  A  few  years  ago 
contraction  of  the  brood-nest  seemed  to  be 
all  the  r^ge.  It  was  argued  that  most  colo- 
nies, Italians  especially,  after  they  had  got 
a  little  honey  in  the  brood-nest,  would  be  dis- 
inclined to  go  above  into  the  supers  ;  and  to 
force  them  above,  some  bee-keepers  took 
out  three  or  four  of  the  brood-frames  below 
and  contracted  the  brood -nest,  and  then 
placed  supers  on  top.  This  was  very  pretty 
in  theory,  and  in  practice  it  did  force  things. 
It  forced  the  bees  into  the  supers,  but  more 
often  forced  swarming. 

Another  set  of  contractionists  argued  in 
favor  of  hiving  swarms  in  a  contracted 
brood-chamber.  They  did  not  believe  in 
contracting  the  brood-nest  in  an  established 
colony  ;  and,  therefore,  when  they  contract- 
ed at  all  they  did  so  during  swarming  time 
only.  This  form  of  contraction  will  certain- 
ly be  better  tfian  the  other ;  but  as  the  years 
go  by  we  hear  less  and  less  about  contraction 
and  more  and  more  about  expansion — how 
to  get  colonies  strong — big,  rousing,  power- 
ful colonies.  An  eight-frame  brood-nest  is 
usually  small  enough.  Indeed,  a  ten-frame 
may  be  none  too  big.  See  Hives,  Size  of, 
elsewhere,  for  the  further  consideration  of 
this  subject. 

CB.IIMESON'  CLOVER.  See  Clovek. 
ClTFRZArr  BEES.   See  Italians. 


THE  PROOF  OF  THE  PUDDING  IS  IN  THE  EATING.' 


D. 


DArrDZSZiIOrr  [Taraxacum).  This 
plant,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  is  of  more  im- 
portance than  is  generally  supposed,  for  it 
comes  into  bloom  just  after  fruit  -  blossoms; 
and  as  it  yields  both  pollen  and  honey,  it 
keeps  up  brood-rearing  when  it  is  of  the  ut- 
most importance  that  it  be  kept  going.65  375  j 
do  not  know  that  it  would  pay  to  raise  a  field 
of  dandelions  expressly  for  the  bees  ;  but  as 
they  grow  to  a  great  size  and  luxuriance 
when  allowed  to  stand  and  blossom  in  the 
garden,  I  feel  pretty  sure  that  a  cultivated 
plat  of  them  would  furnish  a  great  amount 
of  honey.  What  a  pretty  sight  it  would  be 
on  our  honey-farm  !  They  do  not  ordinarily 
blossom  until  the  second  season,  but  per- 
haps, like  catnip  and  clover,  they  would  do 
so,  if  sowed  early,  and  cultivated.  As  .dan- 
delions seem  to  be  much  on  the  increase  in 
the  fields  and  about  the  roadsides  in  our  vi- 
cinity, I  think  we  can  safely  conclude  that, 
the  more  bees  there  are  kept,  the  more  such 
plants  we  shall  have  ;  for  the  bees,  by  fertil- 
izing each  blossom,  cause  them  to  produce 
an  unusual  amount  of  good  sound  seed.  I 
do  not  think  of  any  other  purpose  for  which 
the  dandelions  can  be  used,  except  as  greens 
in  the  spring ;  if  we  allowed  stock  to  forage 
on  our  yellow  flower-garden,  I  am  afraid  it 
would  mar  its  beauty,  if  not  its  usefulness 
for  honey. 

I  really  can  not  say  much  in  praise  of  the 
dandelion  honey,  for  we  extracted  some  that 
we  called  dandelion  on  account  of  the  taste, 
and  we  could  not  use  it  at  all.  It  was  so 
dark-colored  and  strong  that  we  with  diffi- 
culty gave  it  away.  The  honey  may  have 
been  from  the  shell-bark  hickory,  however, 
as  that  comes  in  bloom  at  about  the  same 
time. 

DISEASES  OF  BEES.— A  few  years 
ago  it  was  considered  that  bees  were  freer 
from  disease  than  perhaps  any  other  class  of 
animated  creation,  for  the  reason  than  indi- 


vidual members  of  the  colonies  were  so  con- 
stantly giving  way  to  the  younger  ones. 
But  this  has  been  shown  to  be,  to  a  great 
extent,  a  mistake  ;  for  apparently  there  are 
at  least  seven  or  eight  distinct  diseases  with 
which  the  bee-keeper  has  to  contend  ;  and  it 
is  well  for  the  beginner  to  have  an  idea,  at 
least,  of  what  they  are  like  ;  for  the  time  to 
cure  a  disease  of  a  contagious  character  is  to 
take  it  at  the  start,  or,  better  still,  take  pre- 
cautionary measures  such  as  will  prevent 
its  making  even  a  beginning. 

HOW  TO  AVOID  DISEASES. 

Contagious  diseases  spread  very  rapidly 
among  bees,  just  as  they  are  inclined  to 
make  rapid  headway  in  crowded  centers  of 
the  human  family.  Unfortunately,  bees  are 
disposed  to  rob  from  each  other  during  a 
dearth  of  honey— see  Bobbing  ;  and  if  the 
sources  of  infection  reside  in  the  honey,  any 
contagious  disease  may  be  spread  over  the 
entire  apiary  in  a  few  days.  An  infected 
colony  is  naturally  weakened  and  discour- 
aged, and  as  a  result  the  bees  do  not  make 
the  defense  that  they  would  under  normal 
conditions.  During  a  dearth  of  honey  the 
healthy  bees  all  over  the  yard  are  quite  dis- 
posed to  rob  the  weak  or  sick  ones,  with  the 
result  that  the  infection  is  scattered  right 
and  left. 

One  of  the  best  precautions  against  dis- 
ease is  good  food,  and  keeping  all  colonies 
strong.  A  healthy  human  being  is  much 
more  able  to  resist  the  germs  of  infection 
than  one  who  is  "  all  run  down."  A  person, 
for  instance,  is  not  likely  to  come  down  with 
typhoid  unless  his  system  is  greatly  reduced. 
Then  it  is  that  the  typhoid  germs,  which 
may  be  ever  present,  take  hold  and  begin 
their  insidious  work. 

Another  wise  precaution  is  to  keep  all 
tools  and  clothing,  and  every  thing  that  has 
been  in  contact  with  a  diseased  colony,  away 
from  the  healthy  ones.  If  one  does  not  know 


DISEASES  or  BEES.  Ill  DISEASES  OF  BEES. 


what  the  disease  is  he  should  be  on  the  safe 
side  and  proceed  as  if  the  sick  colony  were 
Infected  with  the  worst  infection  known  to 
bee  culture. 

TWO  CLASSES  OF  DISEASES. 

The  diseases  with  which  the  bee-keeper 
has  to  contend  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes  —  those  that  affect  the  mature  Hying 
bees,  and  those  that  attack  the  brood.  The 
last  named  are  much  more  serious,  and  their 
full  treatment  will  be  found  under  the  head 
of  EouL  Brood.  Among  the  brood  dis- 
eases may  be  named,  first,  foul  brood,  which 
is  one  of  the  most  serious,  and  more  gen- 
erally scattered  over  the  country.  Another 
disease,  not  so  widely  scattered,  but  perhaps 
•equally  bad,  is  called  black  brood,  or  the 
Xew  York  bee-disease.  Pickled  brood,  much 
resembling  the  last  named,  is  of  a  much 
milder  character,  but  requires  prompt  atten- 
tion. All  of  these  brood  diseases,  as  they 
iave  similar  characteristics,  are,  for  pur- 
poses of  comparison,  treated  under  the  head 
of  Foul  Brood.  There  is  one  other  form 
of  affected  brood  that  greatly  resembles 
.specimens  of  the  above-named  brood  dis- 
eases. It  can  not  be  styled  a  disease,  as  it 
is  simply  brood  that  has  been  poisoned  from 
the  spraying-liquids  administered  during  the 
time  fruit-trees  are  in  bloom.  For  particu- 
lars, see  Fruit-trees. 

Among  the  diseases  that  attack  the 
mature  bees  may  be  named  "spring  dwin- 
dling." This,  perhaps,  could  hardly  be  con- 
sidered a  disease,  but  it  is  a  malady  with 
which  we  have  to  deal.  For  particulars,  see 
Wintering.  Still  another  trouble  is  dysen- 
tery ;  and  we  may  seriously  doubt  whether 
this  also  should  be  called  a  disease,  unless, 
forsooth,  we  should  say  a  boy  had  some  dis- 
ease when  he  has  eaten  some  green  apples. 
However,  it  deserves  a  special  treatment, 
and  is  treated  under  the  head  of  Dysente- 
ry, which  see.  The  only  disease  of  any  ac- 
count now  remaining  is  bee-paralysis. 

EEE-PARALY^SIS. 

This  is  a  disease  that  is  much  more  prev- 
.alent  and  virulent  in  warm  than  in  cold 
Climates.  Almost  every  apiarist  in  the 
North  has  noticed  at  times  perhaps  one  or 
two  colonies  in  his  apiary  that  would  show 
bees  affected  with  this  disease.  But  it 
seldom  spreads  or  makes  any  great  trouble  ; 
but  not  so  in  the  South.  It  is  known  to 
alfect  whole  apiaries,  and  seems  to  be  in- 
fectious. Unless  a  cure  is  effected  in  some 
w^ay  it  will  do  almost  as  much  damage  as 
ioul  brood  itself. 


SY'MPTOMS. 

In  the  early  stages  an  occasional  bee  will 
be  found  to  be  running  from  the  entrance, 
with  the  abdomen  of  the  bee  greatly  swol- 
len, and  in  other  respects  the  bee  has  a 
black,  greasy  appearance.-  While  these  sick 
bees  may  be  scattered  through  the  hive, 
they  will  sooner  or  later  work  their  way 
toward  the  entrance,  evidently  desiring  to 
rid  the  colony  of  their  miserable  presence. 
The  other  bees  also  seem  to  regard  them 
as  no  longer  necessary  to  the  future  pros- 
perity of  the  colony.  In  fact,  they  will  tug 
and  pull  at  them  about  as  they  would  at  a 
dead  bee  until  they  succeed  in  getting  them 
out  in  the  grass,  where  the  poor  bees  seem 
willing  to  go  to  die  alone.  Another  symp- 
tom is,  that  the  bees  often  show  a  shak- 
ing or  trembling  motion.  In  the  earlier 
stages,  so  far  as  I  can  remember,  this  pe- 
culiarity does  not  appear;  but  later  on  it 
manifests  itself  very  perceptibly. 

TREATMENT  AND  CURE. 

As  yet  we  know  of  no  reliable  cure.  In 
many  cases  destroying  the  queen  of  the 
infected  colony,  and  introducing  another 
from  a  healthy  stock,  effects  a  cure.  This 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  disease  is 
constitutional,  coming  from  the  queen  ;  but 
in  the  South,  where  the  disease  is  much 
more  prevalent  and  destructive,  destroying 
the  queen  seems  to  have  but  little  effect. 
Spraying  the  combs  \^ath  a  solution  of  salt 
and  water,  or  of  carbolic  acid  and  water,  has 
been  recommended ;  but,  so  far  as  I  know, 
these  do  little  or  no  good.  One  writer  rec- 
ommends removing  the  diseased  stock  from 
its  stand,  and  putting  in  its  place  a  strong 
healthy  one.  The  diseased  stock  is  then 
removed  to  the  stand  formerly  occupied  by 
the  well  bees.  He  reports  that  he  has  tried 
this  in  many  cases,  and  found  that  an  abso- 
lute cure  followed  in  every  instance.  The 
rationale  of  the  treatment  seems  to  be  that 
the  bees  of  the  ordinary  colony  having  bee- 
paralysis  are  too  miich  discouraged  to  re- 
move the  sick  ;  as  a  consequence,  the  source 
of  infection— that  is,  the  swelled  shiny  bees 
— are  allowed  to  ( rawl  through  the  hive  at 
will.  But  when  the  colonies  are  transposed, 
the  healthy  vigorous  bees  of  the  sound  stock 
carry  the  diseased  bees  entirely  away  from 
the  hive.  The  sick  and  the  dying  being  re- 
moved the  colony  recovers.  As  bee-paraly- 
sis in  our  locality  is  a  very  mild  disease, 
often  going  olf  of  itself,  we  have  never  been 
in  position  to  decide  on  the  merits  of  this 
transposition  plan. 


DISEASES  OF  BEES. 


112 


DEO^^ES. 


If  I  had  a  case  of  bee-paralysis  in  my 
yard,  I  would  take  the  colony,  hive  and  all, 
and  all  its  belongings,  to  an  entirely  new 
location,  at  least  a  mile  or  two,  and  remote 
from  any  other  bees.  If  more  cases  developed 
in  the  yard  I  would  take  these  also  and 
place  them  along  with  the  other  diseased 
bees,  and  there  establish  a  quarantine.  I 
would  never  allow  a  colony  that  has  a  few 
bees  affected  with  bee-paralysis  in  the  gen- 
eral apiary  where  there  were  50  or  100 
healthy  stocks  to  remain  one  day  after  dis- 
covery. It  should  be  removed  to  the  new  lo- 
cation, and  there  experimenting  can  be  con- 
ducted without  danger  of  giving  the  disease 
to  the  healthy  bees  in  the  regular  apiary. 3-9 

If  one  is  of  an  experimental  turn  of  mind, 
and  wishes  to  try  the  transposition  treat- 
ment, he  can  easily  try  it  at  the  quarantine 
yard.  Remove  the  sick  colony  or  colonies  to 
be  experimented  upon  in  this  yard  a  few 
feet  back  or  a  few  feet  to  one  side  of  their 
present  location,  and  then  put  in  their 
places  one  or  more  healthy  stocks  from  the 
general  apiary.  Of  course,  there  will  be  the 
danger  that  the  moved  healthy  bees  may  get 
the  disease  also ;  but  only  the  bees  in  the 
quarantine  will  be  in  danger. 

QUEEN  CHAMPS. 

These  affect  only  the  queen.  Sometimes 
when  the  queen  is  picked  up  in  the  fingers 
by  the  wings  she  will  curve  her  body  to  such 
a  point  as  to  seem  to  "  get  a  hitch"  in  it. 
When  in  that  condition  she  appears  to  be 
paralyzed,  and  almost  devoid  of  life  ;  but  if 
she  is.  placed  in  a  queen-cage  or  among  the 
bees  she  will  recover  shortly  and  be  as  lively 
as  ever.  Beginners  are  very  often  alarmed, 
and  conclude  that  the  queen  is  dead  or  dy- 
ing :  and  I  have  even  known  them  to  throw 
her  away,  or  smash  her  to  relieve  her 
of  her  suffering.  All  that  is  necessary  is  to 
let  her  remain  for  a  minute  or  two,  when 
she  will  recover  of  herself. 

OTHER  DISEASES. 

It  may  be  well  to  mention  that,  when  a  bee 
is  crippled  or  diseased  from  any  cause,  it 
crawls  away  from  the  cluster,  out  of  the 
hive,  and  rids  community  of  its  presence 
as  speedily  as  possible  ;  if  bees  could  reason, 
we  would  call  this  a  lesson  of  heroic  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  good  of  community.  If 
your  bees  should  get  sick  from  some  other 
cause  than  I  have  mentioned,  I  would  advise 
putting  enough  together  to  make  a  good  lot, 
surrounding  them  with  chaff  cushions  close 
up  to  the  cluster,  and  giving  them  plenty  of 
sealed  honey  also  close  to  the  cluster.  If 


you  have  not  the  honey,  and  the  weather  is 
cool  or  cold,  use  candy.  If  the  cluster  is 
small,  give  them  a  small  piece  at  a  time, 
right  over  the  cluster,  under  the  cushions. 

Weak  colonies  sometimes  get  a  mania  in 
the  spring  for  destroying  their  queens ;  this 
can  hardly  be  termed  a  disease,  and  yet  the 
colony  has  become  to  a  certain  extent  de- 
moralized, and  out  of  its  normal  condition, 
much  as  when  they  swarm  out,  as  given  in 
Absconding  Swarms  ;  they  will  generally 
come  out  all  right  if  fed  carefully  and  judi- 
ciously, as  we  have  described.  Bees  are  al- 
ways prospering  when  they  are  accumulat- 
ing stores,  and  they  are  very  apt  to  get 
astray,  in  some  way  or  other,  when  they  are 
very  long  without  some  way  of  making  dai- 
ly additions  to  their  "stock  in  trade,"  unless 
it  is  during  the  winter,  when  they  are,  as  a 
general  thing,  mostly  at  rest.  Almost  all 
sorts  of  irregular  vagaries  may  be  stopped 
by  regular  daily  feeding,  of  granulated- 
sugar  syrup,  or  giving  combs  of  good  white 
honey. 

For  the  consideration  of  spring  dwind- 
ling, see  Wintering.  The  diseases  foul 
brood  ai  d  black  brood  will  be  found  under 
the  head  of  Foul  Brood. 

DIVIDiriGr.  This  term  is  usually  ap- 
plied to  the  operation  of  increasing  the 
number  of  stocks,  by  putting  half  the  bees 
and  combs  into  a  new  hive,  just  about 
swarming  time ;  it  is  really  one  method 
of  artificial  swarming.  If  you  have  an  ex- 
tra laying  queen  to  give  the  queenless  por- 
tion, it  may  do  very  well ;  but  otherwise  it 
is  a  wasteful  way  of  making  increase,  and 
has  been  mostly  abandoned.   See  Nucleus. 

DR03>fZiS.  These  are  large  noisy  bees 
that  do  a  great  amount  of  buzzing,  but  never 
sting  anybody,  for  the  very  good  reason  that 
they  have  no  sting.  The  bee-keeper  who 
has  learned  to  recognize  them,  both  by  sight 
and  sound,  never  pays  any  attention  to  their 
noise,  but  visitors  are  many  times  sadly 
frightened  by  their  loud  buzzing.  We  will 
commence  as  we  did  with  the  worker-bees, 
at  the  egg,  and  see  how  much  we  can  learn 
of  these  harmless  and  inoffensive  inmates  of 
the  bee-hive. 

If  our  colonies  are  prosperous,  we  may 
find  eggs  in  the  drone-comb  of  some  of  the 
best  hives  as  early  as  March,  but  not,  as  a 
general  thing,  until  April.  You  can  tell 
the  drone-cells  from  the  worker  at  a  glance 
(even  if  you  have  never  seen  them)  by  the 
size,  as  you  will  see  by  looking  at  Honey- 
comb.  Whenever  you  see  eggs  in  the  large 


DEONES. 


1J3 


DRO^^ES. 


cells,  you  may  be  sure  they  are  drone-eggs. 
I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  the  eggs  that 
produce  drones  look  any  different  from  any 
other  eggs  that  the  queen  lays,  for  in  looks 
they  are  precisely  the  same.  They  are  al- 
most the  same  in  every  respect,  for  the  only 
difference  is  that  the  egg  that  produces  the 
worker-bee  has  been  impregnated,  while 
the  others  have  not ;  but  more  of  this.  anon. 
The  egg,  like  those  producing  workers,  re- 
mains brooded  over  by  the  bees  until  it  is 
about  3  days  old,  and  then  by  one  of  natiu'e"s 
wonderful  transformations  the  egg  is  gone, 


DKOXE-BEE. 


and  a  tiny  worm  appears,  a  mere  speck  in  the 
bottom  of  the  cell.  This  worm  is  fed  as  be- 
fore, until  it  is  about  a  week  old,  and  is  then 
sealed  over  like  a  worker,  except  that  the 
caps  to  the  cells  are  raised  considerably 
more ;  in  fact,  they  very  much  resemble  a 
lot  of  bullets  laid  closely  together  on  a  board. 
They  will  begin  to  cut  the  caps  of  these  cells 
in  about  24  or  25  days ;  the  caps  come  off  in 
a  round  piece,  very  much  like  those  from  a 
queen-cell. 

The  body  of  a  drone  is  hardly  as  long  as 
that  of  a  queen,  but  he  is  so  much  thicker 
through  than  either  queen  or  worker  that 
you  will  never  mistake  him  for  either.  He 
has  no  baskets  on  his  legs  in  which  to  carry 
pollen,  and  his  tongue  is  so  unsuited  to  the 
gathering  of  honey  from  flowers  that  he 
would  starve  to  death  in  the  midst  of  a  clo- 
ver-field. 

I  presume  the  young  drones  are  ready  to 


leave  their  hive  after  they  are  about  two 
weeks  old,  and  they  do  this  shortly  after 
noon,  of  a  warm  pleasant  day.  They  come 
out  with  the  young  bees  as  they  play,  and 
first  try  their  Tvings :  but  their  motions  are 
far  from  being  graceful  and  easy,  and 
they  frequently  tumble  about  so  awkwardly 
that,  as  they  strike  agamst  yoiu:  face,  you 
might  almost  think  them  either  drunk  or 
crazy.  I  do  not  know  how  we  can  very  Avell 
decide  how  old  a  drone  must  be  to  fulfill 
the  sole  purpose  of  his  existence,  the  .fertil- 
ization of  the  queen,  but  should  guess  any- 
where from  three  weeks  to  as  many  months.''^ 
Perhaps  they  seldom  live  so  long  as  the  last 
period  named,  but  I  think  they  sometimes 
do.  Many  facts  seem  to  indicate  that  they, 
as  well  as  the  queen,  fly  long  distances  from 
the  hive— perhaps  two  miles  or  more.  We 

j  have  now  satisfactory  evidence  that  the 
meeting  between  queens  and  drones  takes 
place  not  very  high  up  from  the  ground. 
Several  observers,  during  the  past  season 
(1889),  have  reported  having  seen  this  meet- 
ing not  very  far  from  the  hives,  during  the 

'  swarming  season.  The  queens  and  drones 
both  sally  forth  during  the  middle  of  the 
day,  or  afternoon,  and  in  from  fifteen  min- 
utes to  an  hour,  or  possibly  a  couple  of  hours, 
the  queen  retm-ns  with  a  white  appendage 

'  attached  to  the  extremity  of  her  body,  that 

;  microscopic  examination  shows  to  be  the 
generative  organs  of  the  drone.  These  facts 
have  been  observed  by  hundreds  of  bee- 
keepers, and  are  well  authenticated.  In  at- 
tempts to  have  queens  fertilized  in  wire- 
cloth  houses,  I  have,  after  letting  the  queens 
out,  seen  the  drones  pm*sue  them  mitil  both 
parties  vanished  from  my  sight.  Still  anoth- 
er fact :  If  you  take  a  drone  in  your  hand 
some  warm  afternoon  just  as  he  has  sallied 
from  the  hive,  and  press  him  in  a  certain 
way,  he  will  burst  open  something  like  the 
popping  of  a  grain  of  corn,  extruding  the 
very  same  organ  we  find  attached  to  the 
queen,  and  dying  instantly. 

The  manner  in  which  the  meeting  of  the 
drone  and  queen  takes  place  was  not  wit- 

'  nessed  mitil  1888. A  correspondent  for 
Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  described  it  as  fol- 
lows : 

MATI>'G  OF  THE  QUEEX  AND   DRONE  OX  THE  WI^'G, 
AS  SEEN  BY  AX  EYE-WITXESS. 

On  June  21,  1888.  I  saw  this  mating  take"  place. 
The  queen  issued  from  the  hive,  took  two  circles, 
and  came  within  five  feet  of  my  face,  and  was  there 
met  by  a  drone.  They  seemed  to  face  each  other, 
clinging  hy  their  fore  legs,  their  bodies  being  per- 
pendicular, and  in  this  shape  flew  from  my  sight.  It 
happened  so  unexpectedly  that  I  hardly  knew  what 
,  was  going  on  before  it  was  too  late  to  follow  them. 


DEONES. 


114 


DKONES. 


1  could  have  easily  kept  up  with  them.  I  have  de- 
scribed this  because  your  book  says  they  have  not 
been  seen,  only  as  they  were  whirling-  about  each 
other.  I  saw  these  fasten;  and  as  they  did  so  they 
turned  and  came  togetlier,  square  up  and  down; 
and  as  they  flew  away  their  bodies  inclined  about 
like  this  /,  and  each  bee  was  using-  its  wings. 
Myrtle,  Pa.  E.  A.  Pratt. 

Shortly  after  this  another  correspondent 
reported  the  one  thing  yet  unobserved ;  viz., 
the  manner  of  separation  of  the  queen  and 
drone.   He  described  it  as  follows  : 

AN    EYE-WITNESS    TO    THE    QUEEN'S  SEPARATION 
FROM  THE  DRONE  AFTER  MATING. 

I  was  going  out  to  my  bees  one  day,  when  two  bees 
■came  wliirliiig-  down  in  front  of  me  and  fell  on  to  a 
pumpkin  leaf.  It  proved  to  be  a  queen  and  drone. 
The  drone  acted  as  if  he  had  been  stung-  by  a  work- 
er. He  Held  fast  to  the  leaf  with  his  feet,  and  the 
■queen  kept  whirling-  over  and  over,  about  as  a  fly 
would  if  caught  in  a  spider's  web,  until  she  freed 
herself,  then  she  flew  out  of  sight  in  an  instant,  and 
the  drone  remained  where  he  was  on  the  leaf,  but 
showed  life  for  onlj-  about  three  minutes. 

Onawa  City,  Iowa.  S.  R.  Fletcher. 

The  v^^hole  thing  has  now  been  witnessed, 
from  beginning  to  end. 

In  the  fall  of  1876  I  saw  a. swarm  of  black 
ants  sporting  in  the  sunshine.  A  close  look 
showed  them  to  be  both  males  and  females; 
and  as  pair  after  pair  fell  to  the  ground,  I 
had  ample  opportunity  of  noting  all  circum- 
stances. In  this  case  the  drones  at  first 
seemed  paralyzed;  but  after  the  queens  flew 
away,  they  revived  and  afterward  flew  away 
also.  One  point  here  particularly  impressed 
me :  The  ants  of  both  sexes  were  in  such 
countless  thousands  that  they  must  have 
<jome  from  all  the  ant-hills  for,  I  should  say, 
miles  around ;  the  result  was,  as  you  see, 
that  there  was  hardly  a  possibility  of  insects 
from  the  same  family  meeting,  ^^ow,  is 
there  any  other  way  in  which  the  strain  of 
blood  could  be  so  effectually  crossed  with 
that  of  some  distant  colony,  as  by  this  huge 
jubilee  of  both  sexes  V 

Queen-ants,  like  queen  -  bees,  seldom  if 
€ver  come  out  of  their  homes  at  any  other 
time,  and,  as  if  by  some  preconcerted  ar- 
rangement, they  meet  and  mix  up  apparent- 
ly for  the  very  purpose  of  effectually  pre- 
venting "in-and-in  breeding,"  as  it  is  usual- 
ly termed  when  applied  to  stock.  Do  queens 
and  drone-bees  meet  in  the  same  way,  in 
vast  numbers  V  Many  circumstances  seem 
to  indicate  they  do,  yet  it,  like  many  other 
things,  lacks  positive  proof.  Drones  have 
been  seen  in  out-of-the-way  places,  in  larger 
numbers  than  we  would  think  could  possibly 
€ome  from  one  hive  ;  and  many  have  heard 
their  loud  humming  who  have  not  seen 


I  them.  The  fact  that  a  queen  should  become 
j  fertilized  in  so  short  a  time  after  leaving  the 
j  hive  seems  strange,  unless  it  really  is  a  fact 
that  she  is  called  to  the  swarm  of  drones 
by  their  loud  humming,  which  she  would 
instinctively  recognize  from  a  long  dis- 
tance. Flying  among  them  she  meets  the 
drone  face  to  face,  falls  to  the  gromid,  tears 
herself  loose  from  her  dead  mate  by  whirl- 
ing, and  then  returns  to  her  hive,  having 
been  absent  only  a  few  minutes. 

DOES  THE  DRONE  HAVE  ONLY  ONE  PARENT? 

One  of  the  most  wonderful  things  about 
the  drone,  or  male  bee,  is  that  it  is  hatched 
from  an  egg  that  is  unimpregnated.  So 
wonderful  indeed  is  this  that  the  matter 
was  for  ages  disputed,  and  is  even  now, 
by  many  who  have  not  looked  into  the  mat- 
ter and  examined  the  evidence.   What  we 
mean  by  unimpregnated  is,  that  queens  that 
have  never  met  the  male  bee  at  all  will  lay 
eggs,  and  these  eggs  will  hatch,  but  they  al- 
ways produce  drones,  and  never  workers. 
Those  who  have  had  the  care  of  poultry  are 
well  aware  that  the  hens  will  lay  eggs  right 
along,  if  no  cock  is  kept  in  the  yard  at  all ; 
and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  a  pullet  would 
commence  and  lay  perhaps  nearly  her  usual 
number  of  eggs,  if  she  had  never  seen  a 
male  bird.   isTow,  nearly  the  same  is  true 
j  with  regard  to  the  queen-bee.   If  she  fails 
I  to  meet  a  drone  during  the  first  30  days  of 
I  her  life,  she  usually  begins  to  lay  eggs  ;  but 
1  she  seldom  lays  as  many,  or  with  the  same 
i  regularity,  as  a  fertile  queen.   The  eggs  the 
i  hen  lays,  if  she  is  allowed  to  sit,  never  pro- 
I  duce  any  chicks  at  all.   The  eggs  laid  by  the 
'  queen,  under  the  same  circumstances,  as  I 
I  have  said  before,  always  produce  drones. 
,  There  is  one  more  fact  connected  with  the 
'  common  fowl :  If  the  male  bird  is  put  into 
the  yard  with  the  hen  for  one  day  only,  good 
fertile  eggs  will  be  laid  for  many  days,  pos- 
:  sibly  a  whole  laying.    If  a  Black-Spanish 
j  cock  should  get  among  a  flock  of  white  hens 
;  for  only  a  single  day,  all  the  eggs  laid  for 
\  many  days  afterward  will  produce  chicks 
j  with  more  or  less  black  feathers  on  them.  I 
j  give  these  statements  from  actual  facts. 
I  The  point  I  wish  you  to  observe  is,  that  the 
!  eggs  of  even  the  common  fowl  are  fertil- 
j  ized  as  they  are  laid  by  the  hen,  or  possi- 
bly a  few  days  before.    With  the  fowls,  one 
meeting  with  the  male  bird  suffices  for  the 
fertilization  of  an  egg  daily,  for  a  week  or 
more  ;  with  the  queen-bee,  for  her  whole  life 
of  three  or  even  four  years. 
I  do  not  know  whether  the  hen  has  the 


DRONES. 


115 


DRONES. 


power  of  laying  fertile  or  unfertile  eggs  at 
will,  or  not :  perhaps  not;  but  I  do  know  that 
a  queen-bee  lays  both  fertilized  and  mifer- 
tilized  eggs,  alternating  from  one  kind  to 
the  other  in  rapid  succession.  Skillful 
microscopists  have  carefully  dissected  eggs 
from  worker -cells,  and  foimd  the  living 
spermatozoa  in' numbers  from  one  to  five. 
These  living  spermatozoa  were  precisely 
identical  with  those  found  in  dissecting  a 
matm-e  drone.  Again:  Every  egg  a  queen 
lays,  passes  a  little  sac  containing  a  minute 
quantity  of  some  fluid;  the  microscope 
shows  that  this  fluid  contains  thousands  of 
these  spermatozoa.  Is  it  not  wonderful  that 
these  spermatozoa  should  live  four  years  or 
more  in  this  little  sac.  awaiting  their  timi 
to  be  developed  into  a  higher  life  whenever 
they  should  be  required  to  fertilize  the  egg 
that  is  to  produce  the  worker-bee  V  Yery 
well ;  now  the  egg  that  is  taken  from  a  drone- 
cell  contains  no  trace  of  spermatozoa. 
Therefore  it.  like  the  egg  of  the  common 
fowl,  unimpregnated.  should  never  hatch. 
But,  my  friends,  it  does  hatch,  and  produce 
the  drone.  The  first  glimpse  we  get  of  the 
little  bit  of  animated  nature  is  the  tiny 
speck  alive  at  the  bottom  of  the  cell.  Does 
he  grow  out  of  nothing,  without  parentage, 
at  least  on  the  paternal  side  V  If  his  mother 
was  an  Italian,  he  is  also  Italian;  if  a  black 
queen,  he  is  also  black.  We  shall  have  to 
conclude,  perhaps,  that  he  is  the  son  of  his 
mother,  and  nothing  more.  The  egg  that 
has  never  been  impregnated  in  the  usual 
way,  must,  after  all,  have  some  living  germ 
incorporated  in  its  make  -  up.  and  this  germ 
must  come  only  from  the  mother.  The  great 
skill  and  proficiency  with  the  microscope, 
required  to  make  these  minute  examina- 
tions, is  such  that  but  one  or  two  have  ever 
succeeded  in  exploring  as  far  as  I  have  men- 
tioned, and  it  is  somets^hat  like  our  investi- 
gations in  the  polar  regions.  Who  among 
us  will  educate  himself  for  the  work  and 
carry  it  along? 

Drones  are  also  hatched  from  eggs  laid  by 
worker  bees.  These  drones  are  u-ually 
smaller  in  size  than  th  se  from  a  quesn  be 
cause  they  are  generally  reai-ed  in  worker 
cells,  and  the  question  as  to  whether  they 
are  capable  of  fertilizing  queens,  so  as  to  be 
of  some  value,  like  other  drones,  is  one  that 
I  believe  has  never  been  decided.  Some 
facts  have  been  brought  to  light  that  seem 
to  be  pretty  good  evidence  on  both  sides  of 
the  question ;  but,  so  far  as  I  know,  nothing 
very  definite.  I  confess  that  I  should  not 
w^ant  to  make  use  of  them,  even  if  they  were 


good,  for  I  want  the  strongest,  healthiest, 
and  largest  drones  I  can  get.  For  a  further 
account  of  the  mothers  of  these  queer 
drones,  see  Laying-  Workers. 

Aft^r  what  I  have  said,  you  will  perhaps 
see  how  clear  it  is  that  the  drones  are  in  no 
way  affected  by  the  fertilization  of  the 
queen  ;  or.  in  other  words,  that  all  daughters 
of  a  purely  fertilized  Italian  queen  produce 
drones''^  absolutely  pure,  whether  they  have 
been  fertilized  by  a  black  drone  or  not. 

Until  the  invention  and  general  adoption 
of  foundation  we  had  no  easy  way  of  re- 
pressing the  production  of  drones  in  far 
greater  numbers  than  could  ever  be  desirable. 
Since  the  introduction  of  foundation,  how- 
ever, it  is  found  to  be  quite  an  easy  matter  to 
make  almost  every  cell  in  the  hive  a  worker- 
cell.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  choose  we  can 
have  a  hive  filled  entirely  with  drone-comb, 
and  a  good  queen  could.  I  think,  be  induced 
to  raise  nearly,  if  not  quite,  a  full  quart  of 
drones  at  one  time.  By  this  means  we  can 
have  our  drones  raised  from  such  stock  as 
we  choose,  and  we  can  save  the  vast  amoimt 
of  honey  that  has  so  long  been  wasted  by 
rearing  and  feeding  drones  that-  we  do  not 
need.  While  extracting.  I  have  found  as 
many  as  several  pounds  of  drone-larvae  in  a 
single  hive ;  and,  to  save  the  honey  they 
would  consume  as  soon  as  hatched,  we  used 
to  shave  then-  heads  off  with  a  very  sharp 
knife.  This  is  certamly  rather  expensive 
business,  for  it  must  take  more  than  a  pound 
of  honey,  to  say  nothing  of  the  value  of  the 
pollen,  to  get  up  a  pound  of  sealed  brood.  If 
all  this  labor  and  materia]  had  been  utilized 
in  the  production  of  worker-brood,  it  would 
doubtless  have  been  equivalent  to  a  swarm 
of  bees.  All-worker  comb  would  have  in- 
sured this  without  trouble. 

It  is  quite  probable  that  all  the  di'ones 
will  be  raised  that  can  usually  be  required, 
without  making  any  special  provision  for 
them :  but  still,  it  may  be  a  good  idea  to 
devote  one  hive,  in  an  apiary  of  50  or  a  him- 
dred  colonies,  to  the  production  of  choice 
drones. 

RESTRAIXIXG  UNDESIRABLE  DRONES. 

Drones  undesirable  for  breeding  pm-poses 
may  be  prevented  from  going  out  to  meet  the 
queens,  by  keeping  them  from  going  out  of 
the  hive,  or  by  letting  them  go  out  into  a 
cage  through  which  workers  can  pass  and 
they  can  not.  This  is  done  by  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  fact  that  a  worker-bee  will  pass 
readily  thi'ough  slots  in  perforated  metal 
where  a  di'one  can  not.  In  the  figm-e  sho^Ti 
we  give  the  form  of  the  perforated  metal. 


DROKES. 


116 


DRONES. 


Zinc  is  the  material  generally  used,  be- 
cause it  is  cheap  and  will  not  rust.  Some 
attempt  was  made  to  perforate  tin  as  above, 
but  it  proved  to  be  very  unsatisfactory. 

THE  PROPER  SIZE  FOR  THE  PERFORATIONS. 


The  oblong  holes,  as  shown  above,  must 
be  of  such  a  size  as  to  permit  the  easy  pass- 
age of  wwkers,  but  exclude  not  only  drones 


PERFORATED  ZINC  FOR  EXCLUDING  DRONES. 


but  even  queens  (see  Comb  Honey  and 
Sw^AR3iiNG).  It  is  no  great  task  to  make 
the  perforations  drone  -  excluding  ;  but  to 
make  them  queen  -  excluding  at  the  same 
time,  and  yet  not  hinder  the  easy  passage  of 
workers,  requires  a  very  nice  adjustment  in 
the  width  of  the  perforations.  The  first 
sheet  of  perforated  zinc  was  cut  in  England, 
and  imported  to  this  country.  This  had 
perforations  jJjfg  of  an  inch  in  width.  While 
this  answered  a  most  excellent  purpose,  a 
few  claimed  that  queens  would  occasionally 
get  thi-ough  it.  To  obviate  this,  zinc  was 
made  as  below,  with  the  perforations  a  little 
narrower. 


ZIJNC  WITH  SMALLER  PERFORATIONS. 


The  width  of  this  was  or  an 
inch.  While  no  queen  succeeded  in  getting 
through  this,  reports,  as  well  as  my  own  ex- 
perience, convinced  me  that  this  size  was 
too  narrow.  It  not  only  proved  to  be  a  great 
hindrance  to  the  workers  when  their  honey- 
sacs  were  empty,  but,  when  gorged  with 
honey,  they  were  scarcely  able,  if  at  all,  to 
pass  through.  More  recently,  perforated 
zinc  has  been  made  in  this  country  on  a 
different  pattern,  but  with  perforations  ex- 
actly jVd^o  of  an  inch  in  width,  or  a  trifle 
smaller  than  the  foreign.  Perhaps,  my 
friend,  you  think  I  am  splitting  hairs  ;  but 
when  we  come  to  distinguish  between  the 
size  of  small  queens  and  the  average  worker 
we  must  be  exact.  The  reports,  as  well  as 
our  ow^n  experience  in  regard  to  the  perfo- 


rated zinc  as  so  made,  have  led  us  to  believe 
that  this  size  of  perforations  is  about  right. 


TINKER  ZINC. 


Zinc  having  perforations  .165  of  an  inch 
wide  is  now^  made  on  the  Tinker  automatic 
machine,  a  machine  that  does  more  accurate 
work  than  any  other  hitherto  constructed  for 
the  purpose.  The  perforations  are  longer, 
and  closer  together,  thus  affording  more 
ventilation  to  square  foot  or  square  inch. 
It  is  so  much  better  in  this  respect,  and  so 
much  more  perfect,  that  it  is  used  almost 


ZINC  HONEY-BOARD. 


exclusively  for  drone  -  guards  and  drone- 
traps,  and  honey-boards.  In  the  latter  we 
can  get  in  longer  holes,  and  twice  as  many 
to  the  board,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  cut. 

DRONE -EXCLUDING  ENTRANCE-GUARDS. 

If  we  put  a  strip  of  this  material  over  the 
entrance,  the  worker-bees  can  go  out,  but 
the  drones  can  not ;  but  as  a  simple  strip  of 
I  zinc  is  liable  to  get  clogged  if  there  are 
many  drones  in  the  hive,  an  arrangement 
like  the  figure  below  is  ordinarily  used. 


DRONE-GUARD. 


DROXES. 


117 


DROi^ES. 


This  is  simply  a  strip  of  perforated  metal, 
31x14  inches  long,  folded  at  right  angles,  as 
shown.  Each  end  is  then  closed  with  a 
block  Hxl^xi,  fastened  in  place  with  a 
couple  of  double-pointed  tacks.  To  use, 
place  tight  up  against  the  entrance  as  rep- 
resented in  the  cut. 

When  it  is  desirable  to  get  the  drones  all 
out  of  a  hive  without  permitting  auy  to  get 
back  again,  we  put  the  guard  over  the  en- 
trance and  then  shake  all  the  bees  in  front 
of  the  hive.  The  workers  will,  of  course, 
crawl  back  on  the  empty  combs ;  but  the 
drones  will  have  to  stay  out,  and  the  queen 
too,  unless  we  watch  for  her  and  put  her 
into  the  hive.  In  the  morning,  when  the 
drones  are  stiffened  with  cold,  they  may  be 
fed  to  the  chickens  or  otherwise  destroyed. 

If  one  objects  to  this  method  as  being  too 
much  trouble,  he  can  try  another  way.  On 
a  sunny  day  a  very  large  part  of  the  drones 
will  be  out  for  a  fly  about  1  p.  m.,  or  a  little 
later.  He  is  then  to  place  the  drone-guard 
at  the  entrance ;  and  when  the  drones  re- 
turn a  little  later  they  will  be  shut  out.  In 
the  evening  the  drones  may  be  disposed  of 
as  before. 

The  drone-excluder  just  described  is  not 
automatic.  Accordingly.  Mr.  Henry  Alley, 
of  Wenham,  Mass.,  has  devised  the  one 
shown  below. 


alley's  droxe-excluder. 


It  is  to  be  observed  that  this  is  similar  to 
the  one  just  described,  only  it  has  a  wire- 
cloth  cone  in  the  top.   The  drones,  after 


alley's  droxe  -  excluder.  di:one  axd 
queex  trap  co^ibixed. 


making  a  fruitless  attempt  to  pass  the  met- 
al, will  enter  the  wire-cloth  cone  in  the  top, 
and  escape ;  but  none  will  have  sense  enough 
to  go  back  the  way  they  came,  but  will  hud- 
dle together  outside  and  await  their  fate. 

If  it  is  desirable  to  get  the  drones  into  a 
box,  so  they  may  be  carried  to  some  other 
apiary,  for  instance,  a  cage  is  made  with  an 
upper  story,  and  a  couple  of  these  wire  cones 
conduct  the  drones  '"up  stairs."  If  any 
worker-bees  should  go  up  too,  they  can  read- 
ily go  up  through  the  perforated  zinc.  This 
latter  arrangement  is  shown  in  the  next  cut. 

As  to  how  this  trap  may  be  used  for  catch- 
ing swarms,  see  Swar^hxg,  elsewhere. 

REARIXG  DROXES  OUT  OF  SEASON. 

This  is  quite  a  difficult  matter  to  accom- 
plish, especially  in  the  spring ;  and  although 
we  have  many  times  fed  colonies  with  this 
end  in  view,  we  have  always  found  some 
other  colony  that  would  have  drones  flying 
just  as  soon,  without  any  artificial  aid. 
Drones  may  be  kept  almost  any  length  of 
time  by  making  the  colonies  containing 
them  queenless,  or  by  putting  them  into 
queenless  colonies.  During  warm  dry  weath- 
er in  the  summer  or  fall,  drones  may  be  pro- 
cured by  feeding,  but  the  feeding  must  be 
regular,  and  given  every  day  for  several 
days  or  weeks.  By  feeding  one  colony  a 
barrel  of  sugar  in  the  fall,  I  succeeded  in 
getting  a  nice  lot  of  drones  in  October.  Of 
course,  thek  combs  were  taken  away  and 
empty  ones  given  them,  to  give  the  queen 
room.  Before  we  can  get  drones,  we  must 
get  worker-brood  rmder  good  headway,  and 
then,  if  we  put  a  drone-comb  right  in  the 
center  of  the  brood-nest,  the  queen  will,  if 
all  things  are  favorable,  begin  at  once  to  fill 
it  with  eggs.  The  feeding  must  be  kept  up, 
however,  for  bees  are  very  easily  discour- 
aged; and  if  a  stoppage  occurs  in  the  daily 
supplies,  they  will  not  hesitate  to  pull  the 
young  drones  out  of  their  cells  and  sacrifice 
them  without  mercy. 

A  queen  will  seldom  produce  drones  until 
I  she  is  nearly  or   quite  a  year  old,  even 
though  drone-comb  may  be  placed  in  the 
very  center  of  the  brood-chamber. 

DESTRUCTIOX  OF  DROXES  IX  THE  FALL. 

This  does  not  necessarily  occur  in  the  fall, 
but  may  take  place  at  any  time  in  the  smn- 
mer ;  and  I  have  several  times  known  the 
drones  killed  off  between  apple- bloom  and 
white  clover,  only  because  supplies  ceased, 
causing  the  bees  to  become  discoui^aged  and 
give  up  swarming  for  the  time  being.  I 
know  of  no  way  in  which  one  can  tell  so 


DYSENTEEY. 


118 


DYSENTERY. 


well  that  the  yield  of  honey  has  ceased,  as 
by  the  behavior  of  the  bees  to  their  drones. 
When,  in  the  midst  of  the  honey  season,  we 
see  a  worker  buzzing  along  on  the  back  of  a 
drone  who  seems  to  be  "scratching  gravel" 
to  get  away  from  the  hive,  we  may  take 
warning  that  the  yield  of  honey  is  failing, 
and  that  we  had  better  stop  making  artifi- 
cial swarms,  and  prepare  for  feeding,  if  it  is 
our  intention  so  to  do.  I  do  not  know  that 
I  ever  saw  bees  sting  drones,  but  they  some- 
times pretend  to  do  so ;  I  rather  think  it  is 
only  a  feint  to  drive  them  away.  The  poor 
drone,  at  such  times,  after  vainly  trying  to 
go  back  into  the  hive,  will  sometimes  take 
wing  and  soar  away  of£  in  the  air,  only  to 
return  after  a  time  to  be  repulsed  again,  un- 
til, through  weakness  perhaps,  and  want  of 
food,  he  flutters  hopelessly  in  the  dust,  and 
so  submits  to  the  fate  that  seems  to  be  a 
part  of  the  inexorable  law  of  nature  and  of 
his  being. 

To  preserve  drones  for  late  queen-rearing, 
I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  carrying  all 
frames  containing  drone -brood  to  some 
queenless  hive,  knowing  they  would  be  safe 
there  as  long  as  wanted,  even  if  it  were  all 
winter.  I  believe  drones  have  been,  under 
such  circumstances,  wintered  over ;  but 
whether  they  are  of  any  value  in  the  spring 
or  not,  I  am  unable  to  say ;  I  should  fear 
they  would  not  be  by  the  time  queens  could 
be  reared.  AYe  usually  have  drones  in  some 
of  our  colonies  as  soon  as  April,  and  that  is 
as  early  as  I  should  care  to  undertake  to 
rear  queens,  in  ordinary  seasons.  I  have  sev- 
eral seasons  reared  queens  and  had  them 
successfully  fertilized,  even  after  all  the 
drones  had  been  gone  some  time,  so  far  as  I 
could  discover ;  and  as  they  proved  to  be 
purely  fertilized,  I  have  been  not  a  little 
perplexed. 

DRONES  WITH  BRIGHTLY  COLORED  HEADS 
OF  DIFFERENT  COLORS. 

This  is  a  queer  featm^e  in  natural  history. 
Almost  every  summer  some  one  writes  or 
sends  us  specimens  of  drones  with  heads  of 
different  colors  The  matter  has  been  report- 
ed and  commented  on  at  different  times  in 
GJeamngii.  jSTot  only  do  we  occasionally  find 
drones  with  white  heads,  but  we  find  them 
with  heads  of  a  cherry-red  color ;  again,  of 
a  bright  green,  and  at  other  times  yellow. 
I  confess  there  is  something  very  wonderful 
and  mysterious  to  me  in  this  matter.  Why 
queer  old  daine  i^ature  should  decide  to  sin- 
gle out  the  heads  of  drones  to  sport  with  in 
this  way  will,  it  seems  to  me,  be  a  pretty  dif- 
ficult matter  to  explain.   Why  should  this 


peculiarity  show  itself  in  the  drones  more 
than  in  the  queens  and  workers  ?  Again,, 
why  should  heads  be  the  subject  of  these 
bright  rainbow  colors  ?  Is  there  really  any 
purpose  or  design  in  it?  or  is  it  just  because  it. 
happened  so  V  I  presume  there  are  very  few 
among  our  readers  but  will  say  there  is  a 
purpose  and  a  design  in  it ;  and  the  next 
thing  is  to  decide  why  it  should  be  so.  Here 
is  a  question  for  scientists. 385 

A  singular  fact  in  regard  to  this  matter  is^ 
that  we  find  many  of  these  colored  drones  in 
one  hive ;  that  is,  where  we  find  one  red- 
headed drone  in  a  hive,  we  shall  probably 
find  more  ;  and  a  queen  that  produces  them 
once  will  do  so  again.  If  I  am  not  mistaken^ 
I  have  seen  hives  where  all  the  drones  were 
colored  in  this  strange  way  ;  and  their  heads 
were  all  alike  —  of  one  color. 

I  DITSEIVTERir.^S'  When  we  see  our  - 
j  bees  covering  the  entrances  to  their  hives 
j  with  a  brownish  yellow,  disagreeable-smell- 
ing excrement  or  stain,  we  may  say  they  have 
the  dysentery,  or  what  is  usually  known  as 
such.  If  the  weather  becomes  very  warm 
and  pleasant,  they  will  usually  get  over  it, 
after  they  have  had  a  full  flight.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  the  symptoms  show  themselves 
before  warm  weather,  and  no  opportunity  is 
given  them  to  fly,  they  may  get  so  bad  as  to 
cover  their  combs  with  this  substance,  and 
finally  die  in  a  damp,  nlthy-looking  mass. 

CAUSE  OF  DYSENTERY. 

I  believe  the  most  common  cause  is  bad 
food,  coupled  with  an  open,  cold  hive,  with 
a  small  or  insufficient  cluster  of  bee's.  I  can 
hardly  think  any  food  alone  would  produce 
the  disease,  because  we  rarely,  if  ever,  find 
j  the  bees  suffering  from  any  thing  they  will 
gather,  in  warm  summer  weather.  Honey 
gathered  from  rotten  fruit,  if  we  may  call  it 
honey,  is  very  productive  of  this  complaint, 
and  cider  from  cider-mills  is  almost  sure  to 
kill  bees  at  the  approach  of  cold  weather. 
I  knew  a  lady  who  boiled  up  a  mash  of  sweet, 
apples  and  fed  to  the  bees,  because  they 
were  short  of  stores,  and  she  could  not  af- 
ford to  buy  sugar  for  them.  They  all  died 
of  dysentery,  long  before  spring.  Where 
dampness  accumulates  from  their  breath, 
and  settles  on  the  combs,  diluting  the 
honey,  it  is  very  apt  to  cause  these  symp- 
toms. Sorghum  syrup  has  brought  on  a  very 
aggravated  form,  and  burnt  candy  or  sugar 
is  almost  sure  poison  to  bees,  although  it 
may  be  fed  them  with  impunity  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  summer.  The  burnt  sugar,  or 
caramel,  attracts  moisture  from  the  air 


DYSENTERY. 


119 


DYSENTERY. 


Tery  rapidly  in  damp  weather,  and  I  am 
inclined  to  think  it  is  this  moistnre  that 
produces  the  disease. 

While  it  is  very  certain  that  no  such  symp- 
toms are  fonnd  in  warm  weather,  it  is  also 
■certain  that  a  strong  colony  in  a  hive  with 
soft.  warm.  dry.  porous  walls,  will  stand  an 
amount  of  bad  food  that  a  weak  one.  or  one 
exposed  to  drafts  of  cold  air.  will  not.  I 
have  known  bees  having  considerable  stores 
■of  cider,  to  winter  very  well  if  the  colony 
were  strong  enough  to  keep  the  whole  in- 
terior of  the  hive  dry  and  warm.  A  power- 
ful colony,  if  left  with  their  hive  uncovered 
diu'ing  a  rain  storm,  will  soon  dry  them- 
selves :  and  while  they  are  doing  this  they 
remind  one  of  a  sturdy  cart-horse  as  he 
shakes  the  water  ofE  his  hide  and  dries  him- 
-self  by  his  internal  animal  heat.  While  they 
have  the  health  and  numbers  to  repel  mois- 
ture in  this  way,  they  are  safe  against  al- 
most any  thing.  But  to  help  them  to  keep 
this  internal  strength,  they  should  have  close 
and  comfortable  quarters,  very  much  such 
as  we  would  need  for  ourselves  to  enable 
us  to  pass  a  severe  winter's  night  in  health 
and  comfort.  The  hives  often  used  are  so 
large  and  barn-like,  in  respect  to  the  win- 
ter's brood-nest,  that  comfort  is  almost  out 
of  the  question,  for  it  does  little  if  any  good 
to  pile  straw,  corn-fodder,  etc.,  over  the  out- 
;sides  of  the  hives,  while  the  cluster  within 
has  no  sort  of  protection  at  all.  If  they  were 
in  a  hollow  tree,  the  diameter  of  which  was 
-SO  small  that  they  could  till  it  completely, 
they  would  be  in  a  much  better  place,  espe- 
cially if  the  sides  were  lined  with  soft  dry 
rotten  wood.  I  have  seen  icicles  nearly  as 
large  as  my  arm,  in  box  hives  that  were 
tight  and  large ;  these  had  all  formed  from 
the  condensation  of  the  breath  of  the  bees. 
Xow.  should  they  melt  during  a  thaw,  in 
such  a  way  that  this  water  would  run  do\^•n 
on  the  bees  and  their  misealed  stores,  it 
would  be  very  apt  to  produce  unhealthiness, 
to  say  nothing  further. 

THE  AGENCY  OF  THE  APHIDES  IX  PRODUC- 
IXG  DYSEXTERY. 

Perhaps  the  most  productive  cause  of 
■dysentery  is  the  honey  from  the  aphides 
(see  HoxEY  -  dew)  :  or,  at  least,  most 
complaints  have  been  made  of  this  honey. 
As  bees  seldom  touch  this,  except  dm-- 
ing  drouths  or  unfavorable  seasons,  it  no 
doubt  has  been  the  cause  of  much  of 
the  mischief.  If  the  early  honey  is  all 
extracted  from  the  brood-combs,  and  the 
bees  left  with  nothing  but  this  bad  honey, 
gathered  late  in  the  fall,  the  matter  is  much 


worse  :  and  many  cases  have  been  reported, 
of  colonies  dying  where  the  extractor  had 
been  used,  while  those  untouched  had  been 
free  from  the  disease.  The  moral  is,  re- 
frain from  extracting  too  closely  from  the 
brood-apartment.  I  would  at  least  let  the 
bees  fill  their  brood-chamber  with  clover  or 
linden  honey,  just  before  the  yield  ceases, 
extracting  toward  the  close  of  the  harvest, 
only  from  the  combs  in  the  upper  story,  un- 
less we  choose  to  feed  them  up  for  Tsinter, 
on  sugar  or  candy.  We  have  had  one  or 
two  favorable  reports  of  wintering  on  the 
aphidian  honey,  from  which  we  may  con- 
clude it  is  not  always  deleterious. 

PREVEXTIOX  OF  DYSEXTERY. 

From  what  I  have  said,  one  will  probably 
infer  that  I  would  make  the  swarm  larger 
or  the  hive  smaller,  during  the  winter  sea- 
son. If  we  say.  also,  have  the  walls  of  the 
hive  of  some  warm  porous  material  that  will 
absorb  moisture  and  afterward  dry  out  read- 
ily, we  have  the  idea  so  far.  Perhaps  the 
chaff  cushions  and  division-boards  are  the 
readiest  means  at  our  command  of  accom- 
plishing this. 

While  they  might  get  along  on  almost  any 
kind  of  food  when  thus  prepared.  I  would 
by  no  means  fail  to  give  them  good  whole- 
some stores,  as  far  as  possible.  Honey  gath- 
ered in  the  middle  of  the  season  is  generally 
wholesome ;  for  by  the  time  winter  comes, 
it  is  thoroughly  ripened  by  the  same  dry- 
ing-out power  I  have  spoken  of.  Honey 
gathered  in  the  fall,  if  sealed  up.  is  generally 
good  :  but  some  of  the  fall  flowers  produce  a 
honey  that  seems  to  separate  into  a  thin 
watery  liquid,  and  a  granular  substance, 
something  like  candied  honey.  I  am  not 
quite  siu'e  this  causes  dysentery,  but  it  looks 
in  some  seasons  very  much  as  if  it  does.  A 
s}Tup  made  of  white  or  granulated  sugar,  I 
believe,  is  always  wholesome :  and  when  bees 
are  short  of  stores,  it  is  probably  the  cheap- 
est and  safest  of  any  thing  we  can  feed  late 
in  the  fall.  '  ■  J 

I  once  wintered  a  colony  on  sugar  stores, 
that  came  out  so  healthy  in  the  spring  that 
they  did  not  even  spot  the  white  snow  visi- 
bly, when  they  voided  their  excrement  at 
their  first  flight  in  the  spring.  This.  I  be- 
lieve, we  may  consider  perfect  freedom  from 
any  sign  of  dysentery.  A  friend,  who  is  an 
old  -  time  box-hive  bee-keeper,  says  it  is  the 
pollen  that  makes  them  spot  the  snow ;  that, 
if  they  are  wintered  ^Nithout  pollen,  they 
will  make  no  perceptible  spot.  I  think  there 
may  be  some  truth  in  this,  for  those  winter- 


DYSENTERY. 


120 


DYSENTERY. 


ed  without  pollen  seem  to  spot  the  snow  but 
little.  Spotting  the  snow  is  not  always  an 
indication  that  we  should  be  alarmed,  espe- 
cially if  the  bees  seem  to  rise  without  trou- 
ble, and  get  back  to  the  hive  in  safety;  but 
should  they  soil  the  entrance  and  inside  of 
their  hives,  and  then  fall  around  the  en- 
trance in  considerable  numbers,  unable  to 
take  wing,  it  is  pretty  safe  to  say  that,  with- 
out very  warm  fine  weather,  they  will  soon  be 
demoralized  and  broken  up. 

CURE  FOE,  DYSENTERY. 

If  the  affected  colonies  are  outdoors,  about 
the  only  real  remedy  is  settled  warm  wea- 
ther. Even  one  good  warm  day  will  often 
serve  to  alleviate  the  trouble,  as  it  gives  the 
bees  a  chance  to  void  their  excrement  out  in 
the  open  air,  away  from  the  hives  and  the 
combs.  Otherwise  the  continued  confine- 
ment during  an  extended  cold  spell  some- 
times compels  the  bees  to  retain  their  faeces 
or  excreta  so  long  that  they  are  finally  forced 
to  void  it  over  the  combs  and  over  the  hives. 
In  such  cases,  where  one  has  good  nice  clean 
combs  of  sealed  honey  he  may  take  out  the 
combs  and  replace  with  the  clean  ones.  At 
the  same  time  the  brood-nest  should  be  con- 
tracted down  to  a  space  the  bees  can  fill. 
But  this  work  should  never  be  done  on  a 
cool  day — only  when  it  is  warm  and  balmy, 
as  I  have  explained.  But  the  practical  bee- 
keeper of  to-day  does  not  make  it  a  rule  to 
fuss  with  colonies  affected  with  dysentery ; 
for  he  knows  that,  as  soon  as  warm  weather 
comes  on,  the  trouble  will  disappear  of  it- 
self, in  all  such  colonies  that  are  not  too  far 
gone  and  too  weak  to  recover. 


COLONIES  AFFECTED  WITH  DYSENTERY  IN 
INDOOR  REPOSITORIES. 

After  a  very  long  cold  winter,  if  the  stores 
in  the  comb  are  nott)f  the  best,  some  of  the 
hives  in  the  cellar  are  likely  to  be  spotted, 
I  showing  unmistakable  signs  of  dysentery. 
Some  have  recommended  taking  all  such 
colonies,  carrying  them  outdoors,  and  let- 
ting them  have  a  good  flight  the  first  warm 
day,  then  taking  them  back  to  the  cellar 
again.  While,  theoretically,  this  would  seem 
to  be  good  practice,  yet  actual  experience 
shows  it  does  but  little  good.   There  is  very 
little  that  can  be  done  for  such  colonies,  un- 
j  less  it  be  to  remove  the  combs  that  are  badly 
soiled,  and  putting  in  their  place  combs  of 
j  sealed  sugar-syrup  stores,  for  sugar  syrup 
I  that  is  nicely  ripened  in  the  combs  is  surely 
!  the  best  food  that  bees  can  have  for  winter. 
Well-ripened  white  clover  or  basswood,  or 
any  other  good  quality  of  white  honey,  will 
do  nearly  as  well. 

As  a  rule  I  would  not  advise  tinkering 
with  sick  colonies  in  the  cellar.  If  they  get 
to  be  very  bad,  and  will  surely  die  if  left  in 
the  cellar,  take  them  out  and  put  them  on 
their  summer  stands,  no  matter  how  cold; 
then  put  packing-cases  and  straw  around 
them,  protecting  them  as  much  as  possible  ; 
but  probably,  in  spite  of  all  that  one  can  do, 
all  such  colonies  will  die  any  way,  and  the 
only  benefit  that  one  secures  is  getting  the 
bees  that  are  soiling  up  the  cellar,  and  their 
hives,  away  from  the  rest  of  the  healthy 
bees— not  that  the  disease  is  contagious,  but 
because  from  the  standpoint  of  cleanliness 
the  cellar  should  be  kept  as  clean  and  sweet 
as  possible. 


£ 


ZSIMXSIMEZZSS  OF  BEES.  These  are.  so 
far  as  I  know,  taking  them  alphabetically. 
AXTS,  Bee-moths,  birds  (king-birds),  mice, 
parasites,  skunks.  Toads  (and  frogs),  and 
■wasps.  Perhaps  I  should  also  add.  wicked 
boys  or  men  who  have  so  little  regard  for 
the  rights  and  faithful  hard  earnings  of  their 
fellows,  that  they  sometimes  steal  hives, 
honey  and  all.  just  for  the  tTifling  amoimt  of 
honey  to  be  got  from  the  mashed-up  ruins 
which  they  generally  make  of  the  bees  and 
hives.  It  has  been  said,  and  with  much  jus- 
tice, that  ignorant  bee-keepers  are  the  bees' 
worst  enemies.  If  ignorance  had  coupled 
with  it  willful  deceit  and  fraud.  I  do  not 
know  but  that  I  should  subscribe  to  the  as- 
sertion ;  but  as  those  who  have  been  igno- 
ant  are  now  very  rapidly  becoming  educated 
ed  and  intelligent  bee-keepers.  I  have  much 
charity  for  them.  The  man  who  is  persis- 
tently and  willfully  bad.  is  not  only  the 
worst  enemy  of  bees,  but  of  all  mankind, 
himself  included :  and  of  this  class  are 
the  greater  part  of  those  who  take  money 
for  their  pretended  inventions  in  bee-hives. 
I  am  speaking  severely.  I  am  aware ;  but 
could  you,  year  after  year,  hear,  as  I 
have,  the  statements  of  those  who  have 
taken  up  the  pursuit  with  all  honest  en- 
thusiasm, and  hear  them  tell  of  how  they 
have  invested  money  and  time,  all  in  a 
wrong  direction,  of  how  they  have  been  pur- 
posely kept  in  the  dark  in  regard  to  what  was 
really  known  about  bees,  of  how  they  have 
been  told  that  the  bee-moth  is  the  one  great 
enemy,  and  that  no  one  else  has  the  secret 
of  its  banishment.  I  think  you  would  agree 
that  these  land-sharks  in  human  form  are 
worse  enemies  than  all  the  moths,  birds,  and 
toads  combined,  that  ever  infested  the 
neighborhood  of  bee-hives. 

Ants  and  bee-moths  have  been  noticed  al- 
ready in  their  respective  places. 

BIKDS. 

King-birds  and  bee-martins,  and  a  few 
other  insectivorous  birds,  prey  on  bees.   1 1 
once  saw  one  king-bird  capture  six  or  eight ; 
bees  on  as  many  trips,  on  the  wing.   It ; 
would  alight  on  the  peak  of  the  barn  near 
the  apiary,  and  then  make  a  dive  through  i 


the  air.  grab  one  bee  on  the  wing,  return  to 
'  its  perch,  and  dispose  of  its  morsel,  and  then 
catch  another. 

1  There  have  been  a  nmnber  of  conflicting 
'  reports  as  to  whether  king-birds  do  or  do 
not  swallow  their  victims.  Some  have  as- 
serted that  they  do.  and  afterward  expelled 
the  ball  of  bees.  At  one  experiment  station 
a  niunber  of  king-birds  were  shot,  and  the 
conclusion,  after  examining  their  crops,  was 
that  they  did  not  eat  bees :  but  from  observa- 
tions that  have  been  made  since  it  appears 
that  the  king-bird  does  not  generally  swallow 
worker  bees.  It  grabs  the  bee.  flies  away, 
and.  after  it  alights  on  some  perch  with  its 
'  victim  in  its  beak,  bites  away  until  it  ab- 
sorbs the  honey  or  juices,  when  it  drops  the 
carcass,  and  flies  away  for  another,  which  it 
treats  in  the  same  way.  Observers  have  re- 
ported seeing  these  carcasses  of  bees  below 
the  birds'  favorite  perches:  and  if  this  be 
true,  the  reports  of  the  experiment  station 
above  mentioned  prove  nothing. 

The  loss  of  a  few  bees  which  the  birds 
might  kill  would  amount  to  nothing  :  but  in 
large  queen-rearing  yards,  if  the  birds  are 
allowed  to  go  immolested  there  is  quite 
I  likely  to  be  a  loss  of  young  queens: "for  no 
doubt  the  birds  select  the  largest  and  slow- 
est-flying bees,  and  these,  of  coirrse.  wiU  be 
queens  and  drones.  If  such  be  the  case,  the 
'  owner  of  a  queen-rearing  yard  would  do  well 
to  use  his  shotgim  until  every  thing  in  the 
way  of  king-birds  and  bee-martins  is  de- 
stroyed. 

MICE. 

Mice  do  harm  only  when  they  get  into  the 
hives,  and  this  part  of  the  subject  wiU  be 
sufliciently  noticed  imder  the  head  of  Ex- 
TKAXCES.  It  may  be  well  to  remark,  that 
mice  sometimes  make  sad  ha\«c  among  siu'- 
plus  combs,  when  stored  away  with  small 
patches  of  honey  in  them.'s  The  combs  will 
be  completely  riddled-^^f  dimng  the  AA*inter 
time,  if  they  are  left  where  mice  can  get  at 
them.  On  this  account,  the  honey-house 
should  be  mouse-proof  :  and  for  fear  that  a 
stray  one  may  by  accident  get  in.  it  is  well 
to  keep  a  trap  ready,  baited  with  toasted 
cheese.  If  you  have  not  a  tight  room,  make 
a  tight  box,  large  enough  to  hold  all  the  sur- 


ENEMIES  OF  BEES.  122  ENTRANCES  TO  HIYES. 


plus  combs  which  have  honey  in  them.  See 

E^^TRANOE-. 

PARASITES. 

The  only  parasite  we  have  ever  seen  is 
the  Bvaula,  or  Italian  bee-louse,  and  we 
have  never  seen  them  except  on  bees  just 
imported  from  Italy.  I  feel  safe  in  saying 
no  fear  may  be  anticipated  from  them,  if  the 
bees  are  kept  in  strong  colonies,  and  in  clean 
tight  hives,  with  no  old  refuse  and  rubbish 
accumulating  about  them.  One  or  two  re- 
ports have  been  received  of  bee-lice  in  our 
own  country,  but  they  were  exceptions. 

SKUNKS.* 

Skunks  have  been  known  to  approach  the 
hive  at  night  time,  and,  by  scratching 
on  or  near  the  alighting-board,  to  entice  the 
bees  out  where  they  could  "  gobble  them 
up."  It  would  seem  a  little  strange  that 
these  animals  have  no  fear  of  stings,  but 
they,  doubtless,  are  guided  by  a  sort  of  in- 
stinct that  enables  them  to  divine  how  to 
get  hold  of  the  bee  with  its  sweet  morsel  of 
honey  in  its  honey-sac,  without  receiving 
harm  from  the  sting. 

SPIDERS. 

Spiders  as  well  as  toads  seem  to  have  a  rare 
appreciation  of  a  heavily  laden  bee  as  it  re- 
turns to  the  hive;  we  should  therefore  be 
careful  that  all  spider-webs  be  faithfully 
kept  brushed  away  from  the  hives,  and  that 
the  hives  have  no  corners  or  crevices  about 
them,  to  harbor  such  insects.  Be  sure  there 
is  no  place  which  the  broom  will  not  clear 
out  at  one  sweep ;  for  where  we've  a  hundred 
hives  we  can  not  well  spend  a  great  amount 
of  time  on  each  single  one.  The  house-apia- 
ry is  quite  convenient  in  this  respect,  and  it 
gives  me  a  fine  appetite  for  breakfast  to 
go  out  bareheaded,  and  brush  off  every  trace 
of  a  web,  with  such  genuine  good  will  that 
the  poor  spiders,  as  soon  as  they  have  recov- 
ered from  their  astonishment,  with  one  ac- 
cord agree  that  the  locality  is  an  unhealthy 
one  for  those  who  believe  in  driving  a  thrif- 
ty business. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  many  of  these 
so-called  enemies  only  take  up  the  destruc- 
tion of  bees  as  a  chance  habit,  and  that  it  is 
not  always  to  be  looked  for  or  expected. 
Common  fowls  sometimes  get  a  habit  of  eat- 
ing their  own  eggs ;  but  it  is  so  unusual  an  oc- 
currence that  we  can  hardly  regard  it  as  a 


*A  lady  correspondent  in  Gleanivgs  in  Bee  Culture, 
pag-e  866,  Vol.  XV.,  write.s  that  she  effectually  g-ot 
rid  of  skunks  by  the  use  of  Roug-h  on  Rats  stirred 
in  an  eg-g.  This  mixture  was  placed  at  the  entrance 
of  hives  previously  visited  by  skunks.  After  the 
doses  had  been  repeated  two  eveninys  in  succession 
the  skunks  never  again  paid  their  visitations. 


matter  of  any  very  serious  importance.  It 
may  be  well,  at  times,  to  look  out  for  the- 
enemies  that  prey  on  bees;  but,  as.a  general 
thing,  I  think  they  are  quite  capable  of 
fighting  their  own  battles,  if  we  give  them 
the  proper  care  and  proper  hives. 

It  was  Mr.  L.  L.  Langstroth,  just  before 
he  died,  who  showed  how  spiders  may  be  of 
value  to  the  bee-keeper.  If,  he  said,  they 
have  access  freely  to  combs  stored  in 
stacked-up  hives  in  the  apiary,  there  never 
need  be  any  fear  that  the  moth-worm  or 
moth-miller  will  be  able  to  do  any  damage, 
for  the  spiders  will  very  shortly  destroy 
them. 

WASPS. 

Wasps  and  hornets  sometimes  capture  and 
carry  off  honey-bees;  but  unless  they  should 
take  part  in  the  work  in  great  numbers,  I 
w^ould  have  no  solicitude  in  regard  to  them. 

A  large  fly,  called  the  bee-hawk,  or  mos- 
quito-hawk, has  been  mentioned  by  our 
Southern  neighbors,  but  it  is  said  to  be  easi- 
ly frightened  away  by  opening  a  vigorous 
warfare  with  whips  and  sticks.* 

THIEVES. 

Thieves  are  sometimes  troublesome  at  out- 
yards,  and  once  in  a  great  while  at  home 
yards.  The  best  way  to  put  a  stop  to  their 
depredations  is  to  put  up  a  sign  or  two  olf  er- 
ing  fifty  or  a  hundred  dollars  reward  for  the 
arrest  and  conviction  of  the  guilty  parties. 
The  thief  is  immediately  warned  that  a 
price  is  put  upon  his  head,  and  that  he  had 
best,  if  he  knows  when  he  is  well  off,  stop 
his  stealing.  It  is  seldom  that  the  reward 
money  is  ever  called  for,  and  farther  annoy- 
ance is  stopped. 

ENTRANCE -GUARDS.   See  DRONES. 

i:i>TT£lA3>rC£S  TO  HIVES.   I  da 

not  know  that  it  makes  any  very  great  differ- 
ence to  the  bees,  or  with  the  amount  of  hon- 
ey gathered,  where  the  entrance  is ;  wheth- 
er at  the  very  lowest  part  of  the  hive,  or 
right  in  the  top.  I  have  had  them  do  well 
with  their  entrance  in  almost  all  positions. 
On  many  accounts,  an  entrance  even  with^ 
or  a  little  below,  the  bottom-board  of  the 
hive  wwld  be  most  desirable.  This  gives 
the  bees  every  facility  for  removing  filth,  or 
dead  bees  that  frequently  clog  the  hive  and 
combs  in  cold  weather,  also  bits  of  refuse 
comb,  cappings  from  the  cells,  dust, etc.,  for 
this  all  falls  to  the  bottom  of  the  hive,  and 
is  naturally  carried  toward  the  entrance  by 

*  For  further  particulars,  and  also  for  descriptions 
of  Asihis  Mimmrievsis  Mallophura  orcina,  Mallnpho- 
rabnmhoides,  Rxici  other  insect-enemies  of  bees,  see 
Prof.  Cook's  M'tnual. 


EKTRA^TCES  TO  HIVES. 


123 


EOTRANCES  TO  HIVES. 


the  passage,  out  and  in,  of  the  inmates.  Al- 
so, if  the  upper  part  of  the  hive  is  close  and 
warm,  the  warm  air  generated  by  the  clus- 
ter, rising  by  its  lightness,  compared  with  i 
the  colder  air  outdoors,  has  a  much  less 
chance  for  escape  than  if  the  entrance  were 
nearer  the  top  of  the  hive.  If  the  entrance 
is  a  little  below  the  bottom -board,  cold 
winds  and  storms  are  not  so  readily  ad- 
mitted. 

It  has  been  said,  that  an  entrance  part  way 
up  will  not  be  so  liable  to  become  clogged 
with  dead  bees.  This  I  admit ;  but  I  think 
it  would  be  much  better  to  have  no  dead 
bees  at  all  in  the  hive,  and  we  seldom,  if 
ever,  see  any  in  the  chafC  hive  or  in  any  hive 
that  is  equally  well  protected^os,  it  has  also 
been  said,  that  if  the  bees  could  get  in  near- 
er the  top  of  the  hive,  they  Avould  have  a 
short  path  to  the  center  of  the  brood-nest, 
where  they  generally  make  their  way  about  j 
as  soon  as  they  gain  a  foothold.  This  I  ad- 
mit in  part;  but  if  we  give  the  bees  this  short 
cut  in,  we  also  give  the  warm  air  of  the 
brood-nest  a  short  cut  out.  Besides,  with 
the  shallow  L.  frames  we  use  and  advise, 
the  bees  have  but  a  short  distance  to  climb. 


HIVE-STAi^D. 


The  illustration  above  shows  a  hive-stand 
to  be  used  in  connection  with  the  Dovetailed 
hive  recommended  in  this  work.  The  slop- 
ing front  leads  directly  up  to  the  bottom-  i 
board ;  and  if  perchance  the  bees  fall  laden 
with  honey,  on  the  ground  in  front  of  the 
entrance,  they  can  easily  crawl  up  on  this 
slanting  front  into  the  hive.  The  hive  may 
be  set  upon  the  ground,  but  it  should 
be  set  upon  four  bricks,  and  the  grass  and 
weeds  should  be  kept  mowed  down  away 
from  the  entrance,  or  should  be  cut  away 
entirely,  leaving  a  mere  hard-pan  of  ground 
leading  toward  the  entrance.  But,  all 
things  considered,  I  recommend  the  hive-  i 
stand,  as  it  keeps  the  hive  nice  and  dry,  and 
the  bottom-board  from  rotting;  and,  what 
is  of  considerable  importance,  the  hive  is 
raised  up  to  a  convenient  working  distance. 
A  hive  on  the  ground  is  always  harder  to  get 
at  than  one  raised  up  a  little. 


SIZE  OF  ENTRANCES. 

With  strong  colonies  this  is  a  matter  of 
no  great  importance,  providing  the  entrance 
is  large  enough  to  let  all  the  bees  out  and 
in  readily,  in  the  height  of  the  honey  season, 
and  not  so  large  as  to  let  in  too  great  an 
amount  of  cold  air  during  the  severest  win- 
ter weather. 


DOVETAILED  HIVE. 


Edr  our  Dovetailed  hive  we  recommend 
an  entrance  the  full  width  of  the  hive,  and 
I  inch  deep.  In  later  years  it  has  been  dis- 
covered that,  during  the  honey-flow,  a  large 
entrance  not  only  prevents  the  bees  from 
hanging  out  and  loafing,  but,  to  a  consider- 
able extent  (just  how  much  we  do  not  know), 
does  away  with  swarming.  A  contracted 
entrance  causes  the  bees  to  cluster  out,  for 
the  simple  reason  they  can  not  keep  cool 
enough  in  the  hives,  as  those  bees  that  hang 
out  are  simply  loafers,  and  the  loafing  habit 
seems  to  encourage,  even  if  it  does  not  abso- 
lutely bring  about,  swarming.  See  Danzy 
bottom-board,  under  Hive-3IAking. 


B0TTO3I-B0AED. 


The  entrances  to  the  chaff  hives  are  1 
wide,  by  14  inches  long^O'.  If  the  colony 
is  a  full  one,  we  leave  them  open  full  length 
all  summer.  If  weak,  contract  to  about  one 
inch ;  and  for  nuclei,  sometimes,  so  that 
just  a  single  bee  can  pass.  We  contract 
them  by  cutting  a  piece  of  wood  13  x  2  x  f , 


EXTRACTED  HO^fEY. 


121 


EXTRACTED  HOKEY. 


and  covering  it  with  some  warm  thick  wool- 
en cloth. 

There  has  been  considerable  controversy 
as  to  whether  entrances  of  outdoor  colo- 
nies should  be  contracted  in  winter  during 
cold  spells,  and  opened  up  again  when  the 
weather  moderates.  If  they,  in  the  first 
place,  are  of  the  old-fashioned  kind,  f  inch 
deep  by  the  width  of  the  hive,  I  would  let 
them  alone  ;  but  if  they  are  of  the  more 
modern  kind,  |  by  the  width  of  the  hive, 
it  will  be  well  to  contract  down  during  cold 
weather.  See  Entrances.  After  making 
some  experiments  one  winter  we  found  that 
outdoor  colonies  that  had  an  entrance,  I  by 
the  width  of  the  hive,  suffered  greater  loss  of 
bees  than  those  that  had  the  same  entrances 
contracted  down.  At  the  approach  of  cold 
weather  or  winter  I  would  put  in  two  blocks 
so  that  there  would  be  an  opening  in  the 
middle,  I,  H,  or  2  inches,  depending  on  the 
size  of  the  colony  ;  and  I  would  leave  it  so 
all  winter,  for  I  would  not  advise  contract- 
ing or  enlarging  entrances  to  suit  the  winter 
weather.  Such  a  practice  would  involve  con- 
siderable labor:  and  if  one  were  to  forget 
and  leave  the  entrances  contracted  clear 
down,  when  the  weather  moderated  it 
would  get  clogged  up  with  dead  bees,  re- 
sulting in  death  to  the  colonies. 

If  one  is  troubled  with  meadow-moles  or 
mice  in  the  apiary  it  might  be  advisable  to 
contract  down  so  that  it  would  be  I  or  i 
inch  deep,  by  the  width  of  the  liive.  This 
will  not  give  too  much  ventilation  at  any 
time,  but  will  absolutely  prevent  the  vermin 
from  getting  into  the  hive. 

Bees  wintered  in  a  dark  cool  cellar  may 
have  wire  cloth  tacked  over  the  front339  and 
top  to  keep  them  from  getting  on  the  floor, 
if  you  choose,  but  in  this  case  you  should 
take  them  out  and  release  them  should  the 
weatlier  get  so  warm  that  they  are  impa- 
tient or  uneasy.  VYhen  bees  are  wintered 
on  their  summer  stands,  they  are  always 
ready  for  a  fly  whenever  a  warm  day  occurs, 
and  are  in  shape  to  take  care  of  themselves, 
under  almost  any  circumstances,  providing 
tliey  have  a  free  and  unobstructed  entrance. 

EXTRACTED  HOBTEV.  Liquid 
honey,  taken  from  the  comb  with  the  honey- 
extractor,  has  been  before  the  world  since 
the  year  1865,  and  much  has  been  the  discus- 
sion, pro  and  con,  in  regard  to  its  merits, 
and  its  desirableness  compared  with  comb 
honey,  for  table  use.  If  I  have  made  no 
mistake,  I  extracted  the  first  ton  of  honey 
ever  taken  from  one  apiary,  with  the  extract- 


or; and  as  it  was  put  directly  into  market, 
and  such  honey  has  been  kept  in  market  con- 
stantly ever  since,  I  have  had  a  pretty  good 
opportunity  of  knowing  all  about  it. 
I    If  all  the  extracted  honey  put  upon  the 
J  market  were  as  good  as  some  we  have  raised 
and  purchased,  there  would,  I  am  quite  sure, 
be  no  trouble  at  all  in  deciding  that  it  would 
drive  honey  in  the  comb  almost  out  of  the 
I  question.   Much  has  been  said  about  adul- 
!  teration,  and  there  has  been  some  ground 
for  it.   Glucose  has  been  used  very  largely, 
!  but  it  can  readily  be  detected  by  chemical 
I  analysis  and  by  the  taste.   Pure  glucose, 
1  that  is,  such  as  is  used  for  adulterating,  has 
a  strong  metallic  taste  that  is  almost  nau- 
seating.   One  who  has   once  tasted  the 
"stuff  will  readily  recognize  proportions 
j  exceeding  25  per  cent  in  honey.   See  Honey 
1  Adulteration. 

I  A  really  nice  article  of  extracted  honey 
I  will  bring  8  or  10  cts.,  quicker  than  a  poor 
1  article  will  bring  3  or  4 ;  and  I  have  seen 
I  some,  aye,  and  have  offered  it  for  sale  too, 
that  I  do  not  honestly  think  was  worth  over 
2c.,  if  it  was  worth  anything  at  all,  unless  to 
feed  bees.  Is  all  this  difference  on  account 
of  the  source  from  which  it  was  gathered  ? 
'Not  at  all ;  for  all  the  honey  we  get  here,  in 
the  great  majority  of  seasons,  is  from  clover 
and  linden.  Then  where  is  the  great  differ- 
ence? It  is,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes, 
simply  because  it  is  taken  from  tlie  hive 
before  it  is  ripe.  I  have  never  seen  any 
honey  I  thought  was  fit  to  extract,  until  it 
was  all  sealed  over.  Still  further,  I  do  not 
I  believe  it  is  nearly  as  nice^io,  even  .when  it 
is  all  scaled  over,  as  it  will  be  if  left  in  the 
hive  three  or  four  weeks  after  it  has  been 
all  sealed.  I  will  tell  you  some  of  my  expe- 
rience to  illustrate  the  point. 

In  1870  we  extracted,  from  our  apiary  of 
I  less  than  50  colonies,  over  3  tons  of  honey, 
i  It  was  put  up  in  1-lb.  bottles,  and  more  than 
!  half  was  sold  for  25c.  per  lb.   During  the 
I  fore  part  of  the  season,  the  honey  was  al- 
lowed to  get  pretty  well  capped  over  ;  but 
during  basswood  bloom,  we,  bees  and  all, 
got  somewhat  crazy,  I  fear,  and  they  brought 
in  what  was  but  little  better  than  sweet- 
ened water ;   we  extracted  and  put  it  in- 
to bottles,  and  hurried  it  oft  to  fill  orders, 
hoping  it  would  all  get  "  good,"  as  soon  as 
the  weather  got  cool.   It  candied  when  the 
weather  became  cool,  for  almost  all  honey 
will  candy,  or  at  least  one  portion  will  can- 
I  dy,  leaving  a  thin  watery  part,  which,  if  it 
does  not  sour,  acquires  in  time  a  disagreea- 
j  ble  brackish  flavor,  like  that  acquired  by 


EXTRACTED  HO^^EY. 


125  EXTRACTED  HONEY. 


liquids  standing  in  an  old  barrel.  At 
about  this  stage  it  shows  that  peculiar  qual- 
ity of  pushing  the  bungs  out  of  the  barrels, 
and  the  corks  out  of  the  bottles,  running 
over  on  the  shelves  and  tables,  to  the  dis- 
comfiture and  disgust  of  everybody  who 
likes  to  be  cleanly  in  his  habits.  When  I 
tasted  some  of  the  honey  in  one  of  these 
bottles,  6  months  afterward,  I  did  not  won- 
der it  had  stopped  selling,  and  I  made  up 
my  mind  it  should  no  more  be  offered  for 
sale.  I  believe  it  was  all  poured  out  of  the 
bottles,  and  sold  to  a  tobacconist.  The  con- 
tents of  the  jars  were  not  all  alike,  for  the 
thin  watery  honey  has  quite  a  tendency  to 
swim  on  top.  We,  one  season,  commenced 
to  retail  from  a  barrel  of  what  all  pronounc- 
ed fine  clover  honey.  One  day  a  custom- 
er returned  some,  saying  it  Avas  not  like 
what  he  bought  before.  We  assured  him  it 
was  drawm  from  the  same  barrel,  and  went 
and  drew  some ,  to  convince  him.  Behold  !  it 
was  sweetened  water,  compared  with  the 
first.  The  thin  honey  having  risen  to  the 
top,  it  was  the  last  to  be  drawn  out. 

Again,  new  honey  has,  many  times,  a 
rank,  disagreeable  odor  and  taste.  I  have 
been  told  that  in  the  Eastern  States 
much  honey  is  sometimes  obtained  from  the 
fields  where  onion  seeds  are  raised  for  the 
market,  and  that  this  honey,  when  first 
gathered,  is  so  strong  of  onions  that  it  can 
not  be  used.  In  a  few  weeks,  however,  this 
rank  and  disagreeable  fiavor  is  all  gone, 
and  the  honey  is  very  fair.  Eew  persons 
can  tolerate  the  strong,  aromatic  flavor  of 
basswood  honey  when  first  gathered,  and 
some  of  the  jars  I  have  mentioned,  when 
opened,  gave  one  an  impression  that  some- 
thing akin  to  turpentine  had  been  mixed 
with  the  honey.  This  was  because  it  had 
been  closely  corked  when  first  gathered;  had 
it  been  left  in  the  comb  until  sealed,  the  rm- 
pleasant  taste  would  have  been  mostly  gone. 
I  say  mostly,  for  even  sealing  does  not  seem 
to  entirely  remove  the  rank  fiavor,  unless 
the  combs  have  been  some  weeks  in  the 
hive,  r  remember  I  once  took  a  beautiful- 
looking  piece  of  comb  honey  out  of  a  jar 
that  was  found  in  the  market.  On  opening 
the  cells  I  found  the  honey  had  such  a  rank 
basswood  flavor,  that  it  was,  to  me,  quite 
disagreeable,  and  yet  I  am  fond  of  the  bass- ! 
wood  flavor.  Yery  white,  new  comb  honey  | 
is  seldom  of  the  fine,  pm^e,  sweet  fiavor  of  j 
honey  that  has  been  a  long  time  capped  i 
over,  such  as  is  found  in  the  dark-looking 
comb.  To  which  shall  we  give  the  prefer- 
ence —  looks  or  taste  ?  We  once  were  so 


busy  that  we  could  not  attend  to  extracting, 
and  so  we  raised  the  filled  stories  up,  and 
put  those  filled  with  empty  combs  just  un- 
der them  over  the  brood.  This  occupied 
little  time,  and  the  bees  were  not  hindered  in 
their  work  a  single  moment.  I  have  never 
seen  bees  amass  stores  faster.  Some  colonies 
filled  four  stories  to  repletion,  and  the  whole 
was  left  on  the  hives  until  the  latter  part  of 
the  summer.  In  fact,  I  left  them  on  the 
hives  to  be  safe  from  the  depredations  of 
the  moth,  intending  to  cut  out  the  honey 
and  sell  it  in  the  comb,  or  to  extract  it, 
whichever  form  should  prove  most  market- 
able. This  honey  was  cut  out  of  the  frames 
and  sold  the  following  winter,  and  it  was 
the  nicest  and  richest  honey  I  ever  saw  or 
tasted.  To  my  astonishment,  the  liquid 
portions,  that  ran  out  when  the  combs  were 
cut,  would  not  candy  at  all,  even  when  ex- 
posed to  a  zero  freeze.  The  honey  was  so 
thick  that  a  saucer  full  could  be  turned 
over  without  spilling 

Extracted  honey,  if  taken  out  while 
"green"  (as  I  have  often  termed  the  un- 
ripened  state),  has  a  greenish  tinge,  which 
well-ripened  honey  has  not.*  Some  speci- 
mens have  a  turbid,  or  cloudy  look,  and  I 
believe  such  honey  is  never  really  fine- 
flavored.  I  am  well  aware  that  I  am  con- 
demning the  very  honey  I  once  sold,  by 
these  remarks,  but  I  can  not  help  it.  If  I 
had  now  some  extracted  honey  such  as  was 
taken  from  those  well  -  ripened  combs,  I 
would  feel  that  it  was  preferable,  at  10  cts., 
to  that  which  sells  at  5  or  6  cents.  Proper- 
ly ripened  basswood  or  clover  honey  has  a 
sparkling  clearness,  of  a  slightly  yellowish 
tint,  and  the  flavor  is  pure  and  exquisite.  I 
have  never  seen  any  nice-looking  comb  hon- 
ey equal  to  it,  for  the  market  always  de- 
mands comb  honey  that  is  white,  and  has 
not  remained  on  the  hive  a  long  time.  I 
do  not  mean  to  say  that  extracted  honey 
should  be  without  color,  like  water,  for  it 
usually  has  an  amber  tint,  or  it  may  be 
quite  yellow ;  but  it  should  be  clear,  so  that 
you  can  read  print,  without  trouble,  through 
a  jar  of  it.  After  it  has  candied,  if  it  does 
candy,  it  should  be  hard,  and  free  from  any 
liquid  portion,  like  that  in  unripened  hon- 
ey. This  thin  liquid  portion  is  the  part 
that  usually  changes  and  gives  it  the  bad 
taste.  In  fact,  if  the  liquid  portion  be 
drained  off,  the  solid  portion  may  be  melt- 
ed, and  it  will  be  found  very  nearly  like  that 
ripened  in  the  hive. 

*Pure  cleome  honey  is  an  exception.  When  ripe  I 
am  told  it  has  a  "  decidedU'  green  tinge." 


EXTRACTED  HOi^EY.  126  EXTRACTED  HONEY. 


RIPENING   HONEY  BY  ARTIFICIAL  MEANS. 

At  several  different  periods,  machines 
have  been  suggested  for  evaporating  thin 
honey  without  the  aid  of  the  bees.  The  ad- 
vantage to  be  gained  in  so  doing  is,  tliat  a 
much  larger  quantity  may  be  obtained  by 
taking  it  from  the  hive  every  day  as  fast  as 
it  is  gathered;  or,  at  least,  the  votaries  of 
these  evaporating  machines  claim  as  much. 
The  one  shown  below  is  used  by  L.  C.  Root, 
of  Stamford,  Ct. 


APPARATUS  FOR  EVAPORATING  THIN  HONEY. 

It  is  a  simple  apparatus  made  of  tin,  with 
an  inclined  top.  Upon  the  top  surface  are 
strips  of  tin  made  so  as  to  guide  the  honey 
down  the  inclined  strips,  as  shown  by  the 
arrows.  Of  course,  the  honey  is  to  be  ex- 
tracted before  it  is  capped,  or  just  as  fast  as 
the  bees  collect  it.  In  its  unripe  condition 
it  is  run  over  the  evaporator,  entering  at  the 
tube  A,  and  running  out  at  B,  fully  ripened. 
The  tube  C  is  to  fill  the  tank  with  water.  A 
thermometer  is  also  placed  in  this  tube,  to 
indicate  the  temperature.  The  heat  is  main- 
tained by  an  oil-stove. 

In  the  following  cut  we  have  an  arrange- 
ment for  accomplishing  the  same  object.  It 
is  the  invention  of 
Mr.  S.  T.  Pettit,  of 
Belmont,  Ontario. 
Mr.  Pettit  states, 
that  during  a  boun- 
tiful yield  he  often 
extracts  as  often  as 
once  in  three  days  ; 
and  when  he  gets  a 
barrelf  ul  it  is  raised 
by  means  of  a  pul- 
ley to  the  top  of  his  honey-room.  The  fau- 
cet of  the  barrel  is  then  opened  slightly,  and 
a  small  stream  of  honey  allowed  to  trickle 
upon  a  sheet  of  tin.  The  honey  drips  upon 
the  edge  of  another  sheet  placed  so  as  to  be 
inclined  in  the  opposite  direction.  From  the 
lower  edge  of  this  sheet  the  honey  drips  up- 
on the  upper  edge  of  the  third  sheet ;  from 
the  third  to  the  fourth,  and  in  this  manner 
it  continues  to  flow  from  sheet  to  sheet,  un- 
til it  passes  over  about  thirty,  when  it  runs 
into  a  large  vat.   To  prevent  the  honey 


PETTIT'S  HONEY-EVAPORATOR. 


from  running  off  the  sheets,  the  edges  are 
turned  up  slightly.  Mr.  Pettit  says  he  has 
never  thought  it  necessary  to  run  honey 
through  the  evaporator  more  than  once. 

In  California  large  shallow  vats  are  some- 
times used.  The  honey  is  left  in  these  for  a 
sufficient  length  of  time  exposed  to  the  dry 
atmosphere  and  tropical  sun  of  that  climate. 
When  it  has  attained  sufficient  density  it  is 
removed  and  put  up  in  square  cans. 

Mr.  W.  S.  Hart,  of  Hawks  Park,  Ela.,  rip- 
ens his  honey  artificially  by  means  of"  sun 
heat.  He  has  a  large  pan  made  that  has 
upright  partitions  passing  backward  and 
forward  (the  same  as  in  L.  C.  Root's  evapo- 
rator) in  such  a  way  that  the  honey  has  to 
pass  a  good  many  feet  under  glass  under  a 
tropical  sun,  before  it  finally  runs  into  a 
barrel.  This  method,  Mr.  Hart  says,  gives 
him  beautiful  thick  rich  honey,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  the  solar  heat  might  be  utilized  to 
good  advantage  in  California,  and  perhaps 
in  our  Northern  States,  in  ripening  honey 
artificially. 

The  accompanying  apparatus  is  the  inven- 
tion of  Mr.  Thomas  William  Cowan,  of  Lon- 
don, England.   The  6 
trays,  a,  6,  c,  cZ,  e,  /, 
with  transverse  parti- 
tions, have  a  double 
bottom,  with  an  inch 
space  between  each, 
for  the  passage  of  hot 
water.   Each  tray  is 
connected  by  a  pipe. 
D  is  a  boiler  heated 
by  a  lamp  or  gas-jet. 
The  hot  water  passes 
from  the  boiler  suc- 
cessively through  each 
of  the  trays  until  it 
overflows    into  the 
i  compartment  A,  from  which  the  water  is 
I  conveyed  again  to  the  boiler.   The  "green  " 
honey  is  put  into  B.   Erom  here  it  passes  to 
the  upper  end  of  tray  a,  back  and  forth 
through  the  partitions,  until  it  reaches  the 
lower  end,  whence  it  discharges  into  6,  and 
so  on  to  the  funnel  F,  and  finally  into  the 
tank  C.   The  honey  travels  a  distance  of  100 
feet  over  a  heated  surface,  and  by  this  time 
has  the  proper  thickness.   Mr.  Cowan  con- 
siders honey  so  ripened  just  as  good  as  that 
ripened  by  the  bees. 

I  have  never  tested  any  of  these  machines, 
and  am  therefore  not  prepared  to  give  an 
opinion  of  much  value  on  the  subject.  For 
all  that,  I  feel  like  expressing  a  doubt  that 
such  arrangements  will  ever  be  found  cheap- 


EXTRACTED  HOKEY.  127 


EXTRACTED  HO^^EY. 


er  and  better  than  to  let  the  bees  manage  it  j 
after  their  old-time  fashion.  ' 

HOW  TO   SELL  EXTRACTED  HONEY. 

I  would  get  it  well  ripened,  as  I  have  j 
explained,  and  then  strain  it  into  clean  tin  I 
cans,  into  barrels  coated  with  paraffine  or  ^ 
beeswax,  or  into  some  utensil  that  we  know 
will  not  taint  it  in  the  least.   Honey  is  very 
easily  damaged  by  any  thing  that  will  mar 
its  pure  flavor,  or  clear  transparent  appear- 
ance to  the  eye.   If  we  are  going  to  retail 
it  we  can  keep  it  in  a  tall  can,  with  a  honey- 
gate  at  the  bottom.   This  should  be  set  at 
a  convenient  height,  with  a  pair  of  cheap 
scales  directly  under  the  gate,  on  which  we 
can  set  the  bowls,  pitchers,  or  pails,  that 
our  customers  may  bring.   We  can  by  this 
means  weigh  it  out  to  a  fraction,  without 
any  dripping  or  daubing.   If  it  is  to  be  sold 
in  honey-jars,  the  jars  should  be  set  in  a 
basin,  under  the  gate.   I  say  in  a  basin,  for,  < 
unless  we  are  more  careful  than  people  gen- 
erally, we  will  get  some  over  the  sides,  or  | 
run  a  jar  over,  and  it  is  much  pleasanter  ; 
to  have  it  in  the  basin  than  on  the  table  or 
floor.   I  have  given  the  preference  to  the 
self -sealing  quart  fruit-jars,  because  every-  j 
body  has  use  for  these,  and  will  be  likely  to  ; 
keep  them.   If  the  jars  are  purchased  by  I 
the  gross,  they  can  be  retailed  with  the  ! 
honey,  at  a  slight  advance  on  first  cost,  full 
enough,  usually,  to    pay  all  expenses  of 
handling,  and  a  good  interest  on  the  use  of 
the  money  invested.   The  Mason  jar,  which 
we  generally  use,  costs  between  six  and 
seven  dollars  per  gross.   A  quart  jar  holds 
about  3  lbs.   The  pint  jars,  holding  li  lbs., 
sell  rather  better,  and  are  perhaps  used  more 
than  the  quarts.   I  think  it  will  be  well  to 
keep  both  kinds  on  hand,  as  well  as  some 
i-lb.  tumblers  or  jelly-cups,  for  the  multi- 
tudes who  want  "just  a  little  "  for  one  rea-  ' 
son  or  another.   If  we  commence  giving, 
now  and  then,  a  little  without  any  charge, 
we  shall  find  the  demand  a  severe  task  on 
our  time  as  well  as  honey ;  and  if  we  have 
these  small  packages  all  ready  at  hand,  for  | 
10  or  15  cts.,  you  will  find  a  great  many  will 
be  sold  in  the  course  of  a  year. 

If  you  wish  your  honey  to  keep  from  can- 
dying, seal  it  up  hot,  like  fruit,  as  directed  in 
Cajtdied  Honey.  The  self-sealing  fruit- 
jars  need  no  directions,  but  the  bottles  with 
corks  will  have  to  be  made  tight  with  melt- 
ed beeswax.  Dip  the  corks  in  melted  wax 
until  they  are  perfectly  coated  on  both 
sides,  and  then  push  them  in  place  while 
the  mouth  of  the  jar  is  hot,  and  perfectly  i 
dry.  If  it  is  wet,  or  has  the  least  particle 


of  honey  on  it,  you  can  never  make  it  air- 
tight. To  make  a  neat  job  of  it,  you  can 
dip  the  mouth  of  the  jar  carefully  in  some 
bright  nice  yellow  wax,  and  then  you  will 
have  it,  as  far  as  possible,  protected  from 
the  air  with  a  capping  of  wax,  precisely  a& 
the  bees  do  it. 

Thin,  watery  honey,  when  heated  to  melt 
the  candied  honey,  with  which  it  may 
be  commingled,  even  if  it  is  exposed  to  a 
heat  much  less  than  the  boiling-point,  will 
turn  a  dark  reddish  color,  and  the  flavor  is 
something  as  if  the  honey  was  burned 
slightly.  I,  at  first,  was  inclined  to  blame 
my  wife  for  overheating  it,  when  I  desired 
her  to  make  the  experiment ;  but  as  the 
honey  was  white  when  this  liquid  portion 
was  entirely  drained  off,  I  finally  guessed  at 
the  truth.  We  can  get  some  beautiful,  pure, 
ripe  honey  out  of  a  very  bad  lot,  by  drain- 
ing the  candied  portion  for  several  weeks, 
and  then  melting  it.±i7  See  Honey  Ped- 
dling. 

HOW  TO  keep  extracted  HONEY. 

If  the  crop  has  been  secured  early  it  is  best 
to  dispose  of  it  at  once,  when  the  market  is 
at  the  highest;  but  it  is  sometimes'advisable 
to  hold  the  honey  until  the  price  goes  up, 
which  it  is  likely  to  do  after  the  berry  season 
is  over,  when  every  one  is  thinking  of  the 
holidays,  Christmas  and  New  Year's  :  for  it 
is  then  that  honey  comes  into  fresh  demand 
again,  and  the  market  becomes  firmer. 

Extracted,  or  comb  honey  either,  for  that 
matter,  should  be  kept  in  a  room  about  as 
near  summer  temperature  as  possible.  The 
mercury  should  not  get  below  65,  and  it 
may  go  as  much  higher  as  ordinary  summer 
weather  will  permit— even  90  or  100  in  the 
shade.  Extracted,  if  kept,  should  be  stored 
in  large  tin  cans,  or,  better  still,  one  very 
large  one  capable  of  holding  eight  or  ten 
barrels,  if  the  apiarist  is  so  extensively  en- 
gaged in  bee-keeping  that  he  is  likely  to 
have  that  amount  of  honey  on  hand  at  one 
time.  Where  the  cans  hold  more  than  500 
lbs.,  it  is  customary  to  have  them  made  of 
galvanized  iron  ;  and  while  some  objection 
has  been  made  to  this  metal  because  of  its 
alleged  poisonous  nature,  yet  in  the  large - 
sized  cans  no  injury  to  the  honey  has  ever 
been  noted  :  for  it  is  the  custom  in  Califor- 
nia, Arizona,  Colorado,  and  other  States  of 
the  West,  where  large  quantities  of  extract- 
ed honey  are  produced,  to  have  the  honey 
stored  in  large  galvanized  storage-tanks, 
some  of  them  practically  good-sized  cisterns 
above  ground.  In  those  hot  climates  the 
honey  will  remain  liquid  for  some  time,  and 


EXTRACTED  H0:NEY. 


128  EXTRACTED  HONEY. 


can  be  kept  perfectly  clear  until  cool  or  cold 
weather  comes  on.  If  the  honey  has  a  ten- 
dency to  granulate  very  soon  after  extract- 
ing, it  would  not  be  advisable  to  have  it 
stored  for  any  great  length  of  time  in  these 
large  tanks.  It  should  be  drawn  off  in  the 
marketing  tin  pails  I  have  described  under 
Candied  Huney,  and  allowed  to  candy 
hard.  It  may  be  kept  in  this  condition  for 
a  year  or  two,  without  detriment;  and  when- 
ever it  is  used  it  may  be  liquefied  by  the  di- 
rections that  go  with  the  package. 

Ordinarily  I  would  not  advise  the  storage 
of  honey  for  any  considerable  time  in  bar- 
rels :  but  when  no  other  storage  room  is 
admissible,  barrels  may  be  used,  but  they 
should  be  watched  t<i  see  that  they  do  not 
start  to  leaking  in  the  honey-room  ;  and  oc- 
casionally the  hoops  should  be  driven  down 
to  compensate  for  the  slight  shrinkage  that 
may  take  place ;  for  it  is  a  fact  that  the 
staves  of  barrels,  even  when  filled  with 
honey,  will  shrink  somewhat  in  dry  hot 
rooms,  with  the  result  that  there  will  be  a 
leakage,  and  possibly  robbing  on  the  part  of 
the  bees.   See  Barrels. 

VARIOUS    PACKAGES    FOR    S^HIPPING  AND 
SELLING  EXTRACTED  HONEY. 

The  variety,  style,  and  kind  of  packages 
that  have  been  used  for  putting  up  extracted 
honey  for  retail  purposes  are  almost  unlim- 
ited. It  is  the  usual  rule  that,  for  any  thing 
less  than  3  lbs.  capacity,  glass  should  be 
used  ;  for  any  thing  larger,  tin  c  ms  or  pails. 
Perhaps  the  most  popular  gl  iss  package  is 
the  Mason  jars  already  spoken  of.  They  are 
popular  because  they  can  be  bought  at  any 
grocery,  and  no  one  objects  to  buying  them 
with  the  honey,  because  they  are  always  a 
useful  article  in  domestic  economy. 


Another  package  used  very  largely  is  the 
Muth  bottles  that  are  made  especially  for  | 


holding  honey.  Molded  right  into  the  glass 
itself  is  the  image  of  an  old  straw  bee-hive 
and  the  words  "Pure  Honey."   These  bot- 


tles are  square  in  shape,  and  are  nice  for 
shipping  and  for  retailing  small  quantities. 
The  smallest  size  is  especially  adapted  for 
holding  a  dime's  worth  of  honey,  and,  all  in 
all,  it  is  a  very  pretty  size. 


GLASS  HONEY-JAR,  PAIL,  AND  TUMBLER. 


Another  package  much  used  is  the  jelly- 
tumbler,  and  this,  like  the  Mason  jar,  has 
the  advantage  that  it  is  a  useful  article  in 
the  house. 

With  each  one  there  is  usually  a  little  cir- 
cular piece  of  paraffined  paper.  After  the 
tumbler  is  filled  with  honey  the  paper  is 
placed  on  top,  after  which  the  tin  cap  is 
crowded  down  over  the  whole,  making  an 
almost  hermetical  sealing. 


EXTRACTED  HONEY.  129 


EXTRACTED  HOXEY. 


Another  favorite  pacl^age,  especially  for 
display  purposes,  is  what  is  known  as  the 
1^0.  25  jar.  It  is  self-sealing,  something  on 
the  order  of  the  Mason  can.  It  is  handsome 
in  appearance  and  cheap  in  price.  These 
are  used  very  largely. 


are  not  nearly  as  desirable  as  glass.  Crystal- 
white  honey  itself  is  beautiful,  and  to  con- 
ceal it  from  sight  by  tin  and  a  fancy  label  is 
a  mistake.  The  purchaser  of  a  small  quan- 
tity requires  to  see  what  he  is  buying  ;  and 
when  the  tin  package  and  the  glass  package 
of  equal  size  are  put  side  by  side  on  the 
counter,  it  is  the  universal  experience  that 


HOW  THE  NO.  25  JAR  IS  PACKED. 

But  one  who  does  a  large  business  in  put- 
ting up  honey  in  glass  should  not  confine 
himself  strictly  to  one  size  or  kind  of  pack- 
age. For  purposes  of  display  at  groceries 
he  should  have  an  assortment  of  Muth  bot- 
tles. Mason  jars,  ielly -tumblers,  and  some 
of  the  lifo.  25.  An  assortment  of  these  can 
be  very  tastily  arranged  in  the  grocery 
show-window.  Sometimes  a  little  honey- 
stand  may  be  used  to  advantage.  The  one 
shown  below  is  the  one  that  was  used  by 


SLOPmO-SIDE  PAIL. 

t  n  should  not  be  used  for  quantities  less 
than  5  lbs.,  to  say  the  least.  Above  this 
size  lard-pails  and  nested  pails  are  used. 
The  former  have  sloping  sides  and  can  be 
nested  together  in  so  small  a  compass  that 
ICO  7i-lb.  size  can  be  put  in  a  barrel ;  but 
such  pails  are  not  adapted  to  shipping 
e  ;tracted  honey  unless  it  is  candied.  See 
Candied  Honey.  They  will  do  very  well 
for  retailing  around  and  at  local  groceries, 
'i  he  same  is  true  of  the  nested  pails  below. 


A  NEST  OF  FIVE  K AISED-COVER  PAILS. 

1  The  smallest  holds  a  pint,  and  the  largest 
I  one  four  quarts.  One  reason,  perhaps,  why 
'these  pails  are  sold  for  the  purpose  in  such 
enormous  quantities  is,  that  they  are  of  just 
such  sizes  as  to  be  extremely  convenient  for 
household  purposes.  The  pails  shown  above 
are  short,  so  as  to  be  handy  for  a  little  girPs 
or  boy's  dinner-pail,  or  other  like  purposes. 
Such  a  pail  does  not  give  the  greatest  econ- 
omy of  tin,  however,  nor  is  it  suited  for  a 
graduated  measure  like  those  shown  below. 


WILLIAMS'  STAND  FOR  SELLING  EXTRACT- 
ED HONEY. 

George  F.  Williams,  of  Kew  Philadelphia, 
Ohio.  So  much  for  glass  packages.  See 
Honey  Peddling. 

TIN  packages  for  HONEY. 

While  cans  holding  i,  i,  1,  or  up  to  5 
lbs.,  have  been  used  for  holding  honey  they 


THE  graduated  TIN  PAILS. 


5 


EXTRACTED  HOKEY. 


130 


EXTRACTED  HONEY. 


The  picture  explains  the  great  point  in 
their  favor ;  that  is,  that  they  will  raeasure 
accurately  any  liquid,  going  down  to  as  small 
a  quantity  as  half  a  pint,  and  as  large  a 
quantity  as  a  gallon,  where  one  has  a  com- 
plete nest.  Of  course,  suitable  labels  are  to 
be  used  for  these  pails  when  they  are  full  of 
honey :  and,  furthermore,  none  of  these  pails 
can  be  turned  upside  down  without  leakage, 
unless,  indeed,  the  honey  be  candied  so  solid 
that  it  will  not  run  in  cold  weather,  as 
is  often  the  case  with  a  w^U-ripened  article. 
These  packages  are  used  principally  by  re- 
tailers who  purchase  their  honey  by  the  bar- 
rel, and  put  it  into  pails  about  as  fast  as 
their  customers  want  it.  They  are  to  be 
carried  about,  however,  rather  than  to  be 
shipped  long  distances. 

For  large  quantities  of  from  200  to  500  lbs., 
kegs  and  barrels  may  be  used.  Some  insist 
that  the  inside  of  wooden  packages  should 
be  coated  with  parafEine,  as  explained  under 
Barrels.  Others  assert  that  this  is  useless 
and  unnecessary ;  but  if  barrels  and  kegs 
are  not  tight  without  paraffining  or  waxing, 
they  are  not  fit  to  hold  honey.  But  wooden 
packages  can  be  used  only  in  the  Eastern  or 
Middle  States.  In  the  Western  States,  es- 
pecially Arizona,  Colorado,  New  Mexico, 
and  California,  square  tin  cans  holding 
about  60  lbs.  of  honey  are  about  the  only 
shipping-package  that  can  be  used  ;  for  the 
dryness  of  the  climate  will  cause  the  wooden 
packages  to  shrink  so  as  to  be  entirely  use- 
less with  any  kind  of  treatment. 

The  square  tin  cans  of  the  West  have 
come  to  be  so  popular  that  they  are  now,  to 
some  extent,  displacing  barrels  in  the  East ; 
for  the  wooden  packages  have  a  fashion  of 
leaking,  and  running  out  on  the  bottom 
of  the  car,  causing  commission  men  and 
honey-merchants  no  end  of  trouble ;  and 
there  is  danger  that  the  wood  will  give  the 
honey  a  taint.  If  the  tin  packages  are  tight 
in  the  first  place,  they  will  always  be  tight ; 
and  no  degree  of  dryness  will  in  the  least 
affect  them  ;  and  while  they  are  somewhat 
more  expensive  per  pound  of  honey,  yet  this 
disadvantage  is  offset  by  the  convenience 
in  retailing  or  wholesaling  any  amount  less 
than  lOU  lbs.  If  a  honey-merchant  buys  a 
carload  of  extracted  honey  in  square  cans 
he  can  parcel  it  out  in  bO-lb.  or  120-lb.  or 
lOOO-lb.  lots,  just  as  he  likes,  without  break- 
ing or  opening  a  package. 

There  is  still  another  point  in  favor  of  the 
square  cans ;  namely,  there  is  never  any 
loss  of  honey  by  its  soaking  into  the  pack- 
age.  In  the  case  of  barrels  or  kegs,  the  loss 


of  honey  absorbed  into  the  wood  sometimes 
runs  up  to  two  and  even  five  per  cent  of  the 
total  amount  of  honey,  and  this  is  consider- 
able. When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  wooden 
packages  must  be  bone-dry,  and  well  coop- 
ered, one  can  see  that  a  large  amount  of 
honey  might  soak  into  the  pores  of  the 
wood.  This,  of  course,  can  be  overcome  by 
paraffining  inside  ;  but  that  involves  con- 
siderable labor 


THE  60-POUND  HONEY-CAN. 


Of  course,  the  square  cans  have  to  be 
boxed — usually  two  in  a  box — as  shown  in 
the  illustration.  They  are  sometimes  boxed 
separately. 

A  honey -gate  is  shown  in  an  enlarged 
view  at  the  right,  below  the  large  cut.  It  is 
made  of  a  piece  of  stout  charcoal  tin,  2i  x  3 
inches.  A  piece  of  heavy  leather  is  fastened 
by  four  rivets  to  this  tin.  'J'he  leather  is 
2x3  inches,  so  that  we  have  i  inch  of  the 
tin  projecting  on  two  sides.  Eold  this  tin 
which  projects,  in  such  a  way  as  to  take  in 
the  tin  slide,  as  shown  in  the  cut.  With  a 
tinner's  punch,  cut  a  hole  through  the  lea- 
ther and  tin.  In  like  manner  make  a  hole 
through  the  screw  cap,  and  solder  to  the  tin, 
as  shown  in  the  cut.  This  gives  us  a  honey- 
gate  that  will  fit  on  any  of  our  square  honey- 
cans,  so  the  grocer  need  have  but  one  hon- 
ey-gate, which  he  can  attach  to  his  square 
cans  as  fast  as  he  retails  from  them.  These 
gates  should  not  cost  over  15  cts.  each. 

Square  cans  are  u^^ed  exclusively  for  send- 
ing gasoline  and  coal  oil  to  the  Pacific  coast. 


EXTRACTOE. 


131 


EXTRACTOE. 


Francesco   de  Hruschka.  of  Venice,  who 
died  at  the  good  old  age  of  75,  in  the  year 
I  1888.   Like  a  good  many  other  inventions, 
[  its  discovery  was  made  by  accident.  His 
'  little  h'^y  chanced  to  put  a  piece  of  comb  in 
a  basket  to  which  was  attached  a  piece  of 
I  rope.   With  rope  in  hand,  the  boy  began  to 
I  whirl  it.  The  centrifugal  force  caused  a  few 
I  drops  of  honey  to  be  thrown  out  of  the  bas- 
'  ket  around  in  the  air,  and  the  father,  seeing 
it,  was  keen  enough  to  see  that  in  this 
was  a  principle,  and  the  nucleus  of  a  big  in- 
vention, and  that  it  was  not  necessary  any 
longer  to  smash  the  combs  up  and  strain  the 
honey  out  in  the  old-fashioned  way.  He 
very  soon  constructed  a  rude  extractor  that 
demonstrated  the  practical  utility  of  the 
discovery:  and,  shortly  after,  perfected  the 
machine  sho^Mi  in  the  foregoing  engrav- 
ing. 


After  they  are  emptied  they  are  sold  for 
about  half  what  new  ones  cost,  and  in  many 
cases  bee-keepers  have  used  them,  almost 
ruining  their  honey.  Some  of  the  more 
careful  ones  have  washed  them  out.  The 
one  who  has  succeeded  the  best,  and  claims 
that  second-hand  cans  are  exactly  as  good 
when  so  treated,  at  about  half  the  cost,  is 
Mr.  S.  S.  Butler,  of  Los  Gatos,  Cal.  He 
writes : 

I  melt  off  the  four  faucets  by  setting  four  cans,  with 
the  corners  that  have  the  faucets,  together,  putting  a 
shovel  of  hot  coals  on  them  A  good  worker  can  clean 
about  100  in  a  day  by  putting  in  a  handful  of  unslack- 
ed  lime  in  each,  with  3  or  i  quarts  of  boiling  water. 
After  it  is  slacked,  r  nse  it  well,  and  afterward  rinse 
out  twice  with  cold  water,  washing  them  twice  with 
lime.    In  that  way  it  will  clean  them  perfectly. 

More  recently,  to  meet  the 
wants  for  a  smaller  package 
on  the  same  plan,  manufac- 
turers have  introduced  a 
gallon  square  can  with  a  ca- 
pacity of  12  lbs.  of  honey, 
shown  in  the  accompanying 
cut.  They  are  put  up  in 
boxes  of  ten  each,  and  are 
sold  at  §1.50  per  box,  or 
oxe-Gallojs  J12-LB.  S12.00  per  hundred  without 

SQCARE  CAN.      ,        •  -r 

boxmg.  In  many  cases  it 
may  be  desirable  for  the  dealer  to  order  a 
part  of  his  extracted  honey  in  the  60-lb. 
square  cans  and  kegs,  and  a  part  in  the  12- 
Ib.  square  cans,  so  that  he  can  distribute  to 
his  customers  according  as  they  want  a 
large  or  small  package  of  liquid  honey. 

EXTRACTOR.  The  extractor,  like  the 
movable  frame,  is  one  of  the  things  that 
have  made  a  revolution  in  bee-keeping.  It 
was  invented  in  the  year  1865  by  Major  |  the  first  hoxey-extractor  ever  sold 

i  JX  THIS  COl'XTRY. 

Among  the  early  extractors  made  in  this 
country  was  one  made  by  J.  L.  Peabody. 
This  was  so  constructed  that  the  whole  can 
revolved,  and  the  honey  ran  out  through  a 
hole  cut  in  the  center.  But  this  was  poorly 
adapted  to  the  vrants  of  the  bee-keeper.  In 
1869  (see  introduction)  A.  I.  Root  construct- 
i  ed  what  he  called  the  Xovice honey- 
extractor. 

This  was  so  great  an  improvement  over 
all  those  that  had  preceded,  that  it  found 
a  ready  sale  at  once.  The  inside  baskets 
for  holding  the  combs,  in  order  to  combine 
lightness  with  the  greatest  strength,  were 
made  of  folded-tin  bars  and  tinned  wire 
cloth,  four  meshes  to  the  inch.  The  crank 
was  geared  so  that  one  revolution  made 
three  revolutions  of  the  baskets. 


HRUSCHKA  S    ORIGmAL  HOXEY-EX- 
TR  ACTOR. 


EXTRACTOE. 


132 


EXTRACTOR. 


REVERSIi^G  EXTRACTORS. 

The  basket  in  the  ISTovice  extractor  re- 
quires the  pulling-out  of  the  combs  in  order 
to  present  the  unextracted  sides  next  to  tlie 
can.   This  wastes  time,  as  well  as  being 


EXTRACTOR  WITH  SFACE   FOR   HONEY  BE- 
LOW REYOLYING-FRAME. 

awkward.  About  the  time  A.  I.  Root  wrs 
experimenting  with  extractors,  Thos.  Wm. 
Cowan,  editor  of  the  British  Bee  Journal, 
constructed  what  was  then  known  as  and  is, 
still  called  the  Cowan  reversible  extractor. 
To  obviate  the  necessity  of  removing  the 
combs,  the  pockets,  or  wire-cloth  cages,  were 
hinged,  like  an  ordinary  door,  to  a  reel  with- 
out a  center-shaft.  Combs  could  be  put  into 
these  pockets ;  and  when  one  side  was  ex- 
tracted the  pocket  could  be  swung  on  its 
hinges  the  other  side  to,  door  fashion,  with 
out  even  stopping  the  machine,  by  merely 
slowing  it  up  so  the  left  hand  could  catch 
the  edge  of  each  pocket,  throwing  it  around. 
The  adjoining  cut,  while  it  does  not 


represent  the  original  machine  made  by  Mr, 
Cowan,  shows  the  principle  used  by  him. 
This  machine  has  been  greatly  improved 
in  workmanship  and  design ;  and  it  has 
already  begun  to  exceed  the  sales  of  the 
cheaper  Novice  machine.  It  costs  but  little 
more,  but  saves  time  and  the  awkward  pull- 
ing-out of  combs  only  half  extracted.  The 
can  of  the  Cowan  is  only  8  in.  larger  than 
the  Novice  —  20  in.  outside  diameter.  The 
omission  of  the  center-shaft— its  place  being 
supplied  with  a  strong  reel  — to  hold  the 
pair  of  swinging  pockets,  makes  if  possible 
to  use  a  comparatively  small-sized  can. 

FOUR  AND   SIX  FRAME  EXTRACTORS. 

Shortly  after  the  two-frame  Cowan  was 
introduced  in  this  country  (1890),  there  came 
a  demand  from  the  bee-keepers  of  the  West, 


TWO  FRAME  REYEKSIBLE  EXTRACTOR. 


TWO-FRAME  COWAN  REEL  FRAME. 


who  produce  honey  by  the  car- 
load, for  machines  that  would 
do  the  work  in  a  still  more 
wholesale  way  than  even  the 
two-frame  reversible  Cowman. 
In  response  to  this,  four  and 
six  frame  Cowan  machines 
were  made.  The  same  prin- 
ciple of  the  swinging  pockets 
was  used  in  a  large  revolving 
reel,  as  in  the  two-frame  ma- 
chines, as  shown  in  the  next 
cut. 

The  four-frame  machines 
differ  from  the  two-frame  (1) 
in  that  the  reel  has  a  cen- 
ter-shaft ;  and  (2)  that  the 
swinging  -  pockets  are  geared 
together.   This  is  effected  by 


EXTKACTOK. 


133 


EXTRACTOK. 


the  use  of  a  sprocket-wheel  and  chain,  one 
sprocket  being  attached  to  the  bottom  hinge 
of  each  pocket ;  and  as  each  sprocket,  or 
toothed  wheel,  is  connected  together  by 
means  of  a  chain  and  rod,  the  reversing  of 
one  basket  will  necessarily  reverse  the  oth- 
ers simultaneonsly,  so  that,  ■  although  the 


mSIDE  OF  THE  FOUR-FRAME  COWMAN. 

four  and  six  frame  machines  are  larger,  the 
several  pockets,  or  cages,  can  be  reversed 
more  quickly  than  the  two  of  the  smaller 
Cowan,  because  in  this  each  pocket  has  to 
be  reversed  separately.  (3)  And  lastly  the 
large  machines  differ  in  having  street- car 
band-brakes  and  ball  bearings.  Ease  of 
running  and  ease  of  stopping  are  important 
features  in  a  large  machine. 


THE  STANLEY  AUT03IATIC  EXTRACTOR. 

This  is  a  reversible  extractor  that  was  in- 
troduced into  this  country  before  the  Cow- 
an. Although  it  is  automatic,  the  pockets 
reversing  simultaneously  with  the  reversal 


of  motion,  this  machine  never  really  gave 
good  satisfaction.  When  every  thing  hap- 
pened to  be  just  right,  the  reversing  could 
be  effected  without  any  trouble,  automatic- 
ally. The  machine  was  continually  getting 
out  of  toggle,  and  finally  it  was  abandoned 
for  the  Cowan.  Although  the  Stanley  is 
automatic,  the  reversing  can  really  be  ac- 
complished as  quickly,  and  certainly  more 
satisfactorily,  with  the  Cowan,  and  for  these 
reasons  the  Cowan  has  run  the  Stanley  out 
of  the  market. 

RIGHT    AND    WRONG    PRINCIPLES    IN  EX- 
TRACTORS. 

Some  of  the  eailier  machines  sold  in  this 
country,  notably  the  Peabody,  made  use  of  a 
revolving  can  without  gearing.  This  was  a 
mistake.  Eor  the  last  twenty  years  extract- 
ors have  been  built  Avith  stationary  cans, 
inside  of  which  the  comb-pockets,  revers- 
ible or  non-reversible,  revolve,  motion  be- 
ing imparted  by  gearing  so  that  one  turn  cf 
the  crank-handle  makes  two  or  three  turns 
of  the  baskets.  The  present  machines,  with 
stationary  cans,  with  gearing,  ball  bearings, 
baskets  inside  of  the  can  reversible,  and 
equipped  with  brakes,  are  about  as  near  per- 
fection as  any  thing  can  be.  They  have  been 
put  to  the  hardest  kind  of  strain,  and,  like 
the  bicycle,  have  gone  through  an  evolution 
so  that  an  excess  of  metal  has  been  removed 
from  places  where  so  much  was  not  need- 
ed, and  placed  on  other  parts  where  it  was 
needed. 

MORE  EXTRACTED  THAN  COMB. 

Some  of  the  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of  using  a  honey-extractor  in  the  api- 
ary are  considered  under  the  head  of  ex- 
tracted honey.  That  more  honey  can  be  ob- 
tained by  the  use  of  the  machine  than  by 
having  it  stored  in  section  boxes  in  the 
shape  of  comb  honey,  all  are  agreed;  but  all 
are  not  agreed  as  to  how  much  more.  If  it 
is  nicely  sealed  over  as  it  should  be  before 
being  extracted,  I  do  not  think  more  than  half 
as  much  more  will  be  obtained,  on  an  aver- 
age, although  the  amount  is  placed  by  many 
at  a  much  higher  figure.  A  beginner  will  be 
likely  to  get  more  extracted  than  if  he  relies 
upon  having  the  bees  work  in  sections ;  he 
will  also  be  much  more  apt  to  take  away  too 
much,  and  to  cause  his  bees  to  starve.  This 
last  is  a  very  disagreeable  feature  attendant 
upon  the  use  of  the  implement,  especially 
where  the  bee-keeper  is  prone  to  carelessness 
and  negligence.  To  secure  the  best  results 
with  the  extractor,  plenty  of  empty  combs 
should  be  provided,  that  ample  room  may  be 
given,  in  case  the  hives  should  become  full 


EXTEACTOR. 


134 


EXTRACTOE. 


before  the  honey  is  ripe  enough  to  remove. 
If  a  second  story  does  not  give  room  suffi- 
cient, I  would  add  a  third  for  a  heavy  stock, 
during  a  good  yield  of  honey. 

DIRECTIONS  FOR  USING  THE  EXTRACTOR. 

Much  will  depend  on  whether  one  has  a 
large  amount  of  houey  to  be  extracted,  or 
whether  he  is  only  a  novice  and  wishes  to 
use  the  simpler  and  cheaper  methods.  If 
he  keeps  bees  in  only  a  small  way,  and 
probably  will  not  extract  to  exceed  a  thou- 
sand pounds  in  a  season,  the  ordinary  l^oy- 
ice  extractor  will  answer  his  purpose ;  but 
as  he  never  knows  but  that  he  may  go  into 
the  business  extensively,  it  would  be  better 
to  purchase  the  two-frame  reversible  ex- 
tractor, as  the  difference  in  cost  is  very 
slight.  One  of  these  will  save  labor,  do 
quicker  work,  and  more  of  it. 


EXTRACTOR  ANCHORED  FOR  WOliK. 

Having  selected  the  machine,  it  should  be 
placed  on  a  box  about  as  large  as  the  bottom 
of  the  can,  and  about  as  high  as  an  ordinary 
water-pail ;  that  is  to  say,  the  ext'  actor 
should  be  elevated  high  enough  so  th  it  the 
honey-gate  may  empty  into  a  common  pail, 


something  as  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration.  Both  box  and  extractor  should 
be  securely  anchored  down.  As  fast  as  the 
honey  is  extracted  it  is  to  be  drawn  off  pail- 
ful after  pailful,  and  then  poured  into  kegs, 
square  cans,  cir  any  large  receiving-vat  for 
ho'ding  the  honey.  This  filling  and  empty- 
ing of  the  pails  may  seem  to  involve  quite  a 
little  labor;  Imt  I  know  one  of  the  largest 
honey- producers  in  the  world,  Mr.  W.  L. 
Cogg-hall  (see  Biographical  [Sketches),  who 
uses  identically  this  method. 

Some  prefer  to  have  the  extractor  on  a 
higher  box  so  that  the  honey-gate  can  stand 
justovtr  the  bunghole  of  a  barrel,  thus  al- 
lowing the  honey  to  go  directly  from  the 
comb  into  the  marketing-package.  But  this 
nece  sitates  raising  the  extractor  to  a  point 
so  high  in  the  air  that  it  is  inconvenient  to 
work,  and  awkward  to  put  in  and  remove 
the  combs.  It  is,  therefore,  desirable  that 
the  machine  should  be  as  close  to  the  floor 
as  possible  on  a  low  box,  low  enough  so  we 
can  run  the  honey  into  the  pail,  or  direct 
into  square  cans ;  but  if  the  honey  is  first 
run  into  an  open  tin  pail,  its  quality,  and 
whether  or  not  there  are  dead  bees  floating 
in  it,  can  be  seen  before  it  is  emptied  into 
the  regular  marketing-packages 

Eor  a  strainer  a  cheese-cloth  sack  attached 
to  the  honey-gate  will  answer  very  well,  al- 
though something  more  elabc  rate  may  have 
to  be  used  where  the  extractings  are  con- 
ducted on  an  extensive  scale. 

Where  the  production  of  extracted  honey 
goes  up  into  the  carload,  or  the  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  pounds,  it  is  advisable  to  have  an 
extracting-building  located  on  a  side  hill, 
the  first  floor  of  which  should  be  on  a  level 
with  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  the  basement 
floor  even  with  the  base  of  the  hill.  The 
c  mbs  from  the  hives  are  then  to  be  run  on 
a  comb-cart  on  a  direct  level  with  the  ex- 
tractor, which  in  this  case  \^ill  stand  on  the 
floor.  In  the  room  or  basement  below,  just 
beneath  the  extractor,  and  communicating 
directly  with  it  through  a  hole  or  pipe, 
should  be  a  large  storage  tank  that  will 
h;  Id  from  5000  to  10,000  lbs.  of  honey  at  a 
time.  Into  this  the  honey  runs  direct  from 
the  extractor  as  fast  as  it  is  taken.  Erom 
tliis  the  honey  will  be  drawn  off  into  square 
cans,  the  latter  to  be  loaded  on  a  wagon  at 
the  base  of  the  hill. 

The  illustration  next  page  shows  some- 
what how  such  a  building  is  used  in  Cali- 
fornia. Others  use  a  pipe  connecting  direct- 
ly with  the  honey-gate  of  the  extractor,  and 
leading  directly  to  a  storage-tank  that  is  on 


EXTRACTOK. 


186 


EXTRACTOR. 


a  lower  level,  and  off  at  one  side.  In  either 
case  the  extractor  is,  of  course,  secured  to 
the  floor,  and  the  operator  is  thus  enabled 
to  exert  his  power  to  the  best  advantage  in 
slinging  out  the  honey. 


COGGSHALL'S  EXTRACTING-CART. 

We  next  come  to  the  matter  of  getting  the 
combs  out  of  the  hives,  transporting  them 
to  the  extractor,  and  uncapping  them.  We 
shall  need  a  wheelbarrow  or  handcart— pref- 
erably the  latter,  for  the  wheels  are  large, 
and  the  burden  is  sustained  entirely  by  the 
cart.  The  one  that  I  would  recommend  is 
like  the  one  shown  in  the  cut  above. 

This,  as  will  be  seen,  is  nothing  but  a 
handcart  without  a  box.  The  tray  or  bot- 
tom has  cleats  around  the  outer  edges,  to 
hold  the  hive  -  bodies  or  supers  that  are 
placed  thereon  from  sliding.  This  cart, 
with  the  supers,  is  run  close  to  a  hive.  Over 
the  whole  four,  or  over  each  one  individ- 
ually, maybe  placed  a  wet  cloth  or  cloths, 
the  purpose  of  which  is  to  shut  out  robber 
bees  that  may  be  hovering  around ;  for  bees 
are  quite  disinclined  to  push  up  under  a  wet 
cloth.  We  next  open  the  hive,  pull  out  one 
comb  and  give  it  a  rapid  shaking  motion 
in  front  of  the  entrance.  The  Coggshall 
bee-brush  attached  to  our  person  by  means 
of  a  string  (see  Veils)  will  brush  off  the 
remain  ng  bees.  We  then  place  the  frame 
in  one  of  the  supers  on  the  cart.  The  next 
comb  is  then  removed ;  but  instead  of  being 
shaken  in  front  of  the  entrance  it  is  shaken  in 
the  hive.  The  few  remaining  bees  are  then 
dislodged  with  the  brush,  as  before  explain- 
ed. In  this  way  the  four  supers  on  the 
handcart  are  filled  with  combs,  and  are  then 
run  to  the  extracting-house.  On  arriving 
here  they  are  taken  care  of  by  a  couple  of 
helpers.  We  then  take  back  with  us  on  the 
cart  four  other  empty  supers,  which  are 
filled  as  were  the  others ;  but  where  one  car- 
ries on  bee-keeping  in  a  limited  way,  an 
ordinary  wheelbarrow  with  two  supers  on 
would  answer.   In  that  case  one  operator 


might  take  off  combs,  run  them  into  the 
extracting-house,  extract  them,  bring  them 
back,  and  put  them  on  the  hive  again.  Or 
he  might  put  in  the  honse  a  dozen  or  so  of 
supers  and  then  extract.  The  method  or 
methods  can  be  varied  to  suit 
the  individual  conditions  that 
may  exist ;  but  in  any  case  let 
me  urge  the  importance  of  hav- 
ing T'^nts  tucked  in  the  tops  of 
boots,  or,  if  shoes  are  worn,  in 
the  tops  of  the  stockings :  for 
during  the  operation  of  shak- 
ing the  combs  the  bees  will  be 
almost  sure  to  crawl  up  one's 
trousers  legs.  It  would  also  be 
a  wise  precaution  to  have  long 
sleeves,  on  the  ends  of  which  are  sewed 
gloves  having  the  finger-tips  all  cut  off. 
These,  when  put  on  over  the  coat  or  shirt 
sleeves,  will  prevent  the  bees  from  crawl- 
ing up  the  sleeves  or  attacking  the  wrists. 
But  all  this  annoyance  of  bees  crawling 
up  the  trousers  legs,  and  shaking  and 
brushing  off  the  bees,  stings  and  robbers 
may  be  avoided  by  the  use  of  the  bee- 
escape.   If  there  are  a  hundred  supers  to 


USING  THE  COGGSHALL  BEE-BRUSH. 


EXTRACTOR. 


187 


EXTRACTOR. 


extract  the  next  day,  a  hundred  bee-escapes 
can  be  placed  under  the  supers  the  night 
before  ;  then  during  the  afternoon  of  the 
next  day  one  can  go  to  the  hives  and  take 
ofC  super  after  super,  and  find  scarcely  a  bee 
on  a  comb ;  nor  does  it  in  any  way  anger  any 
of  the  colonies.  A  little  smoke  at  the  en- 
trance will  prevent  the  guards  from  flying 


POKTiiR  BKE-ESCAFE. 

out  and  attacking  while  the  super  is  being 
removed.  These  hundred  supers,  six  or 
eight  at  a  time,  can  then  be  run  to  the  ex- 
trac ting-house,  on  the  hand-cart,  with  never 
a  robber  in  sight,  even  during  the  robbing 
reason;  and  if  the  extracting-house  is  as 
tight  as  it  surely  ought  to  be,  the  extracting 


UNCAPPING   WITH   THE   DAD  ANT  UNCAP- 
PING -  CAN. 

can  be  done  at  any  time  with  ease  and  pleas- 
ure. But  at  out-yards  it  is  sometimes  im- 
practicable to  L.se  escapes  unless  two  trips 


are  made— one  to  put  on  the  escapes  and 
the  other  to  take  off  the  honey.  Some  apia- 
rists think  the  extra  trip  more  than  offsets 
the  inconveniences  of  the  brushing  and 
shaking  of  the  combs. 

SHAUL  WE  WAIT  TILL  THE  COMBS  ARE  CAP- 
PED OVER? 

In  some  localities  the  combs  may  be  taken 
out  of  the  hive  when  they  are  half  capped 
over ;  but  it  is  a  much  safer  rule  to  wait  till 
the  cells  are  pretty  well  covered  before  at- 
tempting to  extract.  The  honey  will  be 
thicker  and  richer,  will  sell  better,  and  the 
product  will  always  be  in  demand  from  that 
time  on.  As  to  uncapping,  I  know  of  no- 
thing any  better  than  the  Dadant  uncap- 
ping-can,  and  the  mode  of  procedure  is 
illustrated  in  the  preceding  column. 


DADANT'S  UNCAPPING-CAN. 


This  is  something  like  an  ordinary  ex- 
tractor-can, only  it  is  made  in  two  pieces  — 
the  upper  one  slipping  into  the  other.  A 
wire-cloth  partition,  as  shown  in  the  cut, 
catches  the  caps  as  they  fall,  and  the  honey 
drips  down,  to  be  drawn  off  through  the  gate. 
The  very  finest  of  the  honey  will  come  from 
this  uncapping-can,  as  it  has  all  been  ripened 
and  sealed.  While  the  caps  are  shaved  of£ 
with  the  honey -knives,  the  combs  rest  on 
the  wood  bars,  as  shown  suspended  just  be- 
low the  top  of  the  can. 

The  cut  below  shows  the  device  used  very 
successfully  by  Mr.  -J.  F.  Mclntyre,  one  of 


M'INTYRE'S  UNCAPPING-BOX. 


EXTRACTOR. 


138 


EXTRACTOR. 


those  extensive  bee-keepers  in  California 
who  produce  honey  by  the  carload,  and  the 
following  is  his  description,  taken  from 
Gleanings,  page  770,  Yol.  XVIII.: 

It  is  3  feet  wide,  2  deep,  and  6  long  outside,  made  of 
%  lumber  dressed  on  both  sides.  The  -bottom  is  2 
inches  lower  in  the  middle  than  at  the  sides,  and  is 
lined  with  tin  to  keep  it  from  leaking-.  Eleven 
pieces  of  wood,  1x1x23  inches,  are  laid  across  the 
bottom  about  6  inches  apart  to  support  the  screen 
which  the  cappings  fall  on.  This  leaves  room  below 
the  screen  for  the  honey  to  run  to  one  end,  where  it 
passes  out  through  a  tin  pipe.  Two  pieces,  %x3x73 
inches,  are  nailed  on  the  top  edge,  one  on  each  side,  to 
contract  the  top  of  the  box  to  the  same  width  that  a 
Langstroth  hive  is  long  inside.  Two  pieces,  %x%x 
18%,  nailed  one  on  each  end  between  the  two  last 
mentioned,  bring  the  ends  up  even  with  the  sides. 
One  piece,  %x3xl8?8,  is  fixed  across  the  top  of  the 
box  about  14  inches  from  one  end,  with  an  iron  pivot 
sticking  up  through  it,  1!4  inches  liigh  to  rest  the 
combs  on.  When  uncapping  you  set  one  end  of  the 
comb  on  this  pivot,  uncap  one  side,  whirl  it  around, 
and  uncap  the  other  side,  and  set  the  comb  in  the- 
end  of  the  box,  as  in  the  diagram.  When  we  have  a 
surplus  of  combs  we  often  hang  them  in  the  other 
end  of  tlie  box,  in  the  diagram.  C  is  cappings,  and 
D  the  space  for  the  honey  to  run  out. 

The  bottom  of  the  box  is  7  inches  from  the  floor, 
which  leaves  room  for  the  honej'  to  run  into  the 
strainer  arrangement  below.  This  makes  the  top 
of  the  box  about  33  inches  from  the  floor,  which  is 
about  the  right  height  for  me  to  uncap  easily.  A 
shorter  person  might  make  the  box  a  little  shallow- 
er, or  lay  a  plank  on  the  floor  to  give  the  right 
height,  which  is  the  way  I  do  when  my  wife  uncaps. 
I  know  most  people  will  think  this  box  unnecessarily 
large.  I  will  tell  you  why  I  think  it  is  not.  When 
uncapping  over  a  round  can  like  Dadant's,  the  cap- 
pings fall  on  top  of  those  taken  off  earlier  in  the 
day;  and  when  the  can  is  half  full  the  honey  has  to 
pass  through  such  a  pile  of  cappings  that  it  takes  a 
long  time  for  all  to  run  out ;  and  when  you  put  the 
cappings  in  the  sun  extractor  they  are  heavy  with 
honey.  With  this  box,  when  a  pile  of  cappings  accu- 
mulates under  the  knife  we  take  a  four-tined  fork 
and  pitch  them  over  to  the  other  end,  where  they 
may  drain  for  4  or  5  days.  There  is  a  small  stream 
of  honey  running  out  of  the  box  all  the  time,  day 
and  night,  during  the  extracting  time;  and  when  the 
cappings  go  into  the  sun  extractor  they  are  almost 
dry.  I  think  it  pays  well  for  the  extra  space  in  the 
box,  because  all  the  honey  which  goes  into  the  sun 
extractor  is  spoiled  for  the  market. 

J.  F.  McIntyre. 

There  are  many  substitutes  for  uncapping- 
cans.  ^y.  S.  Hart,  of  Hawks'  Park,  Ela., 
sent  us  a  sketch  of  one  he  uses,  made  of  a 
common  cheap  wooden  bowl.  A  tube  is 
fastened  to  the  bottom  of  the  bowl,  extend- 
ing down  through  the  table  into  a  honey- 
can  or  barrel.  A  ^\are-cloth  screen  is  put 
over  the  top  of  the  bowl,  to  catch  the  cap- 
pings ;  and  as  the  bowl  turns  on  the  tube  the 
comb  can  easily  be  swung  around  in  any 
position  while  shaving  the  caps  off. 


SHALLOW  OR  FULL -DEPTH  EXTRACTING - 
COMBS. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  whether  it  is 
better  to  use  the  shallow  extrac ting-frames 
that  are  advertised  in  most  of  the  dealers' 
catalogs.  This  depends  a  good  deal  on  the 
honey-flow  and  general  conditions.  If  the 
frame  is  as  deep  as  a  Quinby,  the  shallow 
frame  for  extracting  purposes  is  almost  a 
matter  of  necessity,  as  it  is  very  inconven- 
ient to  handle  these  large  combs,  both  in 
uncapping  and  extracting.  But  shallow 
combs  have  a  special  advantage  in  that 
bees  will  enter  a  super  containing  them 
quicker  than  they  will  one  of  full  depth. 
There  is  not  so  much  room  in  the  shallow 
supers  for  th^m  to  keep  warm  at  one  time  ; 
and  they  will,  therefore,  fill  a  set  of  shallow 
combs  when  they  would  hardly  deign  to 
enter  an  upper  story  containing  full-depth 
ones.  It  is  a  common  practice  with  a  good 
many  practical  bee-keepers  to  have  both 
shallow  extracting- combs  and  full -depth 
combs.  After  the  bees  are  well  started  to 
going  above,  the  full-depth  supers  may  be 
used.  They  may  be  also  used  on  all  strong 
colonies  ;  but  in  the  case  of  the  weaker  ones 
only  the  shallow  ones  should  be  giveu.  It  is 
thus  possible  to  get  extracted  honey  from 
weak  stocks. 

UNCAPPING-KNIVES. 

Before  we  can  extract  the  honey,  the  caps 
of  the  cells  must  be  sliced  off ;  and  several 
patterns  of  knives  have  been- designed  for  this 
purpose,  called  honey  or  uncapping  knives. 
It  is  true,  we  may  throw  out  the  honey  be- 
fore the  bees  have  had  time  to  seal  it  over ; 
but  I  believe  the  most  of  our  friends  have 
decided  in  favor  of  letting  the  bees  keep  it 
till  they  have  it  thoroughly  ripened  and 
thick,  as  we  have  before  remarked.  The 
knife  first  shown  was  devised  by  A.  I.  l^oot, 
and  very  extensively  used  the  world  over. 


THE  NOVICE  HONEY-KNIFE. 


This  knife  is  almost  as  good  as  any  for  un- 
capping, and  it  is  also  very  handy  indeed  for 
cutting  honey  or  combs.  The  blade  is  very 
thin,  sharpened  on  both  edges,  and  of  the 
very  best  steel  and  temper.  When  it  is  de- 
sired to  cut  combs  free  from  the  sides  of  the 
hive,  or  when  the  bees  have  carelessly  been 
allowed  to  build  against  the  cover,  this  knife 
will  spring  down  straight  and  close  to  the 


EXTEACTOR. 


139 


EXTRACTOR. 


wood,  so  as  to  do  a  nice  job,  scraping  off  ev- 
ery bit  of  the  wax. 

Soon  after  the  Root  knife  was  put  into  the 
market,  our  veteran  friend  M.  Quinby  had 
one  made  witli  a  curved  point,  as  shown 
below. 


•     QUINBY  HOKEY-KOTFE. 

The  curve  is  to  enable  us  to  go  down  into 
cavities  and  hollows  on  the  combs.  While 
Mr.  Quinby  and  many  others  considered  this 
quite  an  improvement,  we  have  not  found  it 
so  convenient  as  the  sharp-rounded  point  of 
our  own  knife.  Eor  a  knife  for  uncapping 
the  cells  alone,  the  Bingham  &  Hethering- 
ton  knife  shown  in  next  cut  is  far  better 
than  any  other. 


BmGHAiM  &  HETHERIJ^GTOX  HOXEY-KXIFE. 

The  above  knives  cost  from  70  cents  to 
$1.00  each.  Although  garden  and  mason 
trowels,  when  properly  ground,  can  be  used, 
they  are  at  best  poor  substitutes. 

USE  OF  PERFORATED  ZIXC  FOR  EXTRACT- 

Unless  perforated  zinc  is  used  to  prevent 
the  queen  from  going  into  the  upper  story, 
she  will,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  deposit 
eggs  there  ;  and  the  consequence  is,  brood  is 
reared  just  where  we  do  not  desire  it.  The 
practical  bee-keeper  wants  all  of  that  con- 
fined to  the  brood-nest.  During  1889  and 
'90  we  had  several  testimonies  to  the  effect 
that  zinc  excluders,  placed  between  the 
brood-nest  and  the  extracting  -  super,  did 
that  effectually.  Here  is  an  article,  witten 
for  Gleanings, vrhich  I  take  pleasure  in  copy- 
ing. It  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Mclntyre, 
as  referred  to  above. 


I     I  have  taken  so  much  comfort  -with  my  450  zinc 
;  queen-excluders  this  season,  1  am  sure  it  will  be  do- 
ing- my  neighbors  a  kindness  to  tell  them  how  they 
work.   My  hives,  and,  in  fact,  nearly  all  the  hives  in 
\  Ventura  County,  are  made  with  a  hee-space  in  the 
I  bottom  and  top  of  both  super  and  brood-chamber, 
j  which,  when  the  super  is  on,  leaves  ^  of  an  inch 
!  space  between  the  super  and  the  brood-frames.  I 
I  have  always  thought  this  a  mistake;  but  when  T  be- 
'  gan  to  think  of  using  queen-excluders,  I  saw  that,  if 
'  a  plain  unbound  zinc  excluder,  the  size  af  the  out- 
I  side  of  the  hive,  were  laid  on  the  brood-chamber,  and 
I  the  super  on  the  excluder,  the  bee-spaces  would  be 
I  all  right.    I  ordered  480  of  Root's  Xo.  1  unbound  zinc 
]  excluders  large  enough  to  fit  my  hives.   I  think  No. 
I  1  the  best,  because  they  allow  the  bees  to  pass  up 
j  and  down  more  freely  than  the  break-joint  exclud- 
I  ers.   After  trying  450  of  these  unbound  excluders 
one  season,  I  am  satisfied  that  they  are  better  in 
every  way  than  the  bound  excluders.   The  super  is 
easily  lifted  off  the  zinc,  and,  by  taking  hold  of  one 
end  of  the  zinc  and  pulling  up  and  out.  they  can  be 
peeled  oif  almost  like  cloth;  and  if  they  bend  a  little, 
just  turn  them  upside  down  when  you  put  them  on 
again.   I  bought  the  excluders  because  I  had  a  good 
manj'  drone  combs  in  my  supers;  but  I  would  not  do 
without  them  now.  if  my  super  combs  were  all  work- 
er size.   It  makes  a  fellow  feel  good  to  open  a  super 
just  before  swarming  commences,  and  find  about  a 
square  toot  of  drone  comb  all  cleaned  up  for  the 
queen  to  lay  in.   It  is  ever  so  much  nicer  to  fool  the 
bees  in  this  way  than  to  shave  the  heads  off  the 
drones.   You  don't  always  get  around  in  time  to 
shave  the  drones'  heads  off,  and  what  a  lot  of  honey 
i  is  wasted  in  rearing  them  I 

i    When  you  have  no  excluder  on  a  ten-frame  L.  hive, 
■  the  bees  will  fill  about?  combs  in  the  brood-chamber 
]  with  brood,  and  then  run  it  up  in  the  super  instead 
of  filling  the  brood-chamber  clear  across.  This 
brood  in  the  super  is  a  great  nuisance  when  you  are 
extracting.   In  California  we  leave  our  supers  on  all 
the  year  round;  and  if  the  super  is  full  of  honey  in 
the  spring  the  bees  will  build  up  faster  than  they 
I  would  if  the  hi\  e  were  contracted.   Another  point  I 
did  not  discover  until  I  put  excluders  on  all  my 
hives :   When  the  queens  are  allowed  to  go  into  the 
supers,  a  good  many  are  knocked  off  on  the  ground, 
1  and  lost,  when  brushing  the  bees  off  the  combs.  I 
did  not  find  a  fourth  as  many  queenless  colonies 
j  after  extracting  this  season  as  usual.  I  found  a  few 
!  queens  that  could  run  up  and  down  through  the  ex- 
!  cluders,  but  not  enough  to  trouble  seriously. 

J.  F.  MCIXTYRE. 

The  use  of  perforated  zinc  promises,  at  no 
distant  day,  to  revolutionize  the  methods  of 
producing  extracted  honey. 


F. 


T/LlKS—HoLc  they  may  he  used  in  the  de-  \  tured  sample  which  conld  not  he  told  from 
vtJopment  of  the  and  honey  industry.— Ot  \  the  genniiie.  Although  this  offer  has  heeii 
late,  very  much  indeed  has  be?n  accomplish-  published  broadcast  in  the  daily  papers,  no 
e  1  by  the  exhibits  of  bees,  honey,  and  apiari-  one  takes  it  up.  ^Ve  have  also  had  the  con- 
au  implements  at  State  and  county  fairs,  ditions  of  this  offer  printed  on  a  neat  little 
Several  of  the  larger  societies  have  had  very  card,  the  same  distributed  by  bee-keepers  at 
pretty  buildings  erected  on  the  fair-groimds  fairs  and  other  honey-exhibits,  so  that  the 
for  these  displays,  and  often  the  bee-keepers  general  public  could  see  at  once.  that,  if 
who  meet  at  such  places  have  very  interest-  such  a  thing  were  possible,  and  if  The  A.  I. 
ing  conventions.  Eoot  Co.  is  responsible,  there  would  be  a  bo- 

Such  exhibits  have  a  decidedly  education-  nanza  for  somebody.  As  to  extracted  honey, 
al  influence  on  the  public.  They  show  how  there  is.  perhaps,  more  adulteration  than 
h'.)ney  is  produced  :  and  not  only  that,  but  '  we  wish  for.  See  Hoxey  Adulteeatiox. 
that  it  can  be  produced  by  the  ton  and  car-  Bee-keepers,  besides  educatmg  the  gener- 
load.  On  account  of  newspaper  yarns,  al  public  as  to  the  ge?ua'?ie?iess  of  their  prod- 
there  seems  to  be  a  general  impression  ,  net,  can  create  a  larger  demand  for  honey, 
among  people  that  comb  honey  is  manufac-  '  As  a  usual  thing,  exhibitors  are  allowed  to 
tured,  and  that  the  extracted  article  is  adul-  sell  their  honey,  distribute  circulars,  and  do 
terated  with  glucose.  It  is  absolutely  im-  a  great  deal  of  profitable  advertising.  This 
possible  to  manufacture  comb,  fill  it  with  not  only  helps  the  individual,  but  helps  the 
honey,  and  cap  it  over  with  appropriate  ma-   piirsuit  in  general. 

chlnery— jnst  as  impossible  as  it  is  to  man-  The  accompanying  engraving  will  give 
uficture  eggs.  We  have  had  for  several  years  an  idea  of  how  a  model  exhibit  should 
a  standing  offer  of  SIOOO  to  any  one  who  be  arranged.  This  exhibit  was  under  the  cU- 
would  show  wdiere  comb  honey  was  manu-  I'^ct  supervision  of  Dr.  A.  B.  Mason,  at  the 
factm^ed,  or  even  procure  a  single  manufac-    Columbus,  Ohio.  Centennial. 


A  PARTIAL  VIEAV  OF  THE  APICULTUKAL   EXHIBIT    AT    I  HE    COLUMBUS  CENTEXXIAL, 
WITH  SOME  OF  THE  PROMINENT  BEE-3IEX  IX  THE  FOREGROUND. 


FEEDING  AND  FEEDEKS. 


142 


FEEDING  AND  FEEDERS. 


We  also  show  a  picture  of  an  exhibit  of 
bee-keepers'  supplies  as  made  by  The  A.  I. 
Root  Co.,  at  the  Omaha  Exposition  in  1898. 
On  another  page  is  shown  the  exterior  view 
of  the  building  in  which  this  exhibit  was 
placed.  The  exposition  authorities  were 
kind  enough  to  erect,  for  the  use  of  bee- 
keepers, a  special  building  to  represent  the 
industry  of  bees  and  honey,  and  all  the 
appliances  connected  therewith.  A  little 
intelligent,  well  directed  effort  on  the  part 
of  bee-keepers  on  the  exposition  manage- 
ment will  often  secure  very  desirable  quar- 
ters, and  sometimes  even  a  special  building. 
The  effort  is  well  worth  the  trial. 

There  should  be  shelving  arranged  in  the 
form  of  pyramids,  octagons,  semicircles,  etc. 
The  honey  should  be  put  up  in  tin  and 
glass,  in  large  and  small  packages,  and  the 
whole  should  be  neatly  "set  off  "  with  ap- 
propriate labels.  As  a  general  thing,  glass 
packages  should  have  a  very  small  label,  so 
that  as  much  of  the  liquid  honey  as  possible 
may  show.  Tin  receptacles  should  have 
labels  to  go  clear  around  the  can.  Comb 
honey  should  be  put  up  in  cartons  and  in 
shipping-cases ;  and  yellow  cakes  of  wax 
should  be  shown  in  a  variety  of  shapes. 
Besides  the  exhibit  of  honey  in  various 
styles  of  packages,  there  should  be  a  mod- 
erate collection  of  bee  -  supplies,  so  that, 
when  the  eager  public  come  along  with 
their  strings  of  questions,  they  can  be  shown 
step  by  step  the  process  of  producing  honey, 
and  its  final  putting-up  for  market.  A  good 
many  questions  will  be  asked  in  regard  to 
the  extractor.  It  will  be  called  a  churn,  a 
wasliing-machine,  and  every  thing  else  ex- 
cept what  it  really  is.  And  last,  but  not 
least  important,  there  should  be  one  or  more 
observatory  hives  to  show  the  folks  how  the 
bees  behave  when  at  home.  A  good  many 
will  want  to  see  the  "  king-bee."  Tell  them 
it  is  not  a  king  but  the  queenXh^t  bosses. 

By  all  means  look  well  to  what  may  be  ac- 
complished at  the  county  fairs ;  and  if  those 
near  you  are  too  much  given  to  gambling 
schemes  and  horse-racing,  make  it  your  busi- 
ness to  interest  the  boys  who  go  there,  in 
learning  some  wholesome,  honest  industry. 

FEEDING  AND  FEEDERS.— Feeding  is 
practiced  for  one  of  two  purposes — to  stimu- 
late brood-rearing  at  times  of  the  year  when 
no  honey  is  coming  in  from  natural  sources, 
or  to  supply  colonies  with  food  at  the  ap- 
proach of  winter  that  are  short.  Whenever 
possible,  feeding  should  be  avoided ;  for  at 
best  it  is  a  messy  job,  expensive,  and,  in  the 
case  of  the  beginners,  liable  to  cause  rob- 


bing. In  a  good  locality  it  may  be  possible 
to  avoid  feeding  altogether.  Especially 
would  this  be  true  in  those  places  where 
there  is  plenty  of  buckwheat  or  fall  flowers. 
To  buy  sugar  by  the  barrel  every  fall  is  very 
expensive,  and  the  bee-keeper  should  lay  his 
plans  to  avoid  it  as  far  as  possible.  In  many 
cases  fall  feeding  is  made  necessary  by  ex- 
tracting too  close,  in  some  cases  even  from 
the  brood-nest.  This  is  bad  practice  and 
decidedly  poor  economy.  But  there  are 
times  when  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  give 
the  bees  food  either  to  keep  up  or  stimulate 
brood-rearing  or  to  prevent  actual  starva- 
tion. 

If  the  honey  already  in  the  hives  in  the 
fall  is  of  good  quality  and  nicely  sealed  in 
the  comb,  it  would  be  penny  wise  and  pound 
foolish  to  extract  it,  put  it  on  the  market, 
buy  sugar,  make  syrup,  and  feed  it  to  the 
bees.  There  would  be  very  little  gained  by 
it,  even  if  the  honey  sold  at  a  higher  price, 
and  the  sugar  syrup  were  cheaper.  But  if 
the  natural  stores  be  dark,  and  of  poor  qual- 
ity, or  bad  hone3^-dew,  it  might  be  advisable 
to  extract  and  put  in  their  place  the  syrup. 
But  of  late  years  it  has  been  our  practice  to 
let  the  bees  have  every  thing  of  their  own 
gathering,  provided  it  is  nicely  ripened  and 
sealed  in  the  comb,  no  matter  what  the 
source ;  and  it  is  very  seldom  we  lose  bees 
in  outdoor  wintering  by  reason  of  poor  food. 

Of  course,  sugar  syrup  is  better  than  some 
honey  that  the  bees  gather;  and,  pound  for 
pound,  it  will  go  further  in  the  hive  as  a 
food.  Some  experiments  were  made  a  few 
years  ago  which  went  to  show  that  of  those 
colonies  fed  on  honey,  the  average  consump- 
tion in  winter  was  from  14  to  18  lbs.,  while 
those  fed  on  sugar  syrup  consumed  from  one 
to  7  lbs.  The  inference  drawn  was  that, 
while  the  pound  of  honey  had  less  strength 
than  the  pound  of  sugar,  it  was  more  stimu- 
lating, causing  the  bees  to  consume  more  of 
it.  But  in  all  probability  this  experiment 
showed  too  great  a  difference  in  favor  of  the 
sugar  syrup.  Under  ordinary  conditions, 
when  the  honey  is  of  first  quality,  as,  for 
instance,  clover  or  basswood,  there  would 
not  be  anything  like  this  difference. 

The  difference  in  cost  between  a  first  qual- 
ity of  extracted  honey  and  sugar  syrup  when 
sealed  in  the  comb  is  so  little  that,  if  I  had 
combs  of  good  natural  stores,  rather  than 
extract  them  I  would  set  them  aside,  and 
then  in  the  fall  give  these  combs  to  such 
colonies  as  had  an  insufficient  supply.  But 
in  any  case  I  would  not  use  all  such  combs, 
because,  during  midwinter,  it  is  sometimes 


FEEDING  AND  FEEDERS.         144         FEEDING  AND  FEEDERS. 


very  handy  to  have  them  ready,  as  they  can 
be  placed  right  down  in  the  center  of  a 
brood-nest  of  a  colony,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  it  is  impracticable  to  give  liquid  food 
to  bees  during  midwinter.  Jf  combs  of 
sealed  stores  are  not  to  be  had,  I  would  give 
cakes  of  candy,  as  described  under  Candy 
elsewhere. 

WHAT  TO  FEED. 

It  is  bad  policy  to  feed  any  form  of  sw^eet 
that  is  cheaper  than  any  of  the  very  best 
granulated  syrups.  There  are  certain  grades 
of  molasses  and  sorghum  that  may  be  used ; 
but,  as  explained,  they  have  a  tendency  to 
be  unduly  stimulative,  that  is,  make  the 
bees  restless  during  winter.  It  seems  to  be 
generally  agreed  that,  dollar  for  dollar, 
granulated  sugar,  when  converted  into  flrst- 
class  syrup,  is  as  cheap  a  food  for  the  bees 
as  can  be  had ;  and  not  only  cheap,  but  com- 
paratively safe. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  THE  SYRUP. 

There  are  two  ways  of  doing  this.  One  is 
to  use  the  cold  process,  and  the  other  what 
is  know^n  as  the  old-fashioned  way,  using 
artificial  heat.  By  the  last  method  it  is  usu- 
ally the  rule  to  take  a  wash-boiler  or  any  tin 
receptacle  that  will  hold  50  or  KO  lbs.  of 
syrup  at  once  and  set  it  on  the  stove.  Into 
this  is  poured  granulated  sugar  and  water 
in  the  proportion  of  one-half  sugar  and  one- 
half  water  by  measure  or  weight.  Heat  is 
applied  slowly  while  the  mixture  is  stirred. 
Whenever  heat  is  used,  one  should  be  care- 
ful not  to  heat  the  mixture  higher  than  IbO 
degrees.  True,  it  may  be  brought  to  the 
boiling-point  and  not  be  injured  ;  but  if  it  is 
made  a  little  hotter  it  is  liable  to  be  scorched 
or  burned,  and  burnt  sugar  is  death  to  colo- 
nies in  winter.  The  syrup  should  be  con- 
tinuously stirred  until  every  particle  of 
sugar  is  dissolved.  The  fire  should  then  be 
dampered  down,  and  when  the  syrup  is  cool 
it  is  ready  for  use. 

THE  COLD  PROCESS  OF  ]MAKTNG  SYRUP. 

On  account  of  the  liability  to  burning, 
messing  of  stoves  and  the  kitchen,  and  on 
account  of  the  greater  convenience,  it  is 
now  the  common  practice  to  use  the  cold 
process,  which,  briefly  stated,  is  as  follows  : 
Mix  granulated  sugar  and  cold  water,  equal 
parts  by  measure,  and  stir  until  it  is  all  dis- 
solved. If  the  syrup  is  to  be  made  in  any 
quantity,  pour  the  sugar  and  water  into  an 
ordinary  honey-extractor,  in  the  proportions 
above  named ;  but  the  requisite  quantity  of 
water  should  be  put  in  first.  Start  the  reel 
going,  and  while  it  is  going  pour  in  a  dip- 


perful  of  sugar  at  a  time.  This  gives  the 
sugar,  as  it  is  poured  in,  time  to  mix  with 
the  water  while  the  machine  is  in  motion. 
Be  sure  not  to  make  the  mistake  of  pouring- 
all  the  sugar  in  first  and  the  water  after- 
ward, as  the  mixing  will  not  be  so  well  done. 

After  the  can  is  full  enough,  keep  turning 
the  crank  until  the  sugar  is  all  dissolved.  At 
first  the  mixture  will  look  a  little  cloudy; 
but  this  is  owing  to  the  air-bubbles,  which 
will  disappear  in  an  hour  or  two,  when  the 
syrup  will  be  clear  and  limpid. 

The  proportion  of  half  and  half  is  recom- 
mended because  it  is  better  to  feed  the  syrup 
thin  than  thick,  for  then  the  bees  will  ripen 
it ;  and  when  syrup  is  thickened  and  ripened 
by  the  bees  it  will  not  granulate,  but  make 
the  finest  and  very  best  of  food  ;  but  if  for 
any  reason  feeding  has  been  deferred  till 
quite  late,  when  the  nights  are  frosty  and 
the  days  somewhat  cool,  it  may  be  advisable 
to  use  4  parts  of  sugar  and  3  of  water ;  but 
bear  in  mind,  the  syrup  when  sealed  in  the 
combs  will  probably  not  be  as  good.  Thick 
syrup  is  more  liable  to  sugar  in  the  combs. 

If  no  extractor  is  to  be  had,  an  ordinary 
wash-tub  and  a  good  big  paddle  or  stick  to 
bring  about  the  necessary  agitation  may  be 
used.  But  a  honej^-extractor  is  away  ahead 
of  any  other  contrivance,  and  no  one  should 
think  of  trying  to  keep  bees  without  one. 

If  only  a  small  quantity  of  syrup  is  re- 
quired— a  gallon  or  so — it  may  be  made  in  a 
small  dish,  using  a  big  spoon  or  stirring- 
stick;  but  in  such  case  I  would  pour  the 
sugar  into  a  vessel  and  then  pour  boiling 
water  on  the  sugar,  stiiring  while  the  w^ater 
is  being  poured  in.  Boiling  water  may  be 
used  in  lieu  of  cold  water  in  the  extractor ; 
but  the  syrup,  I  can  assure  you,  will  be  no 
better. 

FEEDING  TO  STIMULATE  BROOD-REARING. 

During  spring  or  summer  we  can  use  a 
cheaper  grade  of  sugar,  if  w^e  happen  to  have 
it  on  hand,  or  cheap  or  off  grades  of  honey 
that  would  ordinarily  be  unsalable.  If 
honey,  I  would  thin  it  down  slightly  with 
warm  water ;  but  if  the  sweet  has  to  be  jmr- 
chased,  then,  as  I  have  already  said,  I  would 
recommend  only  granulated  sugar,  for  the 
reason  that  it  is  just  as  cheap  as  any  other 
sweet,  and  the  very  best.  Nuclei,  as  a  rule, 
require  stimulative  feeding  before  or  after 
the  honey  season,  in  order  to  make  them  do 
their  very  best,  for  a  queen  will  seldom  lay 
much  after  the  honey  season  unless  the  bees 
are  fed  a  certain  amount  daily.  In  getting 
colonies  up  to  good  strength  to  gather  the 
honey  harvest,  or  induce  nuclei,  or  full  colo- 


PEEDmG  A^^D  FEEDERS 


145 


EEEDmG  AJ^D  FEEDERS. 


nies,  for  that  matter,  to  build  cells  for  the 
purpose  of  queen-rearing,  the  daily  feeding 
of  half  a  pint  of  syrup  should  be  practiced. 

FEEDERS  FOR  STIMULATIXG. 

There  have  been  hundreds  of  feeders  in- 
vented and  put  on  the  market.  Some  of 
them  are  very  complicated,  and  the  more  so 
the  less  useful.  If  one  desires  to  keep  down 
his  investment  he  may  use  common  tin  pans. 
These  can  be  placed  in  the  upper  story  of 
the  hive,  and  filled  with  syrup.  On  top  of 
the  syrup  should  be  laid  carefully  a  strip  of 
cheese-cloth  that  has  been  dampened  in 
water.  The  bees  will  crawl  up  on  the  cloth, 
and  appropriate  the  syrup,  without  danger 
of  drowning.  But  one  objection  to  pans  is 
that  it  litters  them  up  ;  and  after  the  feed  is 
all  taken,  the  cloth  is  likely  to  be  stuck 
down  by  the  dried  crystals.  But  boiling 
water  will  very  soon  clean  them. 

Another  feeder  that  has  been  used  very 
largely  consists  of  a  common  butter-tray, 
such  as  one  gets  at  the  grocery  when  he  buys 
butter.  A  hundred  of  these  can  be  nested 
together  so  as  to  take  up  but  very  little 
room,  and  the  price  is  insignificant.  It  is 
not  necessaiy  to  use  cheese-cloth  with  the 
butter- tray.  Set  them  on  the  top  of  the 
frames,  and  till  them  with  s}Tup. 

A  feeder  that  has  been  used  very  largely 
is  the  Simplicity  trough  feeder.   It  is  an 


SI3IPLICITY  BEE-FEEDEE. 


excellent  feeder,  cheap  in  price,  and  occu- 
pies very  little  room  on  top  of  the  brood- 
frames. 

Another  feeder  is  the  pepper  box.  It  is  a 
can,  pint  or  quart  in  size,  with  a  perforated 


PEPPER-BOX  FEEDER. 

top.  This  is  filled  with  syrup,  inverted,  and 
then  set  right  over  the  brood-frames  in  the 
upper  story. 

Still  another  feeder  is  the  Boardman.  This 
makes  use  of  a  Mason  jar— something  that 
is  a  common  commodity  in  every  household. 
The  jars  are  filled  with  syrup  ;  and  with  the 
special  cap  that  is  furnished  by  the  manu- 


facturers of  bee-keepers'  supplies,  one  can 
feed  a  large  number  of  colonies  at  once. 

The  cans  themselves  when  inverted  are 
set  down  through  a  hole  in  a  sort  of  box 
closed  on  all  sides  except  the  front.  The 
two  side  pieces  of  this  box  are  made  in  such 
a  way  as  to  leave  projections  which  extend 
clear  into  the  entrance,  thus  barring  rob- 
bers from  dodging  into  the  box.  The  top  of 
the  box  has  a  hole  just  large  enough  so  that 
the  Mason  jar  "v\ill  be  supported  i  inch  from 
the  inside  of  the  bottom.  When  one  has  a 
supply  of  Mason  jars,  all  he  will  require 
from  his  manufacturer  will  be  the  box  and 
a  special  cap  that  permits  the  bees  to  get 
the  syrup  in  small  quantities  at  a  time.  As 
this  is  an  entrance  feeder  it  is  always  in 
sight,  and  one  can  see  at  a  glance  whether 
the  jars  are  empty  or  not. 

A  wheelbarrowful  of  filled  cans  with  the 
special  caps  may  be  run  through  the  apiary ; 
and  whenever  a  can  is  discovered  that  is 
empty,  it  is  taken  out  of  its  box  and  re- 
placed by  another  jar  filled  with  syrup.  The 


i 

THE  BOARDMAX  EXTRAXCE  FEEDER. 

special  feature  of  this  feeder  is  that  one  can 
see  by  a  glance  at  a  row  of  hives  those  colo- 
nies that  have  emptied  their  cans,  and  a 
fresh  supply  can  be  given  without  disturb- 
ing the  bees  or  opening  the  hives.  But  it 
has  one  objection — it  has  a  tendency  to  in- 
cite robbing;  but  if  one  is  careful,  and  sees 
that  the  caps  to  the  cans  are  properly  ad- 
justed, there  will  be  little  or  no  trouble. 
But  it  is  not  the  most  satisfactory  feeder 
:  for  weak  colonies. 

The  one  we  recommend  and  use  above  all 
others  is  the  Doolittle  division-board  feeder. 
The  illustration  accompanying  shows  that, 
it  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  large 
brood- frame  paneled  on  each  side.  Down 
through  the  center  runs  a  partition  reaching- 
almost  to  the  bottom.  This  feeder  from  the 
very  nature  of  its  construction  can  be  set 
down  in  the  brood-nest  like  an  ordinary 


FEEDING  A^J)  FEEDERS. 


146 


FEEDING  AND  FEEDERS. 


division-board  or  brood-frame,  for  that  mat- 
ter ;  and  as  it  is  confined  wholly  within  the 
brood-nest,  not  even  requiring  an  upper 
story  or  super,  it  is  the  most  convenient  and 
most  satisfactory  of  any  thing  we  ever  used 


DOOLITTLE  DI VISION-BOAKD  FEEDER. 

—almost  as  handy  as  the  Boardman.  All 
that  is  necessary  is  to  slide  the  cover  about 
an  inch;  then  with  a  cofEee-fot  pour  feed 
through  the  hole,  as  shown.  Close  the  hive 
up  and  trc^at  the  next  one  the  same  way. 
For  stimulating  weak  colonies  or  nuclei  for 
the  purpose  of  queen-rearing,  our  people 
unhesitatingly  pronounce  it  by  all  odds  the 
best  feeder  ia  the  whole  list. 

There  is  still  another  feeder,  and  a  very 
excellent  one,  and  that  is  the  Miller.  We 
use  it  almost  exclusively  for  feeding  up  col- 
onies for  winter.  This  has  a  large  capacity, 
and  one  can  feed  any  time  from  10  to  25  lbs. 
at  a  feed.  When  for  any  reason  feeding  has 


THE   MILLER  FEEDER 

been  deferred  till  late,  this  feeder  is  the  one 
to  use.  The  small  feeders  before  described 
are  adapted  to  stimulative  purposes,  and 
will  hold  only  a  quart  of  syrup  at  most ;  but 
we  use  the  Miller  feeder  only  when  we  may 
desire  to  feed  up  a  large  number  at  once. 

The  first  cut  shows  the  feeder  adapted 
for  an  eight-frame  Langstroth  hive,  and  its 
capacity  is  25  lbs.  of  syrup.  The  accompa- 
nying cross-sectioh  shows  that  there  are  two 


feed-reservoirs.  On  the  principle  that  liq- 
uids always  seek  their  level,  the  syrup  pass- 


es under  the  raised  partition  B ;  and  the 
bees,  to  get  access  to  the  syrup,  start  from 
the  arrow  E,  and  take  the  feed  from  the 
inner  chambers  under  the  cover-board  A.^is 
With  most  feeders  of  the  kind,  bees  are 
obliged  to  pass  through  the  two  ends  or  the 
outside;  and  sometimes  in  cool  weather,  re- 
fusing to  leave  the  center  of  the  brood-nest, 
they  will  fail  to  take  the  syrup.  The  great 
feature  of  the  Miller  feeder  is  the  fact  that 
the  passageway  to  the  feed  is  located  direct- 
ly over  the  center  of  the  brood-nest,  and  the 
warmth  of  the  cluster  rising  is  confined  in 
the  passageways  and  chambers  under  A. 
This  feature,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  it  is 
made  of  wood,  makes  it  possible  to  feed  bees 
during  quite  cold  freezing  weather. 

Large  or  small  amounts  can  be  fed  accord- 
ing as  the  circumstances  require.  The  feed- 
ers w^e  use  hold  25  lbs.  of  syrup  when  filled 
within  an  inch  of  the  top  edge.  If  we  dis- 
cover that  some  colonies  need  10  lbs.  and 
others  5,  and  still  others  25,  to  give  them  the 
requisite  amount  of  winter  stores,  at  the 
time  of  feeding  we  fill  each  feeder  to  the 
proportionate  needs  of  the  several  colonies. 
Sometimes  we  fill  only  one  of  the  reservoirs, 
which  would  make,  when  full,  12i  lbs.  of 
syrup.  For  a  5-lb.  feed,  we  pour  in  enough 
to  make  one  reservoir  a  little  less  than  half 
full.  To  expedite  matters  in  feeding,  just 
before  giving  the  colony  a  final  feed  we  go 
through  the  whole  apiary,  examine  each 
brood-nest,  and  estimate*  the  amount  of 
stores  in  pounds  that  each  colony  will  need, 
j  marking  the  same  on  the  slate,  or  with  a 
j  piece  of  chalk  on  the  cover-board  of  the 
I  hive.  We  afterward  come  around  and  dis- 
'  tribute  the  feeders.  Then  toward  evening, 
with  a  large  feeding-can,  we  lift  the  hive- 
cover,  pour  in  the  amount  of  syrup  as  indi- 
cated upon  the  slate  or  cover,  and  close  it 
up.  Thus  we  do  with  all  the  colonies.  The 
next  morning  we  remove  the  feeders  and 
pack  the  colonies  in  chalf,  when  they  are 
ready  for  winter. 

FEEDING  FAST  OR  SLOWLY. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  see  that  it  makes 
any  material  difference  whether  we  feed  it 
all  at  once,  or  a  little  at  a  time  for  winter- 
ing purposes  only ;  but  for  brood-rearing  it 
is  assuredly  best  to  feed  a  little  at  a  time,  say 

*  A  Langstroth  comb,  when  filled  and  capped  over 
with  honey  or  sugar  stores,  holds  on  the  average, 
about  5  lbs.  To  get  at  the  amount  of  stores  in  a  col- 
ony, estimate  the  amount  in  each  comb,  and  tlie  sum 
will  give  the  amount.  This  amount,  subtracted  from 
the  amount  required  to  be  fed,  will,  of  course,  give 
the  amount  to  be  fed.  Some  weigh  each  comb ;  but 
a  v3ry  little  practice  will  enable  you  to  be  accurate 
enough. 


FEEDING  AND  FEEDERS.       147        FEEDING  AND  FEEDERS. 


a  pint  every  night.  I  have,  during  severe 
droughts,  reared  queens,  brood,  and  had 
beautiful  comb  built,  by  the  latter  plan. 

FEEDING  IK  COLI>  WEATHER. 

Although  colonies  have  been  wintered 
well  when  fed  after  cold  or  freezing  weath- 
er, I  think  much  the  safer  plan  is  to  have  it 
all  done  during  warm  dry  weather,  that  they 
may  have  it  all  ripened  and  thoroughly 
sealed  up.  If  the  weather  is  not  too  cold  you 
can  feed  with  the  Miller  feeder  as  previous- 
ly intimated.  If  you  have  been  so  careless 
as  to  have  bees  that  are  in  need  of  stores,  at 
the  beginning  of  winter,  I  would  advise 
frames  of  sealed  honey  if  you  can  get  them; 
and  if  you-  can  not,  use  Candy,  which  see. 
If  the  candy  is  covered  up  with  warm  chaff 
cushions  or  something  equivalent,  it  may 
be  fed  at  any  time,  although  it  does  not 
seem  to  be  as  satisfactory  under  all  circum- 
stances as  stores  sealed  up  in  their  combs. 

In  feeding  in  cool  or  cold  weather,  you  are 
very  apt  to  uncover  the ,  cluster,  or  leave 
openings  that  will  permit  the  warmth  from 
the  cluster  to  pass  off.  I  have  several  times 
had  colonies  die  in  the  spring  after  I  com- 
menced feeding,  and  I  imagined  it  was  from 
this  cause  alone.  When  they  first  commence 
raising  brood  in  the  spring,  they  need  to  be 
packed  up  closely  and  snugly;  making  a 
hole  in  the  quilt  or  cushions  above  the  clus- 
ter, and  placing  the  feeder  over  this  so  as  to 
close  it  completely,  does  very  well,  but  is  not, 
after  all,  as  safe  as  giving  the  feed  from  be- 
low :  for  feeding  in  early  spring,  especially 
if  the  stock  is  weak,  I  would  prefer  the  can- 
dy, or  well-filled  combs  of  sealed  stores. 

WHEN  ROBBERS  ARE  BAD,  FEEDING  AT 
NIGHT. 

During  the  early  fall  of  1887  we  found  our 
apiary  almost  on  the  verge  of  starvation, 
the  previous  summer  having  been  very  dry. 
Robbers  were  unusually  vigilant,  and  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  perform  almost 
any  manipulation  with  the  hives  without 
getting  a  perfect  storm  of  robbers  in  the 
brood-nest.  Feeding  during  the  day  was 
out  of  the  question,  and  yet  the  colonies 
must  be  fed  in  order  to  prepare  them  for 
winter.  Accordingly,  to  circumvent  the 
robbers  we  fed  at  night  by  the  light  of  lan- 
terns. Contrary  to  what  we  might  expect, 
the  bees  gave  us  but  very  little  trouble  by 
flying  against  the  lanterns.  As  the  bees 
took  up  all  the  feed  in  the  feeders  during 
the  night,  and  the  robbers  had  had  no  op- 
portunity to  investigate  during  the  feeding, 
every  thing  was  comparatively  quiet  next 


morning,  and  during  the  following  day. 
We  fed  successfully  in  this  way  some  three 
or  four  barrels  of  sugar.  Although  I  have 
recommended  feeding  toward  night,  in  the 
preceding  paragraphs,  in  the  case  above 
mentioned  we  fed  from  about  7  p.  m.  in 
some  cases  until  10:30  p.  m.  Perhaps  I 
should  also  remark,  that,  if  it  is  inconven- 
ient to  work  at  night,  feed  on  the  first  rainy 
day.  Put  on  your  rubber  hat,  coat,  and 
rubber  boots.  As  long  as  it  rains,  bees  will 
not  bother  you. 

For  particulars  regarding  feeding  back  to 
fill  out  sections,  see  Cjmb  Honey. 

SPRING   FEEDING  A   LA  BOARDMAN. 

Mr.  H.  R.  Boardman,  of  East  Townsend, 
O.,  practices  a  plan  which  often  ensures  a 
crop  of  honey,  even  during  poor  seasons.  In 
brief  it  is  this  :  He  feeds  all  his  colonies  as 
soon  as  it  becomes  settled  warm  weather, 
whether  they  need  stores  or  not.  The  syrup 
[  is  given  them  slowly  to  stimulate  brood- 
I  rearing.  This  feeding  is  continued  clear  on 
to  the  honey-flow,  when,  of  course,  it  is  dis- 
continued. The  result  is  that  the  hives  are 
overflowing  with  bees  and  brood,  and  all 
available  space  in  the  brood-nest  is  filled 
clear  full  with  sealed  sugar  stores.  Just  as 
soon  as  the  honey-flow  commences,  supers 
are  given  ;  and  with  a  tremendous  force  of 
bees  secured  by  stimulative  feeding,  and 
with  a  brood-nest  already  filled  to  its  utmost 
capacity  with  sugar  stores,  the  honey,  when 
it  does  come,  is  forced  right  into  the  supers, 
because  there  is  no  place  for  it  in  the  brood- 
nest. 

i  Mr.  Boardman  was  driven  to  this  mode  of 
procedure  because  of  a  series  of  very  poor 
honey-flovAS  one  year  after  another.  Figur- 
ing that  sugar  syrup  cost  only  about  a  third 
as  much  as  the  first  quality  of  comb  honey, 
he  reasoned  that,  if  he  could  make  a  legiti- 
mate trade  with  the  bees,  he  could  take  their 
product  in  exchange  for  his  sugar,  and  al- 
most treble  his  money. 

While  it  costs  considerable  to  feed  bees  in 
this  way,  I  believe  that  Mr.  Boardman 's  ex- 
perience has  been  such  that  he  feels  war- 
ranted in  continuing  it ;  and  then  if  the  year 
proves  to  be  a  good  one  he  will  get  a  tremen- 
dous crop  of  honey.  One  year  when  I  visit- 
ed him  he  had  secured  a  fair-sized  yield  from 
each  colony,  and  a  poor  year  at  that,  while 
his  neighbors  round  about  him  did  not  get 
any  surplus,  and  all  they  did  get  was  brood- 
nestfuls  of  honey,  and  nothing  more.  Mr. 
Boardman  also  had  his  brood-chambers  full; 
but  instead  of  being  honey  it  was  sugar  syr- 


FIGWOKT. 


148 


FIGWOKT. 


up,  and  the  honey  was  in  sections  worth  at 
least  10  or  12  cents  per  lb.  wholesale,  while  I 
believe  the  sugar  syrup  cost  him  in  the  hive 
only  about  4  cents.  Clearly,  he  had  made  a 
good  trade. 

The.  feeder  that  is  best  adapted  for  this 
l<ind  of  feeding  is  the  Boardman,  already  il- 
lustrated, because  it  is  assumed  that  all  col- 
onies so  fed  are  strong,  and  can  make  a 
proper  defense  at  the  entrance. 

I  would  advise  one  who  has  never  tried  the 
plan  to  try  it  on  a  small  scale.  Feed  up,  say, 
25  or  30  per  cent  of  the  colonies  Iq  the  yard, 
and  let  the  others  go  on  in  their  own  sweet 
way.  Keep  a  careful  account  of  the  net 
proceeds  after  deducting  expenses :  and  if 
those  fed  show  a  larger  balance  on  the  right 
side  of  the  ledger  than  those  not  fed.  then 
next  year  one  would  be  warranted  in  feed- 
ing the  whole  apiary  a  la  Boardman. 

But,  of  course,  it  must  be  understood  that 
feeding  should  not  be  continued  long  enough 
to  force  the  sugar  syrup  up  into  the  sections, 
as  that  would  be  a  fraud  on  the  public. 
Nothing  but  the  nectar  of  flowers  when 
ripened  by  the  bees  should  be  sold  as  honey. 

CAUTION  REGARD   TO  FEEDING. 

Before  closing,  I  would  most  earnestly 
caution  the  inexperienced  to  beware  of  get- 
ting the  bees  robbing.  Except  in  the  case 
of  the  Boardman  feeder,!  have  advised  feed- 
ing only  toward  night  to  avoid  danger; 
for  attempting  to  feed  in  the  middle  of  the 
day  will  sometimes  result  in  the  robbing 
and  destruction  of  strong  colonies.  Where 
food  comes  in  such  iiuantities,  and  in  such 
an  unnatural  way,  they  seem  to  forget  to 
post  sentinels  as  usual;  and  before  they  have 
time  to  recover,  bees  will  pour  in  from  all 
the  hives  in  the  apiary.  I  do  not  know  who 
is  to  be  pitied  most  at  such  a  time,  the  bees, 
their  helpless  owner,  or  the  innocent  neigh- 
bors and  passers-by.  Sometimes,  all  that  can 
be  done  is  to  let  your  colony  slide,  and  wish 
for  it  to  get  dark  that  the  greedy  "  elves  " 
may  be  obliged  to  go  home.  Xow  when  you 
x3ommence  feeding,  remember  that  my  last 
words  on  the  matter  were, "  Look  out  !" 

For  open  -  air  feeding,  see  Water  for 
Bees. 

FERTILi:  WORKERS.   See  Lay 

iNG  Workers. 

FiaWORT  [Scrofularia  Nodosa).  This 
plant  is  variously  known  as  Square-stalk, 
Heal-all,  Carpenter's -square.  Battle  weed, 
etc.,  the  name  indicating  some  of  its  peculi- 
arities, or  real  or  supposed  valuable  medical 
properties. 


The  engraving  presented  will  give  a  fair 
idea  of  it,  and  will  enable  any  one  to 
distinguish  it  at  once,  if  it  grows  in  his  lo- 
cality. The  pretty  little  ball-shaped  flower, 
with  a  lip  somewhat  like  the  pitcher-plant, 
is  usually  found  filled  with  honey,  unless  the 
bees  are  so  numerous  as  to  prevent  its  accu- 
mulation. This  honey  is.  of  course,  thin,  like 


FIG  wort  honey-plant. 

that  from  clover  or  other  plants,  when  first 
gathered,  and  is,  in  fact,  rather  sweetened 
water;  but  still  it  is  crude  honey.  We 
have  had  one  report  from  a  single  plant  un- 
der cultivation,  and,  as  might  be  expected, 
the  quantity  of  honey  yielded  was  very  much 
increased,  and  the  plant  grew  to  a  great 
height,  continuing  to  bloom  and  yield  honey 
for  full  four  months.  The  little  flower,  when 
examined  closely,  is  found  to  be  very  beau- 
tiful. 

It  grows  in  its  natural  state  among  brush- 
heaps,  in  fence-corners,  and  amid  hedges,  to 
the  height  of  from  3  to  6  feet.  The  seed  is 
easily  gathered  in  September  and  October. 

In  1879  we  had  quite  a  field  of  this  honey- 
plant  on  our  honey-farm ;  and  although  the 
patch  was  small,  it  made  quite  a  remarkable 
showing.   The  bees  were  busy  on  the  bios- 


FIXED  FRAMES, 


149 


FIXED  FRAMES, 


st)ms  from  morning  till  night,  dimng-  the 
time  it  w  as  in  bloi>m.  By  actual  count  we 
found  the  number  of  bees  that  visited  a  cer- 
tain tiower  iu  a  certain  length  of  time  was 
about  one  a  minute.  Then  the  flower  might 
not  be  visited  again  for  two  minutes ;  and 
again  it  would  be  visited  twice  in  a  minute. 
Careful  observation  showed  that,  after  the 
l  ees  had  licked  the  flowers  clean  of  nectar, 
another  globule  would  exude  from  the  nec- 
taries in  from  one  to  two  minutes.  At  the 
time,  this  plant  created  quite  -a  furore,  and  it 
was  thought  that,  for  artificial  pasturage,  it 
would  excel  any  thing  else  then  known  :  for 
a  plant  that  would  yield  si  •  many  flowers, 
and  nectar  iu  such  quantities,  must  of  neces- 
sity produce  wonderful  results.  But.  imfor- 
tunately,  it  is  very  expensiA'e  to  grow  the 
plant.  It  must  have  deep,  rich  soil,  and 
must  be  planted  and  cultivated  like  corn. 
The  cost  of  growing  it  is  such  that  the  value 
of  the  honey  would  not  warrant  the  expense. 
The  seed  has  no  value  oirtside  of  bee-keep- 
ing, and  it  would  probably  require  hundreds 
of  acres  to  keep  a  hundred  colonies  busy. 
While  it  is  true  that  it  grows  wild  in  certain 
localities,  yet  the  area  over  which  it  grows 
is  so  limited  and  so  scattering  that  in  late 
years  we  have  heard  little  or  nothing  about 
the  plant ;  and  all  thoughts  of  stocking 
honey-farms  with  this  plant  have  long  since 
been  abandoned.  As  has  been  stated  else- 
where in  this  work,  our  honey-farms  will 
have  to  embrace  mostly  al>ike.  buckwheat, 
rape,  and  perhaps  the  stock  pea  of  the  South, 
and  such  other  plants  as  will  pay  for  the 
crop  they  yield  aside  f :  om  the  honey.  See 
Artificial  Pastukage. 

TlXBJ}  FRAMES.  By  these  are 
meant  frames  held  at  certain  fixed  and  reg- 
ular distances  apart  by  some  sort  of  spac- 


distances  that  frames  should  be  put  apart. 
Some  prefer U inches  from  center  to  center: 
but  the  great  majority,  supported  by  the 
best  of  reasons,  prefer  If  inches.  Fixed 
frames,  then,  are  those  that,  when  put  into 
the  hive,  are  spaced  automatically,  either  If 
or  1*  inches  from  center  to  center.  Loose 
frames  differ  from  them,  in  that  they  have 
no  spacing-device  connected  with  them,  and 
are.  therefore,  when  placed  in  the  hive, 
spaced  by  eye— or.  as  some  have  termed  it. 

guesswork."  Such  spacing  results  in 
more  or  less  uneven  combs  :  and  beginners, 
as  a  rule,  make  very  poor  work  of  it.  The 
advocates  of  fixed  frames  claim  that  they 
get  beautiful  perfect  combs,  no  bmT-combs, 
and  that,  without  any  guesswork,  the  combs 
are  spaced  accurately  and  equally  distant 
from  each  other.  Fixed  frames  are  always 
ready  tor  moving  the  hives,  either  to  an  out- 
yard,  to  and  from  the  cellar,  or  for  ordinary 
carrying  around  the  apiary.  Loose  fi'ames, 
on  the  contrary,  while  they  are  never  spaced 
exactly,  often  can  not  be  haiiled  to  an  out- 
apiary,  over  rough  roads,  without  having  put 
sticks  between  them,  or  something  to  hold 
them  together.  It  is  contended  by  some, 
also,  that  fixed  frames  can  be  handled  more 
rapidly.  See  Fra^ies.  Maxipulatixg.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of  the  loose 
frame  urge,  as  an  objection  to  the  fixed 
frames,  that  thev  kill  bees.  In  the  summer 
of  mo.  at  his  apiaries.  I  saw  P.  H.  El- 
wood,  the  owner  and  successful  manager  of 
1300  colonies,  handle  his  closed-end  frames 
easily  and  rapidly,  and  without  killing  bees. 
I  witnessed  Mr.  Julius  Hoffman,  whose 
fi'ame  I  will  presently  illusti'ate.  handle  his 
with  equal  facility,  and  during  the  ten  years 
that  we  have  handled  them  we  find  almost 
no  trouble  from  bee-killing.  Of  course  if 
the  frames  are  handled  CLireles.>lv  bees  wil; 


1  ^i\s 

FIG.  1.    HUW  THE   QUIXBT  FEA3IE   HOOKS  OX  TO  THE  BOTTOM. 


ing-device.  forming  either  a  part  of  the 
frame  itself  or  a  part  of  the  hive.  Under 
Spacixg  OF  FKA3IES.  elscwhere.  and  un- 
der HiVE-MAKiXG.  I  have  discussed  the 


be  maimed  and  killed.  Capt.  J.  E.  Hether- 
ington,  who  runs  successfully  SWO  colo- 
nies, has  them  aU  on  the  Quinby  closed-end 
frames. 


FIXED  FRAMES.  150  FIXED  FRAMES. 


There  are  a  good  many  styles  of  fixed 
frames ;  but  there  are  only  two  or  three  that 
are  really  good  ones,  and  worthy  of  any  se- 
rious consideration  on  the  part  of  the  prac- 
tical bee-keeper.  These  are,  the  closed-end 
Quinby,  the  Danzenbaker,  the  Heddon,  the 
Hoffman,  the  thick-top  staple  spaced,  and 
the  Van  Deusen  reversible  (see  REYERsma 
Frames). 

The  closed-end  Quinby  is,  as  its  name  in- 
dicates, one  whose  end-bars  are  li  inches 
wide  their  entire  length.  The  top  and  bot- 
tom bars  are  1  inch  wide.  These  closed  up- 
rights, or  closed  ends,  when  they  come  in 
contact,  cause  the  combs  which  they  con- 
tain to  be  spaced  accurately  from  center  to 
center.  Fig.  1,  A  shows  one  such  frame. 
Almost  all  closed-end  frames  are  made  to 
stand,  and  have  very  often  been  called 
"  standing  frames."  Mr.  Quinby,  in  order 
to  keep  such  frames  from  toppling  over,  in- 
vented the  strap-iron  hook  on  one  corner,  as 
shown  in  the  accompanying  engraving,  re- 
engraved  from  Cheshire.  Ii  is  the  hook  that 
engages  the  strap  iron  ip  in  the  bottom- 
board  ;  Qfr  is  a  groove  to  admit  of  the  hook, 
and  at  the  same  time  render  it  possible  to 
catch  under  the  strap  iron. 

These  hooks  are  on  the  outside  of  the  hive 
proper,  and  hence  they  do  not  kill  bees,  nor 
are  they  filled  with  propolis  as  they  would 
be  if  made  on  the  inside  of  the  hive.  A  and  B 
are  respectively  the  frame  and  the  follower, 
although  they  are  drawn  somewhat  out  of 
proportion.  With  a  panel  on  each  side,  a 
cover  and  a  bottom  -  board,  the  Quinby- 
Hetheiington  hive  is  complete,  the  ends  of 
the  frames  forming  the  ends  of  the  hive ; 
thou'^h,  for  additional  protection  in  the 
spring,  Mr.  Elwood  and  Mr.  Hetherington 


FIG.  2— THE  HOFFMAN  FIXED  FRAME. 


both  use  the  outside  case  to  set  down  over 
the  whole.  This  makes  a  very  cheap  hive, 
and  has  many  desirable  features  in  it.  For 
fuller  details  in  regard  to  this  frame,  and  its 
manner  of  construction,  the  reader  is  refer- 
red to  "  Quinby's  New  Bee-keeping,"  also 
Frames,  How  to  Manipulate,  elsewhere. 
The  great  majority  of  bee-keepers  prefer 


what  is  known  as  the  "hanging  frame." 
This  has  many  very  decided  advantages 
over  the  standing  frame  ;  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that,  for  this  reason,  the  loose  frame 
is  used  so  generally  ;  but  the  hanging  frame 
is  also  used  as  a  fixed  frame. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  frame  can  be 
used  in  an  ordinary  Langs  troth  hive  (see 
Hive-making);  and  the  end-bars  are  closed- 
end  only  within  a  couple  of  inches  of  the 
top.  The  rest  of  the  frame,  two-thirds  of 
the  way  down,  is  narrowed  down  to  f  of  an 
inch.  The  top-bars  are  widened  out  at  the 
ends,  and  are  scored  out  in  the  middle  to 
one  inch  wide. 

After  having  used  the  Holfman  frame 
with  top -bars  widened  at  the  end,  and  no 
rabbets,  we  began  in  the  use  of  top-bars 
with  the  ends  notched  (see  cut)  and  resting 
on  the  tin  rabbets,  as  shown  in  Hive -mak- 
ing. After  several  seasons'  use  of  the  latter 
we  much  piefer  them.  The  lateral  feature 
is  more  perfect,  and  there  is  very  much  less 
liability  of  bee-killing.  Indeed,  with  proper 
care  there  need  be  practically  none. 


IMPROVED  HOFFMAN  FRAMES. 


Another  feature  of  this  frame  is  in  the 
end-spacing  stap'e  that  abuts  against  the 
tin  rabbet  shown  in  6,  in  the  cut.  The  ends 
of  the  top-bars  are  cut  off  so  as  to  leave  a 
bee-space  around  them.  With  the  old-style 
frames  the  bees  can  sometimes  glue  the  ends 
of  the  top-bars  to  the  rabbet.  This  has  all 
been  done  away  with  in  the  style  of  frame 
shown. 

When  the  top-bar  is  long  enough  to  reach 
and  almost  come  in  contact  with  the  ends  of 
the  rabbets,  the  bees  will  chink  in  bee-glue 
between  the  ends  of  the  top-bars  and  the 


FIXED  FRAMES. 


151 


EOUL  BHOOD. 


rabbets.  When  the  ends  of  all  the  frames 
have  been  thus  glued,  it  is  somewhat  diffi- 
cult to  remove  any  one  frame,  because  the 
fastening  of  each  frame  must  be  loosened 
before  the  frames  sought  can  be  gotten  out : 
but  when  the  top-bar  is  shortened,  as  at  6  in 
the  illustration,  and  the  staple  is  used,  there 
is  none  of  this  kind  of  gluing,  and  the  only 
fastening  is  that  between  the  upright  edges 
of  the  end-bars  themselves :  and  this  fasten- 
ing, for  the  majority  of  localities,  so  far 
from  being  a  disadvantage,  is  an  advantage 
in  that  it  holds  the  frames  together  while 
the  hives  are  being  moved,  and  yet  does  not 
hold  them  so  fast  but  they  can  be  easily 
separated. 

For  details  as  to  its  construction,  see. 
HivE-MAKme;  and  the  details  as  to  its 
manipulation,  see  Fra:mes,  how  to  Manip- 
ulate. 


Again,  there  are  others  who  prefer 
frames  with  staples  as  side  -  spacers,  as 
shown.  Where  propolis  is  bad  this  frame 
may  be  preferable  to  the  Hoffman.  It  is 
said,  and  I  think  truly,  that  the  latter  would 
be  intolerable  in  Cuba  and  in  certain  parts 
of  our  Southern  States,  because  of  propolis ; 
but  in  a  great  majority  of  places  they  can  be 
used,  and  not  be  "  intolerable.""  123 

FIXED  rilA:MES — ADVANTAGES. 

They  give  straight  beautiful  and  regular 
ccmbs ;  are  practically  free  from  burr- 
combs  ;  can  be  hauled  without  any  special 
preparation  over  the  roughest  roads,  turned 
upside  down,  and  rolled  over  without  dis- 
turbing the  combs.  They  permit,  to  a  very 
great  extent,  of  the  possible  handling  of 
hives  instead  of  frames.  Under  Frames, 
MajSTiptjlating,  is  shown  how  they  can  be 
handled  in  pairs  and  trios — in  fact,  half  a 
hive  at  a  time.   They  can  also  be  inverted, 


thus  causing  the  combs  to  be  built  out  solid- 
ly to  the  bottom-bar  ;  and,  when  once  com- 
pleted, they  can  be  restored  to  their  normal 
upright  condition.  They  can  be  handled  as 
rapidly  as  the  loose  frame.  Indeed,  Mr. 
Julius  Hoffman,  of  Canajoharie,  X.  Y;,  the 

I  o^aier  of  some  600  colonies  on  Hoffman 
frames,  says  he  can  work  nearly  double  the 

!  number  of  colonies  with  his  frame  that  he 
can  with  any  frame  that  is  not  spaced  or 
close-fitting,  and  he  has  used  both  stjies  of 

I  frames.  But  not  every  one  will  be  able  to 
do  this  ;  and  very  likely  some  people  would 
handle  them  very  much  slower  than  they 
would  loose  fi'ames.i27 

FIXED   FKA3IES  FOR  S3IALL  BEE-KEEPERS. 

Whatever  we  may  say  regarding  the  adapt- 
ability of  Hoffman  frames  for  the  expert 
bee-keeper,  I  feel  sm-e  that,  in  almost  every 
instance,  they  are  better  for  the  beginner  or 
average  farmer  bee-keeper,  or  any  one  who 
does  not  propose  to  make  any  great  specialty 
of  the  bee  business,  but  desires  to  keep  only 
a  few  colonies  to  supply  himself  and  neigh- 
bors with  honey.  Such  persons  are  apt  to  be 
a  little  careless,  and,  with  ordinary  loose  un- 
spaced  frames,  make  bad  spacing.  It  is  sel- 
dom indeed  that  I  have  looked  into  the 
hives  of  this  class  of  bee-keepers  and  found 
their  loose  frames  properly  spaced.  In  some 
instances  the  combs  are  so  close  together 
that  opposite  surfaces  are  gnawed  down  to 
give  the  bees  sufficient  bee-space  to  pass  be- 
tween; and  in  others  they  are  spaced  so 
wide  apart  that  small  patches  of  comb  are 
built  between;  because  it  is  an  invariable 
rule  laid  down  in  bee-hive  economy,  on  the 
part  of  the  bees,  not  to  leave  more  than  a 
bee-space  between.  Xow,  then,  whenever 
the  Hoffman  frames,  or  any  standard  self- 
spacing  kind,  is  used,  we  always  find  the 
comb  perfect;  indeed,  the  self-spacing  fea- 
ture shows  just  how  far  apart  the  combs 
should  be  placed. 

FOUL  BROOD-  In  its  broadest  sense 
we  might  include  under  this  heading  chilled 
brood,  overheated  brood,  starved  brood,  poi- 
soned brood,  pickled  brood,  black  brood,  and 
foul  brood,  because  in  a  sense  they  are  all 
foul:  but,  technically  speaking,  whenever 
the  term  foul  brood ""  is  used  it  has  refer- 
ence to  a  peculiar  disease  that  comes  from 
a  form  of  bacteria  known  as  Bacillus  alvei. 
Foul  brood,  the  most  generally  distributed 
and  best  known,  I  will  describe  first. 
symptoms. 

Some  of  the  brood  fails  to  hatch.  Cap- 
pings  here  and  there  are  sunken  and  perfo- 


rOUL  BROOD. 


152 


rOUL  BROOD. 


rated  at  the  center.^"  On  opening  one  of 
these  cells  there  \^ill  be  found  a  dead  larva 
lying  on  one  side  of  the  cell,  somewhat 
shrunken,  and  of  a  brownish  color,  varying 
all  the  w^ay  from  a  light  pale  brown  to  a 
dark  brown.  In  the  more  advanced  stages 
the  brow^n  is  of  the  color  of  a  cofCee-berry 
after  being  roasted.  In  the  incipient  stages 
the  brow^n  is  of  the  color  of  the  coifee  we 
drink,  when  greatly  diluted  with  milk.  But 
so  far  all  these  symptoms  may  be  present  as 
the  result  of  chilled,  overheated,  starved,  or  \ 
pickled  brood.  But  to  determine  whether  it  j 
is  the  real  foul  brood,  run  a  toothpick  into  i 


brood  it  invariably  appears.  Now,  there  is 
another  symptom ;  and  that  is,  the  odor, 
while  not  exactly  foul,  resembles  greatly 
that  from  a  cabinet-maker's  glue-pot ;  and 
when  the  disease  is  pretty  w^ell  advanced  in 
the  hive,  the  odor  will  make  itself  manifest 
upon  lifting  the  cover  or  quilt,  even  before 
exposing  the  brood.  If  other  colonies  are 
affected,  and  the  disease  spreads,  it  is  un- 
questionably foul  brood. 

In  the  engraving  on  this  page  appears  a 
typical  specimen  of  comb  affected  with  foul 
brood  in  an  advanced  stage.  The  perfora- 
tions in  the  cappings,  instead  of  being  regu- 


APPEARANCE  OF  AFFECTED  BROOD. — PHOTOGRAPHED  BY  THOS.  WM.  COWAN. 


the  dead  larva  and  then  draw  it  slow^ly  out. 
If  the  maturated  mass  adheres  to  the  end  of 
the  pick,  about  like  spittle  —  stretches  out 
from  one-half  to  one  inch— and  finally  the 
fine  thread  breaks  when  the  pick  is  drawn 
back,  it  is  probably  a  case  of  foul  brood. 
With  all  other  forms  of  diseased  brood,  with 
perhaps  the  exception  of  black  brood*,  this 
ropiness  does  not  appear  ;  but  with  foul 

*  Black  brood,  at  certain  stages,  ropes  very  slightly, 
but  never  more  than  Ys  inch,  and  the  matter  has  a 
jelly-like  consistency. 


lar,  are  jagged,  sunken,  and  of  a  greasy 
brown  color.  It  would  seem  that  the  bees, 
realizing  that  something  was  sadly  wrong, 
make  attempts  to  open  up  the  cells  and  re- 
move the  dead  matter;  but,  evidently,  the 
job  is  too  sickening  for  their  refined  taste, 
and  they  give  it  up  after  merely  opening  the 
cappings.  But  there  is  a  kind  of  pinhole  per- 
foration that  is  perfectly  normal  in  healthy 
brood,  and  should  not  be  confounded  with 
the  perforations  for  foul  brood.  Sometimes 
in  hot  weather  the  bees  leave  their  young 


FOUL  BROOD. 


158 


FOVL  BROOD. 


"bareheaded,  as  it  were ;  that  is.  there  will  be  ; 
small  openings  in  the  cappings ;  but  these 
openings  are  circular,  and  in  the  center  of 
the  cell ;  and  if  one  peeks  throngh  he  will 
see  that  the  grub  is  white,  and  that  all  is 
well.   But  beginners  who  have  discovered 
this  peculiar  condition  have  jumped  to  the 
conclnsion  that  it  was  fonl  brood,  without  j 
due  investigation.  , 
I  speak  of  this  so  that  one  may  avoid  any  ; 
possible  mistake.   The  picture  above  is  so  ' 
characteristic  that  if  one  finds  in  his  apiary 
a  case  as  bad  as  this,  accompanied  by  the  \ 
dead  and  shrunken  appearance  of  the  larva, 
with  a  brownish  color,  the  dead  matter 
showins:  the  stringy,  ropy  condition,  he  may 
rest  assiu'ed,  without  further  investigation, 
that  he  has  the  real  disease,  and  should  treat 
it  accordingly:  but  unless  the  matter  is  ropy 
—stretching  out  at  least  one-fourth  inch— it 
may  be  black  brood ;  but  if  su^h  it  will  not 
have  the  glue-pot  od  ^i.   If  it  ropes  s'ightly 
(i  inch),  and  has  a  sour  smell,  it  is  pcssibly 
black  brood.   The  first  intimation  that  one 
has  of  foul  brood  usually  is  the  presence  of  : 
one  or  two  cells  with  ragged  perforations. 
A  comb  with  such  cells  will  very  soon,  if 
neglected,  have  a  large  number  of  perforat-  j 
ed  cappings. 

tiieat:mext  axd  cure  of  foul  brood.. 
Years  ago  this  disease  got  quite  a  start  in 
our  own  apiary  before  we  realized  what  we 
had  :  and  had  we  at  that  time  an  engraving 
or  photo  like  what  I  have  already  shown  we 
should  have  discovered  the  disease  long  be- 
fore we  did.  As  it  was.  we  had  to  treat  at  a 
great  disadvantage  something  like  eighty 
colonies  dming  that  simimer.  Some  of  them 
we  burned  outright  —  hives,  bees,  frames, 
combs,  and  all.  Others  we  treated  with  sali- 
cylic acid,  carbolic  acid,  or  phenol,  but  not 
with  very  satisfactory  results.  Indeed,  if 
we  had  treated  all  colonies  at  the  start  by 
what  we  have  called  the  starvation  'or  foun- 
dation i  plan,  we  might  have  had  the  disease 
under  control,  and  probably  would  not  have 
had  to  exceed  two  dozen  affected  colonies 
all  told.  The  method  that  finally  gave  us 
relief  was  as  follows :  As  soon  as  a  colony 
was  discovered  having  a  cell  cr  two  of  the 
diseased  brood  it  was  closed  immediately, 
and  a  brick  or  stone  was  laid  on  the  cover. 
Just  before  dark,  and  while  all  the  bees  of 
the  apiary  were  in  the  hives,  and  all  danger 
from  robbers  was  past,  we  removed  the  hive 
from  its  stand,  and  put  another  one  just  like 
it  in  its  place.  This  hive  contained  frames 
filled  with  fuU  sheets  of  foundation.  The 
bees  were  shaken  off  from  the  diseased 


combs,  either  on  top  of  the  frames  or  in 
front  of  the  entrance  of  the  new  hive  now  on 
the  old  stand.  The  combs,  as  soon  as  free 
of  bees,  were  put  back  into  the  old  hive,  and 
the  whole  thing  was  carried  to  the  boiler- 
furnace,*  where  the  frames  were  burned  in 
a  hot  fire.  In  some  cases  the  hives  were 
burned  also,  but  more  often  they  were  clos- 
ed bee-tight  and  set  aside  ;  and  when  we 
had  an  accumulation  of  them  they  were 
scalded  in  boiling  water.  The  bees  on  the 
frames  of  foundation  were  not  fed  for  three 
or  foiu'  days,  but  were  compelled  to  draw  it 
out.  thus  consuming  all  the  honey  in  their 
honey-sacs  in  the  operation.  When  a  few  of 
the  bees  began  to  drop  from  the  frames,  as  if 
from  starvation,  they  were  fed. 

All  colonies  so  treated  were  successfully 
cured  :  and  never,  that  I  remember,  was 
there  a  single  trace  of  foul  brood  in  any  of 
them. 

THE   MEVOT  TREATAEEXT  :  DISIXFECTIXG- 
HIVES. 

I  said  I  boiled  or  burned  the  hives :  but 
Wm.  McEvoy,  of  Woodburn.  Ontario.  Can- 
ada, foul-brood  inspector  for  Ontario,  and  in 
the  government  employ,  has  treated  success- 
fully hundreds  and  perhaps  thousands  of 
colonies  by  putting  the  bees  back  into  the 
same  hive  from  ichi'-h  iliey  came.  His  treat- 
ment is  thus  given  in  his  own  language  : 

In  the  honey  season,  when  the  bees  are  gathering 
freely,  remove  the  combs  in  the  ei  enhig  and  shake  the 
bees  into  their  own  hive:  give  them  frames  with  como- 
foundation  starters  on  ar.d  let  them  build  comb  for 
four  da^-s.  The  bees  will  make  the  starters  into  comb 
during  the  four  days,  and  store  the  diseased  honej-  in 
them  which  they  took  with  them  from  the  old  comb. 
Then  in  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  take  owt  the 
new  combs  and  give  them  comb  foundation  to  work 
out.  and  then  the  cure  will  be  complete. 

Mr.  McEvoy  has  probably  had  a  wider  ex- 
perience with  foul  brood  than  any  other  man 
now  living:  and  it  is  his  opinion  that  it  is 
wor.-e  than  useless  to  use  any  form  of  drug, 
and  that  it  is  also  a  waste  of  time  to  disin- 
fect hives :  and  the  fact  that  he  has  treated 
successfully  thousands  of  colonies,  without 
doing  any  thing  with  the  hives  at  all.  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  such  disinfection  is 
unnecessary.  However,  when  we  had  foul 
brood,  for  the  sake  of  experiment  we  put  the 
bees  of  a  few  coloijies  back  into  the  same 
hives  on  frames  of  f oimdation.  But  the  dis- 
ease reappeared  in  one  or  two  of  them  ;  and 
at  that  time  I  attributed  it  to  the  infection 
in  the  hive,  but  it  must  have  come  from 


When  one  does  not  have  access  to  a  furnace  I 
would  build  a  small  bonfire,  burn  the  combs,  and  then 
bury  the  ashes  below  plow  or  spade  depth. 


FOUL  BROOD. 


154 


FOUL  BROOD. 


some  other  source.  However,  so  good  an 
authority  as  Thos.  Wm.  Cowan,  editor  of  the 
British  Bee  Journal,  and  one  who  has  made 
foul  brood  a  special  study,  strongly  urges  the 
disinfection  of  all  infected  hives.  He  would 
either  scald  them  or  paint  the  inside  with  a 
stroDg  solution  of  carbolic  acid. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Mr.  McEvoy  puts 
the  bees  on  two  sets  of  frames  of  foundation, 
destroying  the  first  set  that  they  drew  out. 
Whether  the  second  lot  is  a  necessary  pre- 
caution I  can  not  say  ;  but  the  fact  that  we 
never  had  any  trouble  when  using  only  one 
set  would  seem  to  indicate  that  was  euDUgh  ; 
but  we  were  cnreful  to  see  that  all  the  honey 
was  consumed  in  comb -building. 

IS  USING  THE    HONEY  AND   BEESWAX  OF 
DISEASED  COMBS  RENDERED  SAFE 
AFTER  BOILING  ? 

Some  wi  iters  seem  to  think  that  the  burn- 
ing of  frames  and  combs  is  a  useless  w^aste, 
and  recommend  extracting  and  boiling  the 
honey,  melting  up  the  cembs,  and  then  boil- 
ing the  frames,  giving  back  both  the  honey 
and  wax  when  made  into  foundation.  But 
it  has  been  found  that  such  a  procedure  is 
not  only  exceedingly  dangerous,  but,  after 
all,  does  not  save  very  much  in  the  end.  The 
amount  of  wax  that  one  will  get  out  of  an 
old  comb  is  very  insignificant,  and  hardly, 
worth  consideration,  and  the  honey  would 
have  to  be  boiled  at  least  tw^o  hours  and  a 
half  in  order  to  kill  the  spores  of  foul  brood. 
Such  boiling  would  make  a  dark  and  very 
inferior  honey;  and  as  extracted  of  good 
quality  brings  but  a  comparatively  low  pi  ice, 
the  boiled  article,  affected  both  in  flavor  and 
in  color,  would,  as  a  matter  of  course,  bring 
a  less  price.  If  one  figures  up  his  time  as 
worth  any  thing,  the  f  nel  for  boiling  honey 
this  length  of  time,  and  if  he  considers,  too, 
the  danger  that  must  necessarily  result  in 
tainting  up  the  extractor  with  foul-broody 
honey,  and  also  the  danger  of  robber  bees 
getting  access  to  the  honey  while  it  is  being 
extracted,  he  will  consider  it  very  poor  pol- 
icy. 

Foul  brood  exists  in  two  forms  :  1.  The 
bacilli,  or  actual  germ  life  ;  2.  Spores,  or 
eggs,  as  we  might  call  them.  The  first  form 
is  very  easily  killed  by  boiling  or  by  the  use 
of  antiseptics.  The  second,  owing  to  the 
fact  of  their  being  incased  within  a  thick 
double  membrane,  a  boiling  of  one  or  two 
hours  is  not  sufiicient  to  kill  them.  Indeed, 
microscopic  examinations  show  that  these 
same  spores  will  develop  into  bacilli  after 
having  been  boiled  one  and  even  two  hours. 


In  support  of  this  I  would  refer  to  the  Euro- 
pean scientist  M.  Genonceaux ;  Dr.  W. 
Howard,  of  Texas ;  Prof.  C.  F,  Hodge,  of 
Massachusetts ;  scientist  Brice,  of  England ; 
bacteriologist  J.  J.  McKenzie,  of  Ontario, 
and  Thos.  Wm.  Cowan,  editor  of  the  British 
Bee  Journal;  and  in  addition  to  the  experi- 
ments made  by  these  men,  J.  A.  Buchanan, 
of  HoUidays  Cove,  W.  Va.,  tried  feeding 
back  foul-broody  honey  that  w^as  boiled  only 
ten  minutes,  with  the  result  that  it  gave  the 
disease  to  every  colony  so  fed. 

MEDICATING    SYRUP    TO    PREVENT  FOUL 
BROOD  ;   DRUGS,  AND  THEIR  USES. 

I  have  already  stated  that  we  did  not  get 
very  satisfactory  results  by  the  use  of  drugs 
when  foul  brood  visited  our  apiary  some 
years  ago.  We  did  find,  however,  that  they 
invariably  held  the  disease  in  check  ;  but  as 
soon  as  their  use  was  discontinued  the  dis- 
ease broke  out  again.  I  have  explained  also 
that  the  spores  of  foul  brood  are  not  easily 
killed  by  drugs  nor  even  by  hard  boiling.  But 
the  bacilli,  the  germ  life  itself,  after  it  has 
hatched,  so  to  speak,  from  the  spore  state,  is 
very  easily  killed  with  antiseptics  or  212  de- 
grees of  heat.  While  I  do  not  advise  one  to 
place  his  sole  dependence  on  drugs,  as  an 
auxiliary  to  the  regular  treatment  they 
might  and  probably  would  prove  very  effica- 
cious. They  would  also  be  very  useful  in 
preventing  the  breaking-out  of  disease  if  all 
syrups  fed  to  bees  were  medicated.  It  would 
certainly  do  no  harm,  cost  practically  no- 
thing, and  might  save  hundreds  of  dollars. 
We  will  suppose,  for  instance,  that  by  some 
means  spores  are  in  the  honey  at  the  bottom 
of  the  cells  in  several  hives.  When  the  bees 
get  down  to  where  the  spores  are,  the  dis- 
ease would  probably  break  out  in  young  lar- 
vae fed  with  the  milky  food  made  up  of  honey 
containing  these  spores.  'Now,  if  these  same 
colonies,  when  fed  in  the  fall,  have  been  sup- 
plied with  medicated  syrup,  these  spores,  as 
soon  as  they  did  hatch,  would  be  destroyed, 
and  thus  prevent  the  spread  of  the  disease 
at  its  very  inception.. 

Two  antiseptics  have  been  recommended. 
One  is  carbolic  acid,  and  the  other  what  is 
called  naphthol  beta.  The  directions  for 
putting  the  former  in  syrup  or  honey  are  as 
follows : 

One  ounce  of  carbolic-acid  crystals  to  40  pounds  of 
syrup;  '%  ounce  for  10  pounds;  or  ^  ounce  of  liquid 
carbolic  acid  for  9  pounds  of  syrup,  or  rather  less  than 
3  quarts.  The  carbolic  acid  should  be  added  to  the 
syrup  when  the  later  is  cool,  and  equally  mixed  by 
careful  stirring  — Cheshire. 

But  one  objection  to  carbolic  acid  is  its 


FOUL  BROOD. 


loo 


FOUL  BROOD. 


strong  odor,  and  this  odor  is  very  distasteful 
to  the  bees.  Sometimes  they  will  utterly  re- 
fuse to  take  symp  with  it  in.  But  there  is 
another  new  antiseptic  called  napthol  beta, 
that  is  entirely  free  from  any  objectionable 
odors.  This  drug  can  be  obtained  at  the 
large  drug-houses,  or  may  be  ordered  by  the 
smaller  ones  from  their  wholesale  dealers. 
The  following  are  the  directions  recommend- 
ed for  introducing  naphthol  beta  into  the 
syrup  : 

For  every  pound  of  sugar  used  in  making  syrup  or 
candy,  dissolve  three  grains  of  naphthol  beta  in  alco- 
hol. Naphthol  dissolves  freely  in  alcohol,  but  it  is  in- 
soluble in  cold  water.  Pour  the  solution  into  the  syr- 
up, when  sufficiently  boiled  and  still  hot. 

The  expense  of  putting  this  into  the  syrup 
would  be  very  slight,  and  might  and  probably 
would  prevent  the  breaking- out  of  the  dis- 
ease, as  I  have  explained,  because  it  would 
immediately  kill  the  bacilli  as  soon  as  they 
hatched  from  the  spore  form  ;  and  I  would 
advise  every  bee-keeper  who  has  once  had 
foul  brood  in  his  apiary,  or  who  is  troubled 
by  its  occasional  reappearance  in  his  yard, 
to  medicate  all  syrups  he  feeds  to  his  bees. 
This,  in  addition  to  the  regular  forms  of 
treatment  prescribed  by  putting  bees  on 
clean  frames  of  foundation,  ought  to  put  a 
quietus  on  the  worst  enemy  with  which  bee- 
keepers have  to  contend. 

Caution. — Do  not  handle  the  infected  col- 
onies during  the  day,  or  when  robbers  are 
nosing  around.  Do  not  attempt  to  satisfy 
the  curiosity  of  other  bee-keepers  who  would 
like  to  see  what  foul  brood  looks  like,  smells 
like,  etc.  If  you  use  any  sort  of  brush  for 
brushing  the  bees  off  tlie  combs  into  the 
new  hives,  either  burn  it  up  or  keep  it  for  a 
while  in  boiling  water  before  using  it  again 
on  healthy  colonies.  Nothing  but  an  old 
smoker  should  be  used  in  working  with 
foul  brood.  The  boards  of  the  bellows  may, 
perhaps,  with  advantage  be  painted  with  a 
strong  solution  of  carbolic  acid ;  but  after 
having  rid  the  apiary  of  foul  brood,  burn  up 
the  smoker.  Disinfect  every  thing  where 
possible,  that  has  come  in  contact  with 
combs  or  hives  that  are  infected  with  the 
disease,  by  immersing  in  boiling  water. 
It  may  not  be  necessary  to  boil  the  hives  ; 
but  if  it  can  be  done  at  not  too  great  ex- 
pense it  will  do  no  harm.  The  hands  should 
be  thoroughly  washed  in  water  strongly 
tinctured  with  carbolic  acid  just  strong 
enough  so  it  will  not  quite  peel  the  skin  ofl 
the  hands.  A  solution  diluted  500  times,  or 
the  strength  recommended  in  the  phenol 
treatment,  is  hardly  adequate. 


I    So  much  for  foul  brood  from  a  practical 
j  standpoint ;  but  there  is  a  scientific  side 
'  that  is  both  interesting  and  important;  and 
;  for  this  I  can  do  no  better  than  to  quote 
from  that  skilled  microscopist,  scientist, 
I  author,  and  bee-keeper,  to  whom  I  have  al- 
I  ready  referred  under  Anatomy  of  the  Bee, 
Tlios.  William  Cowan,  who  is  editor  of  the 
I  Bntish  Bee  Journal.   From  his  work,  "  Foul 
j  Brood  and  its  Treatment,"  I  make  the  fol- 
lowing extracts: 

j  LITE  HISTORY  OF  FOUL  BROOD. 

j     It  will  be  necessary  to  give  only  a  brief  outline  of 

[  the  life  history  of  Bacillus  alvei  to  enable  us  to  un- 

'  derstand  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  this  disease. 

I  Bacillus  alvei  is  a  pathogenic  or  disease-producing 
micro-organism,  in  form  cj'lindrical  or  rod-shaped, 
and  Increasing  by  splitting  or  fissuration.  The 

;  rods  increase  in  length  without  growing  thicker, 
and  at  a  certain  point  divide  and  separate  in  two,  1  o 
again  increase,  divide,  and  separate.  Sometimi  s.  in 
suitable  nourishing  media,  the  lengthening  of  the 
rod  is  not  accompanied  by  separation,  but  only  by 
repeated  division  into  longer  or  shorter  chains  of 
bacillus-filaments,  or  leptothrix.  The  rods  are  also 
pi'ovided  with  a  flagellum  at  one  end.  and  aj-e  en- 
dowed with  the  power  of  locomotion.  Under  cir- 
tain  conditions  bacilli  have  the  power  of  forming 
spores,  in  which  case  a  speck  appears  at  a  particu- 
lar point  of  the  bacillus,  which  gradually  enlarges 

j  and  develops  into  an  oval  highly  refractive  body, 

:  thicker  but  shorter  than  the  original  rod.  The 
spore  grows  at  the  expense  of  the  protoplasm  of  the 

:  cell,  which  in  time  disappears,  setting  free  the 
spore.  The  latter  formation  closes  the  cycle  of  the 
life  history  of  the  bacillus.  The  spores— repi  esent- 
ing  the  seeds— retain  the  power  of  germinating  into 
bacilli  when  introduced  into  a  suitable  nourishing- 
medium,  and  at  a  proper  temperature,  even  after 
the  lapse  of  long  periods  of  time.  At  germination 
the  spore  first  loses  its  brilliancy,  swells  up,  and 
eventually  its  membrane  bursts  in  the  middle.  Tlie 

'  inner  part  f)f  the  spore  then  pi  ojects  through  the 

i  opening  and  grows  to  a  new  rod. 

Tlie  spores  also  possess  the  power  of  enduring 
adverse  influences  of  various  kinds  without  injury 
to  their  vitality,  so  far  as  germinating  is  concerned, 
even  if  subjected  to  influencts  fatal  to  bacilli  them- 
selves. The  latter  ai  e  destroyed  at  the  temperature 
ol  boiling  water,  while  the  spore  ;ipp  rently  suffers 
no  damage  at  that  temperature.  Freezing  also  kills 
the  bacilli,  but  not  the  spores.  In  the  same  way 
chemical  reagents,  eompletelj'  destructive  of  the 
bacilli,  do  not  affect  the  vitality  of  the  spores. 
Carbolic  acid,  phenol,  tliymol,  salicylic  iicid.  naph- 
thol beta,  perchloride  of  mercury,  and  many  other 
substances,  even  when  considerably  diluted,  pre- 
vent the  growth  of  bacilli,  but  have  no  effect  what- 
ever upon  the  spores.  The  great  resistance  of 
spores  to  high  and  low  temperatui  es,  to  acids  and 
other  substances,  is  due  to  their  beiug  encased  with- 
in a  thick  double  membrane. 

There  are  certain  chemical  substances  which 
evaporate  at  the  ordinary  temperature  of  the  hive, 
and  whose  vapors,  while  not  actually  killing  the 
bacilli,  arrest  their  increase  or  growth  Among 
such  substances  are  carbolic  acid,  phenyl  (or  creo- 
lin),  lysol,  eucalyptus,  camphor,  napthalene,  and 
several  oi  hers. 


FOUL  BROOD. 


156 


FOUL  BEOOD. 


If  a  healthy  larva  be  taken,  and  a  small  quantity 
of  the  juice  from  its  body  spread  on  a  g-ass  slid  • 
be  placed  under  the  microscope,  we  shall  see  a  num- 
ber of  fat-globules  and  blood-disks  (Fig-.  2),  among- 
which  molecules  ^ire  in  constant  motion.  If,  on  t1  c 
other  hand,  a  young-  larva  diseased,  but  not  yet 
dead,  be  treated  as  above,  its  juices  will,  when  sub 
jected  to  a  similtir  examination,  be  seen  to  contani 
a  great  numbei-  of  active  rods  swimming  backward 


FIG,  3.  — KEALTHY  JUICES.  FIG.  3.— BARLV  STAGE. 


FIG.  4.  — EATER  CTAGE.  FIG.  5.— LAST  STAGE. 


and  forward  among  the  blood-disks  and  fat-globules, 
which  latter,  as  will  be  noticed  (Fig.  3),  are  fewer 
than  those  in  the  juices  of  a  henlthy  larva.  We 
shall  also  find,  as  the  disease  makes  rapid  progress, 
chains  of  bacilli— the  leptothrix  form— becoming- 
common.  In  Fig.  -i  we  liave  a  representation  of  a 
later  stage  of  the  disease  when  the  larva  is  dead  and 
decomposing.  Here  tlie  fat  and  albnniinoids  will 
be  found  disaiipearing,  and  the  bacilli  assuming  the 
spore  condil  ion.  In  Fig.  f)  we  see  the  disease  in  its 
latest  stage,  wiien  the  whole  rotten  mass  has  become 
coffee-colored,  or  has  dried  to  a  scale,  lilood-di^ks. 
fat-globules,  and  molecular  movements  have  di.s- 
appoared,  only  a  few  bacilli  are  seen,  and  at  last,  as 


the  nourishing  material  becomes  exhausted,  onlj^ 
spores  remain. 

It  will  now  be  understood,  that,  owing  tu  t'.ie 
great  lesistance  of  the  spores,  chemical  substances 
have  no  effect  at  all  upon  Ihem  unle.-s  administered 
under  such  conditio:  s  as  would  d(^siroythe  bees. 
From  this  it  will  be  seen  how  great  is  the  diflBculty 
in  curing  foul  brood  unless  the  dl-ease  is  attacked 
in  its  early  stages. 

It  has  previously  been  stated  that  adult  bees  are 
sometimes  attacked  by  the  disease.  To  prove  this, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  take  a  weakly  bee  on  the 
point  of  death,  and  examine  what  remains  of  its^ 
fluids  under  tlie  micro-cope,  when  a  lai  ge  number 
of  active  bacilli  will  be  found.  Sucli  bees  leave  the 
hive  to  die,  whereas  the  infected  larvae  remain  in 
the  cells,  unless  disinfectants  to  ai-rest  decomposi- 
tion ai-e  used,  in  which  case  the  bees  remove  them 
from  the  hives. 

A  careful  reading  of  the  method  as 
above  will  make  it  very  apparent  why 
w^e,  in  our  large  experience  with  foul 
brood,  could  not  elfect  a  'permanent  cure  of 
the  disease  by  the  application  of  disinfect- 
ants in  the  form  of  carbolic  acid,  salicylic 
acid,  and  the  like.  While  we  could  kill 
the  bacilli  themselves  with  the  antiseptics 
we  had  no  elfect  on  the  spores,  which  w^ould 
hatch  later  on,  and,  as  a  consequence,  give 
rise  to  the  disease  again.  We  found  it  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  burn  the  combs, 
frames,  and  sometimes  the  hives,  when  the 
case  was  a  very  bad  one,  and  the  combs  fair- 
ly rotten. 

Mr.  Cowan "s  statements,  based  on  his  in- 
vestigation with  one  of  the  best  micro- 
scopes, agree  exactly  with  our  quite  exten- 
sive experience  with  foul  brood  some  years 
ago. 

PICKLED  BBOOD. 
There  is  another  kind  of  diseased  brood  in 
many  respects  resembling  foul  brood,  but 
lacking  two  important  charactei  istics :  (1) 
Ropiness,  or  stringiness  of  the  dead  matter: 
(2)  the  foul  odor.  In  other  respects  it  looks 
very  much  like  it  under  some  circumstances. 
But  it  more  closely  resembles  black  brood  — 
so  much  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  one  from 
the  other.^  Pickled  brood  apparently  comes 
and  goes :  is  mildly  contagious,  and  could 
not  be  really  considered  a  destructive  dis- 
ease ;  that  is  to  say,  the  bees  will  usually 
take  care  of  it :  and  if  not,  a  little  assistance 
from  the  apiarist  will  bring  it  under  control. 
There  is  not  a  doubt  but  that  it  has  often 
been  confounded  for  foul  brood  ;  and  that  is 
the  reason  why  some  remedies  which  were 
claimed  to  be  absolute  specifics  for  this  de- 
structive disease  were  tried  on  a  mild  mala- 
dy that  often  goes  off  itself. 

SYMPTOMS   OF  PICKLED  BROOD. 

Combs  containing  the  disease  in  the  more 


FOUL  BROOD. 


157 


FOUL  BEOOD. 


advanced  stages  look  moldy.  The  larva  dies, 
lies  on  its  back,  both  ends  poiming  upward  : 
often  swollen,  and.  according  to  ^Ir.  W.  J. 
Stalimann.  in  the  Am'  rican  Bee  Journal,  of 
TTaverly.  Minn.,  who  has  had  much  experi- 
ence vrith  it,  it  is  at  first  white,  and  at  such 
times  is  ''hard  to  distinguish  from  live 
brood.-'  At  this  stage,  he  says,  "the  bees 
generally  remove  it.  If  not  removed,  its 
color  changes  to  a  yellow,  in  a  few  days  get- 
ting darker  until  it  is  nearly  black.  In  some 
cases  it  is  allowed  to  dry  in  the  cells.  It  is 
very  watery  after  it  is  colored,  not  at  all 
ropy  or  sticky,  and  emits  no  foul  odor.  .  . 
A  colony  may  have  only  a  few  cells  of  dead 
larvae,  and  keep  them  removed,  so  that  it  is 
hardly  noticeable  at  times :  then  they  may 
make  a  turn  and  not  remove  it.  This  seems 
to  cause  it  to  increase  very  rapidly,  and 
many  more  die  than  if  they  kept  it  removed. 

.  .  I  have  had  some  colonies  that  have 
shown  considerable  dead  brood  all  summer, 
with  no  perceptible  increase  or  decrease.  . 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  when  bees  have 
contracted  this  disease  it  never  leaves  them 
permanently.  .  .  I  believe  that  some  of 
my  colonies  have  had  this  disease  for  several 
years  without  my  noti-ing  it.  and  that  I  have 
spread  it  in  my  apiaries  by  changing  combs. 

.  .  As  an  experiment  tending  toward  a 
cure  I  selected  one  colony  that  was  badly  in- 
fected :  took  away  all  their  old  combs,  and 
gave  them  new  frames  with  foundation 
starters  only.  So  far  I  can  find  no  trace  of 
the  disease."  When  the  bees  are  not  able 
to  cure  the  disease  themselves,  it  can  be 
readily  removed  by  this  plan,  or  what  is 
known  as  the  starvation  method  described 
for  the  treatment  of  foul  brood,  just  preced- 
ing. In  any  event,  if  one  is  not  certain 
whether  he  has  pickled  brood  or  something 
else,  he  had  better  err  on  the  safe  side,  and 
shake  the  bees  on  foundation  at  once.  Do 
not  take  any  chances  :  and  remember  that 
pickled  brood  resembles  black  brood  much 
more  closely  than  it  does  foul  brood  :  and. 
as  we  shall  presently  see.  black  brood  is  as 
much  to  be  feared  as  foul  brood,  so  that  the 
average  bee-keeper  had  better  treat  every 
case  of  diseased  or  dead  brood  jtist  as  if  it 
were  foul  brood  or  black  brood. 

Dr.  Wm.  R.  Howard,  an  expert  bacteriol- 
ogist of  Fort  Worth.  Texas,  was  the  first  one 
to  recognize  pickled  brood  and  give  it  a  spe- 
cific name.  It  was  he  who  first  drew  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  this  disease  was  not  due 
to  bacillus  but  to  a  fungus  growth.  He  has 
named  it,  therefore,  pickled  or  white  fungus 
disease.   In  1896  he  published  in  the  Ameri- 


C'ln  Bee  Joirnvd  quite  an  elaborate  descrip- 
tion of  it,  and  this  we  have  thought  best  to 
place  before  our  readers  in  permanent  form. 
He  says  : 

Mv  attention  was  called  to  this  disease  nearly  two 
j-ears  ago.  I  had  two  colonies  to  die  during  the  win- 
ter, and,  when  examined  in  the  spring,  I  found  the 
combs  very  moldy,  especially  those  containing  pollen. 
These  combs  were  gi%-en  to  other  colonies,  and  every 
thing  went  off  nicely  till  the  brood  was  about  read}'  to 
seal,  when  much  of  it  was  found  to  be  dead.  Careful 
watch  was  kept,  and  it  was  noted  that  the  dead  brood 
did  not  decay  like  "  foul  brood."  Again,  much  of  that 
which  was  sealed  never  hatched,  and  was  found  to  be 
dead  and  shrivele:!,  without  becoming  rotten.  The 
season  was  a  poor  one.  little  honej-  coming  in,  the 
bees  seemed  discouraged,  uneas}',  and  often  the  dead 
white  larvce  would  be  carried  out.  On  examining  the 
combs  the  dying  larvee  were  noticed  to  be  wriggling 
out  of  the  cells.  Some  were  onlj-  half  wa}-  out,  but  fell 
out  while  under  observation. 

The  larvce  when  dead  have  a  swollen  appearance. 
Neither  end  touching  the  sides  of  the  cell  is  a  common 
position  (Fig.  o  a).  In  some  cases,  when  left  five  or 
six  da\s,  the  brood  settles  down  like  foul  b'-ood " 
(Fig.  5  d),  and  changes  to  a  dark-browni.'-h  mass, 
which,  on  examination,  is  found  to  be  watery,  and 
not  "ropy"  like  "foul  brood;"'  entirely  void  of  the 
offensive  odor  ;  in  fact,  no  odor  at  all. 

A  microscopical  investigation  showed,  in  addition  to 
PenicUliv.yyi  glaucum  (,Fig.  1  d).  ether  molds  in  the  pol- 
len and  on  the  combs  ;  from  these  and  the  dead  brood 
was  isolated  as  the  cause  of  the  trouble  a  species  of 
aspergillus.  a  white  fungus,  or  mold.  Several  experi- 
ments were  made  during  the  summer,  which  ful  y 
satisfied  me  that  my  conclusions  were  correct. 

This  suggested  to  my  mind,  that  perhaps  this  was 
the  kind  of  "  foul  brood  "  of  which  so  man\-  had  wi  it- 
ten — the  kind  which  had  been  tre.ated  b\-  the  starva- 
fio>i  method,  the  drug  method  f^?).  and  the  kind  which 
always  disappears  as  soon  as  fresh  pollen  comes  in  : 
and  possibly  the  kind  mentioned  by  Mr.  N.  W  Mc- 
Cain lauiho.'s  "Foul  Brood,"  page  34).  which  he 
found  to  attack  the  brood  when  the  fiist  feeding  of 
pollen  takes  place.  This  trouble  has  been  mentioned 
by  manj-  writers  in  the  bee-papers,  and  many  ques- 
tions propounded  by  my  correspondents  regarding  its 
nature  and  cure.  I  have  recommended,  with  success- 
ful results,  placing  the  bees  on  full  sheets  of  founda- 
tion, confining  them  for  three  days  (.giving  them 
plenty  of  water  s  in  order  to  consume  all  of  the  infect- 
ed material,  that  none  of  it  might  be- deposited  in  the 
new  combs  to  be  covered  with  ne«-  pollen  or  honey. 
The  disease  is  infectious,  and  may  be  carried  by  rob- 
bers having  access  to  infected  combs. 

Pollen  is  a  favorable  medium,  and  the  warm,  damp, 
daik  cellars  in  which  bees  are  wintered  in  the  North- 
ern climate,  give  the  proper  conditions  for  the  growth, 
and  moldy  combs  result. 

When  pollen  is  added  to  the  liquid  food,  which  oc- 
curs late  in  larval  life,  there  being  a  sweet  semi-liquid 
mixture,  the  proper  medium  is  present  for  the  growth 
of  the  fungus,  which  at  once  starts  a  ferment  in  the 
alimentar\'  canal  of  the  larva,  breaking  through  and 
permeating  the  entire  liquids  of  the  body,  giving  an 
acid  reaction  v chemical  anaU-sis  proves  the  presence 
of  acetic  acid,  or  vinegar).  This  growth  takes  place 
generalh-  within  three  days,  the  brood  dies  slowh-, 
keeping  up  for  some  time  a  wriggling  motion. 

When  no  more  food  i  sweets)  is  taken,  the  medium 
is  soon  exhausted  and  the  furgus  ceases  to  grow  :  the 


rOUL  BKOOD. 


158 


FOUL  BKOOD. 


acid  condition  of  the  brood  prevents  the  growth  of  the 
putrefactive  germs  from  the  air,  so  that  decomposition 
does  not  take  place,  hence  no  foul  odor.  The  brood  is 
pickled  in  its  own  liquids. 

WHITE  FUNGUS — Aspergillis  Pollini 

A  mold  introduced  to  a  healthy  colony  from  moldy 
combs  or  pollen  (Fig.  8),  vphich  when  mixed  with  the 
liquid  food  composed  mostly  of  honey  and  water,  a 
ferment  takes  place,  and  vinegar  is  formed  in  the 
stomach  of  the  bee,  the  combined  action  of  the  mold 
and  the  ferment  destroys  the  life,  as  above  mentioned. 

Symptoms  and  Course.— Brood  is  attacked  only 
after  the  pollen  is  mixed  with  the  liquid  food,  and 
dies  just  before  arriving  at  the  pupa  stage,  generally  ; 
sometimes  passes  into  this  stage  and  is  sealed.  No 
brood  dies  before  the  age  of  feeding  mixed  food  ar- 
rives. The  dead  brood  being  in  an  acid  or  pickled 
condition,  it  is  not  attacked  by  the  putrefactive  germs 
from  the  atmosphere.  No  decomposition  takes  place 
there  is  a  watery  (not  ropy)  condition  of  the  brood 
when  broken  up,  sometimes  of  a  light-brown  color, 
generally  white,  giving  off  no  odor.  The  cap  in  sealed 
brood  is  not  ruptured  (Fig.  6,  a).  The  dead  brood  has 
a  swollen  appearance  (Fig.  5.  a),  and  when  dry  does 
not  stick  to  the  comb  or  cell,  and  often  does  not  lose 
its  shape. 

When  Aspergillis  pollini  (Figs.  3  and  4)  is  planted 
with  the  combs  in  water,  or  the  brood  on  plates  par- 
tially submerged  in  sweetened  water  mixed  with 
starch  or  wheat  bran,  placed  in  a  moist  chamber  in  a 


dark  room,  growth  at  once  takes  place,  and  in  3  or  4 
days  covers  the  medium,  converting  it  into  an  acid 
solution.  When  exposed  to  the  air  putrefactive  germs 
do  not  attack  the  culture.— Ft.  Worth,  Tex  —From  The 
American  Bee  Journal. 

BLACK  BBOOD. 

In  1898,  '99,  and  1900  there  appeared  a  pe- 
culiar form  of  malady  apparently  affecting 
the  adult  bees  as  well  as  the  brood  through- 
out the  eastern  portions  of  New  York.  At 
first  many  thought  it  was  foul  brood.  Oth- 
ers came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  pick- 
led brood  ;  and  still  others  felt  very  sure  it 
was  neither.  It  differed  from  both  in  some 
important  characteristics.  It  was  fully  as 
destructive  as  foul  brood,  and  did  not  yield 
readily  in  all  cases  to  the  treatment  pre- 
scribed for  that  disease. 

Dr.  Wm.  R.  Howard,  to  whom  reference 
has  already  been  made,  Professor  of  Histol- 
ogy, Pathology,  and  Bacteriology  of  the 
Medical  Department  of  Fort  Worth  Univer- 
sity, Fort  Worth,  Texas,  who  had  already 
given  considerable  study  and  attention  to 
the  subject  of  foul  and  pickled  broods,  was 


Fig.  1. 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


Fig.  1.— Bacillus  alvei  and  other  germs— 600  diameters.    [Figures  from  the  author's  \"  Foul  Brood."] 
Fig.  2.— Pollen-grains,  ttc.— fiOO  diameters.    [Figures  from  the  author's  "  Foul  Brood."] 

Fig.  3.— Infected  pollen— 600  diameters,  a,  globular  and  polyhedral  pollen-grains  ;  I?,  resting  spores  found 
in  bee  bread  and  in  larvee  ;  c,  growth  three  days'  old,  as  found  on  proper  culture  media,  also  in  the  body  of  the 
larvae  ;  d,  division  of  the  resting  spores  ;     when  growth  first  starts. 


Fig.  4.  Fig.  5.  Fig.  6. 


Fig.  4. — The  mature  mold— 600  diameters,  e,  the  network  of  the  base  (mycelium)  of  the  mold  ;  /,  the  rest- 
ing spores  ;  g.  the  threadlike  filament,  running  and  branching  in  every  direction,  containing  spores  within  the 
threads  as  well  as  outside. 

Fig.  5.— Contrast  between  the  white-fungus  disease  and  foul  brood — profile,  natural  size,  a,  dead  or  pickled 
brood  from  the  white  fungus ;  d,  dead  brood  from  foul  brood. 

Fig.  6. — Difference  between  normal  caps,  or -those  over  the  white  fungus,  and  foul  brood — surface,  natural 
size,  a,  white  fungus,  or  normal ;  b.  caps  with  the  ragged  hole  near  the  center  as  found  in  foul  brood  ;  c,  par- 
tially removed  cap  showing  the  mass  within. 


FOUL  BROOD. 


159 


FOUL  BROOD. 


•  finally  prevailed  on  to  undertake  an  exhaust- 1 
ive  study  of  this  new  malady  that  was  mak- 
ing such  dreadful  havoc  among  the  bees  in  I 
New  York.  Possessing  one  of  the  finest  and 
most  expensive  microscopes,  and  having  all 
the  very  latest  and  best  apparatus  of  a  well- 
equipped  laboratory,  he  began  his  studies 
and  investigations  in  the  fall  of  1899,  and 
concluded  them  in  February  of  the  following 
year,  at  which  time  he  issued  a  bulletin  giv- 
ing a  full  history  and  pathological  character- 
istics of  this  new  disease,  for  indeed  it  prov- 
ed to  be  such.  He  named  it  the  New  York 
bee-disease,  or  black  brood.  The  last  name 
has  been  adopted  by  bee-keepers  in  gen- 
eral. 

Dr.  Howard  made  more  than  a  thousand 
microscopical  examinations  ;  inspected  doz- 
ens of  samples  of  the  dead  brood  that  were 
sent  from  New  York  a,nd  other  States,  so 
that  he  had  all  the  material  he  could  reason- 
ably require  for  his  investigation.  As  a  re- 
sult of  his  researches  he  found  a  new  and 
distinct  form  of  bacterium,  or,  rather,  two 
forms,  the  most  prominent  of  which  were 
Bacillus  milii  and  Bacillus  thoracis.  The  for- 
mer was  so  named  from  its  resemblance  to 
millet  seed,  and  the  latter  because  it  was 
found  in  the  thorax  or  spiracles  (air-pass- 
ages) of  the  bees.  In  many  of  the  samples 
he  found  both  of  these  germs,  and  in  some 
others  only  the  Bacillus  milii.  From  an  ex- 
tended correspondence  he  learned  that  this 
disease  attacks  probably  the  adult  bees  as 
well  as  the  brood,  and  that  it  seems  to  be 
most  active  in  the  sealed  brood  of  the  pupa 
stage.  The  younger  larva?,  while  they  may 
have  the  destructive  germs  in  their  alimen- 
tary tract,  are  not  usually  immediately  af- 
fected. As  they  grow  older,  symptoms  of 
the  disease  begin  to  appear.  But  they  still 
live,  and  continue  growing  until  they  reach 
the  pupa  stage,  when  they  will  turn  black, 
and  die — hence  the  term  black  brood."  At 
about  this  stage  there  is  apt  to  be  a  pene- 
trating sour  smell,  quite  unlike  the  sicken- 
ing odor  of  foul  brood. 

I  show  on  p.  160  some  microscopic  slides 
showing  a  variety  of  forms  of  bacteria  and 
fungi  which  Dr.  Howard  discovered  in  the 
diseased  specimens  that  were  submitted  to 
him,  but  only  two  of  which  —  Bacillus  milii 
and  Bacillus  thoracis— Sire  in  any  way  direct- 
ly connected  with  the  disease  known  as  black 
brood. 

SYMPTOMS   OF  BLACK  BROOD. 

I  can  do  no  better  than  to  quote  from  Dr. 
Howard's  report  on  page  7  of  the  aforesaid 
bulletin. 


SYMPTOMS  AND  COURSE. 

Brood  is  usually  attacked  late  in  the  larval  life,  and 
dies  during  pubation,  or  later  when  nearly  mature  and 
ready  to  come  forth  through  the  chrysalis  capping. 
Even  after  leaving  the  cell  they  are  so  feeble  that  they 
fall  from  the  combs  helpless.  Most  of  the  brood  dies 
after  it  is  sealed.  In  this  it  is  much  like  pickled  brood, 
except  that  as  much  or  more  brood  dies  in  the  late  lar- 
val stage  than  in  the  pupa.  In  foul  brood,  while  brood 
of  all  ages  dies,  yet  more  dies  "at  the  ages  of  6.  7,  8, 
and  9  days  than  at  any  other  age"  (author's  Foul 
Brood,  p.  46),  even  before  the  rich  chyle- like  food  mix- 
ed with  pollen  is  given,  which  is  such  a  necessary  en- 
vironment for  pickled  brood  and  black  brood. 

When  the  larvae  show  the  fiist  signs  of  this  disease, 
there  appears  a  brownish  spot  on  the  body,  about  the 
size  of  a  pinhead.  The  larvae  may  yet  receive  nourish- 
ment for  a  day  or  t  vo  ;  but  as  the  fermentation  in- 
creases the  browni.'.h  spot  enlarges,  the  larva  dies, 
stands  out,  swollen  and  sharp  at  the  ends.  In  this  they 
are  like  pickled  brood,  except  that  the  brown  spot  is 
not  present  in  pickled  brood,  but  pickled  brood  some- 
times becomes  brown  after  death.  Foul  brood  turns 
brown  only  after  the  action  of  putrefactive  germs  have 
brought  about  decomposition.  No  decomposition  from 
putrefactive  germ-  takes  place  in  pickled  brood.  In 
black  brood  the  dark  and  rotten  masses,  in  time,  break 
down  and  settle  to  the  lower  .-ide  of  the  cells,  as  a 
watery,  syrupy,  granular  liquid — not  the  sticky,  ropy, 
balsam  or  glue-like  semi-fluid  substance  of  foul  brood. 
It  does  not  adhere  to  the  cell-walls  like  that  of  foul 
brood  ;  has  not  the  characteristic  foul  odor  which  at- 
tracts carrion  flies,  but  a  sour,  rotten-apple  smell,  and 
not  even  a  house-fly  will  set  her  foot  upon  it.  Cappings 
in  foul  brood  are  sunken  in  the  center  when  broken, 
sometimes  puffed  out  by  internal  gases  In  black  brood, 
the  cap  is  disturbed  from  without,  sometimes  uncap- 
ped, and  cell  contents  removed  by  the  bees  ;  not  so  in 
foul  brood.  The  cap  in  pickled  brood  is  usually  undis- 
turbed. The  decayed  brood  masses  do  not  adhere  to 
the  cell-walls  like  either  of  the  others. 

During  a  good  honey-flow,  of  a  few  weeks'  duration, 
if  the  colonies  are  strong,  black  brood  and  pickled 
brood  entirely  disappear  so  far  as  appearances  go  ; 
and  even  in  foul  brood,  colonies  seem  for  the  time  to 
improve.  The  mo-t  common  causes  for  this  apparent 
improvement  are  that  in  black  brood  and  foul  brood 
the  old  foul  combi  are  filled  with  honey  instead  of 
brooi  ;  and  eggs  are  laid  in  cells  hitherto  not  used  for 
brood,  and  in  new  combs  when  c  mb-building  is  going 
on  ;  or  where  comb-foundation  is  used,  the  queen  takes 
advantage  of  this  and  deposits  her  eggs  before  the 
cells  are  drawn  out  and  filled  with  honey.  Again,  pro- 
portionately, there  is  less  brood-rearing  and  more 
comb-building  during  a  heavy  honey-flow  in  strong 
colonies  than  in  weak  ones.  In  weaker  colonies  these 
diseases  do  not  di.sappear,  as  more  brood  is  reared  and 
less  comb  is  built,  in  proportion  to  the  mature  bees, 
than  in  strong  ones.  In  pickled  brood  the  infection  is 
in  bad  pollen  ;  nice  new  pollen  always  causes  it  to  dis- 
appear. Why  these  diseases  should  recur  when  there 
is  a  dearth  of  honey  in  the  field,  would  be  of  interest 
to  many. 

In  strong  colonies,  as  we  have  seen,  proportionately 
less  brood  was  reared  during  the  honey-flow,  and  now 
we  have  fewer  bees  to  keep  up  the  strength  c.f  the  col- 
onies against  the  normal  death  rate.  Again,  the  brood 
is  gradually  finding  its  way  back  to  the  center  of  the 
brood-nest,  where  there  are  many  infected  cells  which 
were  filled  with  honey  during  the  rush  of  the  honey- 
flow.    These,  with  inclement  weather  and  other  un- 


FOUL  BROOD. 


160 


FOUL  BROOD. 


FOUL  BKOOD. 


161 


FOUL  BROOD. 


natural  surroundings,  are  conducive  to  recurrence. 
Often  new  pollen  is  stored  on  old  infected  pollen— in 
the  same  cell— and  when  this  new  pollen  is  exhausted, 
and  no  other  to  be  had,  the  old  pollen  must  be  used  ; 
hence  a  recurrence  of  pickled  brood. 

TREATMENT. 

The  best  time  to  effect  a  cure  is  during  a  honey-flow. 

Adopting  a  modified  McEvoj-  plan  : 

Make  your  stocks  strong  by  uniting;  place  them 
upon  comb-foundation  starters,  and  cage  the  queen. 
After  five  days  remove  the  starters  and  make  them 
into  wax,  and  give  full  sheets  of  foundation — keeping 
the  queen  caged  five  days  longer.  This  will  give  time 
for  all  infected  mature  bees  to  have  disappeared  before 
any  brood  is  reared. 

Don't  try  to  save  infected  mature  bees  by  drugs. 
Thej-  are  not  worth  the  trouble  ;  yet  salicylated 
sj-mps,*  during  a  dearth  of  honej-  in  the  field,  would 
in  a  measure  prevent  a  recurrence,  but  would  not  cure 
the  disease.  It  would  not  destroy  th-e  germs,  but  pre- 
vent their  growth,  b\- placing  them  in  an  antiseptic f 
medium. 

If  a  cure  is  contemplated  when  little  honey  i*;  com- 
ing in.  the  above  modified  McEvoy  plan  should  be  ob- 
served in  everv'  detail,  and  the  bees  fed  with  salicylat- 
ed syrups  until  the  combs  are  well  filled,  so  that  al! 
food  may  be  rendered  antiseptic  by  the  time  brood- 
rearing  begins. 

Great  care  should  be  taken  to  melt  all  old  combs  and 
removed  starters  into  wax  at  once.  Do  not  use  a  solar 
extractor,  but  remove  ihe  material  atcnce  to  hot  water 
or  a  steam-extractor.  Until  further  invest igations 
shall  reveal  the  longevity  of  these  germs  in  open  air. 
I  shall  recommend  a  thorough  disinfection  of  the 
hives,  frames,  etc.,  b\'  boiling  in  linseed  o'l  for  half  an 
hour.  This  would  not  injure  hives  or  fixturts;  be- 
sides, the  high  temperature  reached  would  insure 
thorough  disinfection.  Careful,  practical,  and  experi- 
mental work,  coupled  with  microscopical  invest'ga-  , 
lions  in  the  pre-;ence  of  this  disease  when  at  its  worst, 
will.  I  fee'  confident,  discover  some  practical  plan  for  j 
its  successful  eradication. 

DIFFERENTIAL     DIAGNOSIS.  | 

Foul  brood,  pickled  broo1,  and  h^ack  brcod.  Foul 
brood,  due  to  Bacillus  alvei—a.  specific  bacterium. 

Pickled  brood,  due  to  Aspergillus  pollinis—a.  specific 
fungus. 

Black  brood,  due  to  Bacilhis  ynilii.  modified,  perhaps, 
by  Bacillus  thoracis,  specific  bacteria. 

Black  br  od  may  be  introduced  into  a  healthy  colo- 
ny though  infected  focd  or  infected  combs-combs 
from  which  the  diseased  brood  has  been  removed,  or 
in  which  particles  remain.  The  frod  for  the  young 
lar\-ae,  either  from  its  chemical  reaction  or  from  its 
lack  of  nitrogenous  substances,  is  not  a  suitable  me- 
dium for  immediate  growth  of  the  germs  :  but  when 
the  chyle-like  food  is  furnished  the  older  larvae,  a  j 
chemical  change  in  the  food  produces  a  change  in  the 
liquids  of  the  bee.  which  become  a  suitable  nutrient 
medium  for  their  rapid  development  and  dissemina- 
tion. It  would  appear  that,  in  some  cases.  Bacillus 
thoracis.  vfSiS  ih&  cause  of  death,  as  the  spiracles,  or 
openings  adm'tting  air  to  the  respiraton,-  apparatus, 
were  closed  by  the  products  of  decomposition  or  the 
result  of  it.  In  such  cases  it  is  usually  nearly  matured 
bees  that  are  choked  for  want  of  air.  These  did  not 
show  the  discoloration  or  shapeless  mass  which  al- 


*  Sodium  salicylate  one  ounce,  water  five  gallons, 
■white  sugar  forty  pounds.    Make  syrup  without  heat. 

T  Antiseptics  prevent  germ  growth.  Disinfectants 
des.roy  the  life  of  germs,  by  actual  contact  only. 


ways  obtains  when  Bacillus  milii  is  found  in  the  abdo- 
men. This  lalter  germ,  multiplying  rapidly  in  the 
rich  nutrient  medium  of  the  alimentary-  tract,  may 
destroy  y-ounger  brood  than  the  former.  It  is  often 
found  in  other  parts,  and  is  certainly  the  cause  of  the 
dark  masses  of  rotten  brood.  Both  germs  are  found  in 
the  same  comb,  and  often  in  the  same  bee,  thus  insur- 
ing a  mixed  infection. 

As  between  the  two  diseases  black  and 
pickled  brood  .  from  what  I  have  learned  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  the  former  is  more 
to  be  feared.  It  is  comparately  new  to  ns. 
and  the  mode  of  treatment  has  not  yet  been 
definitely  determined  on  :  but  the  fact  that 
several  have  tried  the  doctor's  suggested 
treatment,  and  found  it  to  be  efficacious, 
goes  to  show  that  we  may  rely  on  it  till  some 
better  one  is  found.  The  greatest  trouble 
will  arise  in  determining  whether  the  dis- 
eased sample  up  for  consideration  is  pickled 
or  black  brood.  Desiring  to  get  further  in- 
formation, so  that  the  two  might  be  distin- 
guished, we  wrote  to  Dr.  Howard  and  re- 
ceived the  following  reply : 

FOUL  BROOD. 

Glue-like  consistence  of  the  mass,  and  the  offensive 
smell. 

BLACK  BROOD. 

Jelly-like  consistence  of  the  mass,  the  absence  of 
ropiness  noticed  in  foul  brood,  and  the  peculiar  sour- 
like  smell. 

PICKLED  BROOD. 

/^/:^a,r^  a'a/^";-;)'.  turning  black  after  being  attacked 
with  the  mucor  fungus — a  black  mold — and  hy  placing 
the  larvse  in  a  sterilized  chamber,  keeping  warm  and 
dark,  in  three  or  four  da^-sthe  white  fungus  of  pickled 
brood  appears.  Wm.  R  Howard. 

EXPLANAT.ON  OF  PL  \TE  ;  MAGNIFIED  630  DIAMETERS 
— REDUCED. 

Fig.  1. — Bacillus  milii.  a.  spore  formation,  showing 
morphological  changes,  in  agar-agar-plate  culture  ;  b, 
peculiar  arrangement  often  noticed  in  cultures  ;  c.  iso- 
lated bacilli,  floating  in  the  liquids  of  the  bee  or  in 
cultures  ;  d.  Z  oglea.  showing  the  most  common  ar- 
rangement of  the  spores  at  the  center,  and  the  separa- 
tion of  the  bacilli  from  the  mass. 

Fig.  2. — Bacillus  thoracis,  a  showing  rods  arranged 
end  to  end  as  occurs  in  cultures  ;  b,  peculiar  arrange- 
ment seen  in  agar-agar  drop  cultures,  showing  spores 
b\'  fission  ;  c,  Zoog'ea.  showing  common  arrangement 
of  the  mass. 

Fig.  3. — Mucor,  a  showing  the  spore-bearing  heads  ; 
b  showing  these  heads  discharging  the  spores.  Com- 
mon on  decaying  matter. 

Fig  4. — Aspergillus  poUitiis.  the  fungus  causing 
"  Pickled  Brood." 

Fig.  5,  Fungi— a,  Hendersonia  polycvsiis.  Fungus 
found  on  dead  twigs,  grasses,  etc.  ;  verv-  common  :  b. 
Dactylium  roscutn,  appears  as  pinkish  roseate  spots  on 
decas-ing  vegetation  ;  very  common  ;  r,  Massaria,  var. 
d  and  e,  fungi  not  common — not  placed  :  unimportant. 

Figs.  6  and  7,  spore-bearing  organs  of  fungi. 

Fig.  6.  a.  transparent  spore-receptacle  intact  ;  b, 
same,  showing  membrane  ruptured  and  spores  escap- 
ing. 

Fig.  7. — Contains  similar  spores  in  size  and  shape, 
which  escape  through  the  membranous  pouches  trian- 


FRAMES,  TO  MANIPULATE.        162       EEAMES,  TQ  MANIPULATE. 


gularly  arranged  at  the  dentate  periphery.  Found  in 
pollen.    No  culture  made. 

Fig.  8. — Penicillimn  glaucum,  common  fungus,  found 
on  moldy  bread  and  elsewhere  ;  very  common. 

FOUNDATION.  See  Comb  Foundation. 
FRAMES.  See  Fixed  Frames,  Eevers- 
ING,  and  Hives. 

FRAMES,  HOW  TO  MANIPULATE. 

Under  Fixed  Frames  I  showed  that  there 
are  two  kinds  in  use — the  fixed  and  the  loose 
frame ;  and  as  the  latter  is  more  generally 
used,  I  will  describe  this  first.  In  the  first 
place,  I  assume  that  the  learner  has  a  smok- 
er and  a  bee-veil.    The  smoker  should  be 


than  for  pure  Italians,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
The  moment  the  cover  is  off  turn  it  up  edge- 
wise, and  sit  down  on  it,  milk-stool  fashion, 
as  shown  in  Fig. 

To  get  at  the  center  frame,  crowd  the 
frames,  one  at  a  time,  adjacent  to  it,  to- 
ward the  sides  of  the  hive.  This  will  give 
room  to  lift  out  the  frame  sought  for.  Be- 
ginners are  pretty  apt  to  pull  the  frame  out 
without  spacing  the  frames  apart.  This 
rolls  the  bees  over  and  over,  enrages  and 
kills  them,  besides  running  a  pretty  good 
chance  of  killing  the  queen.  Lift  the  frame 
out  carefully,  and  be  careful  not  to  knock 


well  going.  For  directions  how  to  light,  see 
Smokers.  Approach  the  hive  that  is  to  be 
opened,  and  blow  a  little  smoke  into  the  en- 
trance. If  there  is  no  enamel  cloth  under 
the  cover  it  will  be  necessary,  of  course,  to 
pry  it  loose  with  a  knife  or  screwdriver,  as 
it  will  be  fastened  down  with  propolis.  Just 
the  moment  the  cover  is  loosened,  blow  the 
smoke  through  the  crack ;  and  while  the 
cover  is  being  lifted  off  blow  more  smoke 
over  the  top  of  the  frames.  Do  not  use  too 
much,  but  enough  to  quiet  the  bees.  If  they 
are  hybrids  it  will  be  necessary  to  use  more 


I  the  end-bars  against  the  sides  of  the  hive, 
i  If  it  is  one's  first  experience  he  may  be  a 
I  little  nervous,  and  do  things  a  little  hurried- 
j  ly.   As  a  reward,  the  bees  will  quite  likely 
I  sting  him  and  make  him  still  more  nervous. 
To  avoid  this,  proceed  very  cautiously  and 
make  the  movements*  deliberate.  Having 
removed  the  frame,  hold  it  up  before  the 
eyes,  as  shown  in  Fig.  2,  which  we  will  call 
the  first  position. 

Perhaps  the  queen  is  not  to  be  seen  on  this, 
so  it  may  be  necessary  to  turn  it  over  and 
*  For  further  description  of  this  cut,  see  Veils. 


FEAMES,  TO  MANIPULATE.       163       FRAMES,  TO  MANIPULATE. 


S€e  the  other  side.  If  the  comb  is  heavy 
with  honey,  it  can  be  tiu^ned  right  over  with 
the  bottom-bar  resting  horizontally.  But  a 
better  way  and  a  good  habit  to  fall  into,  and 
one  that  good  bee-keepers  usually  adopt,  is 
this  :  Raise  the  right  hand  until  the  top-bar 
is  perpendicular,  as  shown  in  Fig.  3. 


FIG.  2.    FIEST  POSITIOX. 


1 


FIG  3.     SECOXD  A:SD  THIRD  POSITIOXS. 

Now  revolve  the  frame  like  a  swinging  | 
door,  or  the  leaf  of  a  book,  so  that  the  op-  | 
posite  side  is  exposed  to  view.  There  is  a  i 
little  knack  about  it :  and  to  become  famil-  | 
iar,  take  a  frame  without  any  bees  on  it.  and 
try  a  few  times  until  you  become  familiar  ! 
with  this  mode  of  handling. is-^ 

Haviijg  examined  this  frame,  lean  it 
against  the  side  of  the  hive,  and  remove  one 
of  the  frames  next  to  the  one  akeady  remov- 
ed. Examine  this  in  like  manner.  Lean 
this  also  against  one  corner  of  the  hive,  or 
return  it  to  the  hive  ;  lift  out  another,  and 
so  on  until  the  whole  number  has  been  ex- 
amined. Now,  perhaps  the  queen  hns  not 
been  found  yet.  Look  the  frames  all  over 
again,  and  be  careful  to  look  around  the  ! 
bottom  edge  of  the  qpmbs. 

If  a  colony  is  not  populous  it  may  be  ad- 
visable to  go  over  the  frames  once  more  : 
but  very  often  it  is  better  to  close  tlie  hive 
up  and  wait  an  horn'  or  two.  alter  which  we 
can  go  back  and  look  over  the  frames  as  be- 
fore. By  this  time  the  colony  will  have  re-  i 
covered  itself,  and  the  queen  will,  in  all  '■ 


probability,  have  shifted  her  position  from 
the  bottom  or  sides  of  the  hive  to  one  of  the 
frames.  Nine  times  out  of  ten  she  wiU  be 
found  at  the  second  going-over  of  the  frames, 
without  any  trouble.  If  the  queen  can  not 
be  found  the  first  time  going  over,  as  a  rule 
I  would  not  advise  hunting  longer,  because 
one  is  liable  to  waste  a  good  deal  of  valuable 
time,  and  it  is.  therefore,  better  to  wait  till 
the  queen  gets  out  of  her  hiding-place  on  to 
the  brood-frames  themselves. 

In  the  case  of  black  colonies,  and  where 
especially  if  very  populous,  it  is  sometimes 
necessary  to  lift  the  hive  off  its  stand  and 
set  it  down  to  one  side.  On  the  old  stand 
place  an  empty  hive,  putting  on  it  an  en- 
trance-guard. See  Droxes.  Now  take  the 
frames  one  by  one  out  of  the  old  hive,  and 
shake  them  in  front  of  the  entrance  of  the 
empty  hive  on  the  old  stand.  The  black 
bees  will  fall  off  very  readily:  and  as  thev 
crawl  toward  the  hive  the  queen  can  be  very 
easily  seen  :  but  if  she  eludes  scrutiny  she 
will  be  barred  by  the  peiforated  zinc,  where 
she  may  be  very  readily  discovered  trying  to 
make  her  way  through.  If.  after  all  the 
frames  are  shaken,  she  can  not  be  foun-1. 
then  take  the  old  hive.  uow.  empty,  and 
dump  it.  ca-ising  the  bees  to  be  thrown  be- 
fore the  zinc.  She  will  soon  be  seen  trying 
to  pass  the  gu:ird. 

I  have  told  how  to  tind  the  queen :  Init  one 
mrsr  not  imagine  that  it  is  going  to  be  as 
difficult  as  this  every  time.  She  will  mo  t 
likely  be  found  on  the  center  frames,  as  a 
general  thing  :  and  especially  with  Italians, 
.-he  will  likely  I  e  fvund  on  the  first  or  second 
frame. 


AVhen  we  put  back  the  loose  frames,  we 
must  space  each  one  carefully,  as  nearly  as 
we  can.  If  in.  from  center  to  center.  We 
can  not  do  it  exactly,  but  do  it  the  best  we 


FRAMES,  TO  MANIPULATE.       164       FRAMES,  TO  MANIPULATE. 


can.  With  loose  frames  we  shall  be  obliged 
to  space  each  frame  in  position  individually. 
If  we  do  not  space  our  frames  carefully  we 
willhave  some  combs  bulged,  and  some  thin- 
ned down  ;  and,  again,  between  others  bees 
will  be  likely  to  build  spurs  of  comb.  All  this 
nuisance  may  be  avoided  by  the  use  of  fixed 
frames  or  the  Hoffman,  which  I  will  now 
tell  how  to  manipulate  next. 

HOW  TO  MAmPULATE    H0FF3IAN  FRAMES. 

One  of  the  conveniences,  and  almost  ne- 
cessities, is  a  small  screwdriver.  This  or, 
what  Is  better,  a  tool  like  that  shown  in 
illustration  at  bottom  of  the  preceding  page, 


weight  in  the  way  of  two  or  three  Hoffman 
frames. 

A  little  smoke  is  blown  over  the  top  of  the 
frames.  The  follower,  or  spacing-board,  is 
next  removed,  and  leaned  against  the  hive 
opposite  to  where  we  are  sitting  (see  cut). 
With  the  screwdriver  we  pry  apart  the  first 
pair  or  trio  of  frames,  if  the  frames  are  not 
too  heavy,  and  lean  them  against  one  corner 
of  the  hive  as  shown  above.  By  so  doing 
we  pretty  nearly  handle  the  brood-nest  in 
halves  and  quarters. 

We  shall  discover  that  these  frames  are 
held  together  by  propolis,  and  that  the  bees 


Fia.  4.    HANDLING  HOFFMAN  FRAMES. 


can  be  made  at  any  blacksmith  shop,  and  } 
is  handy  for  scraping  as  well  as  prying. 
With  this  or  a  tool  of  some  sort  I  pry  loose 
the  flat  board  cover  of  the  Dovetailed  hive, 
having  previously  blown  a  little  smoke  in 
at  the  entrance. 

The  cover  removed,  I  place  the  same  un- 
der me,  and  sit  down  on  it,  milk-stool  fash- 
ion (as  in  cut),  and  as  illustrated  on  a  pre- 
vious page  in  the  consideration  of  the  loose 
frame.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  cover  is 
a  seat  on  which  we  can  lean  backward  and 
forward.  This  I  find  a  great  convenience, 
in  that  the  body  can  be  leaned  toward  or 
from  the  hive ;  and,  the  elbows  resting  on 
the  knees,  they  can  support  quite  a  heavy 


}  on  the  two  inside  surfaces  are  hardly  dis- 
turbed.  The  loose  frames,  on  the  contrary^ 
when  out  of  the]  hive,  must  be  leaned  on 
one  or  two  corners  of  the  hives,  against 
each  other— in  fact,  be  scattered  all  around 
for  the  depredations  of  robbers ;  and,  be- 
sides all  that,  the  liability  of  killing  bees  or 
the  queen  is  much  greater.  This  is  quite'a 
point  in  favor  of  the  Hoffman  frames.  If 
we  do  not  find  the  queen  on  the  frame  in 
hive,  we  next  pry  off  the  outside  frame 
of  a  trio  leaning  against  the  corner  of  the 
hive.  If  she  does  not  appear  on  that  one, 
we  pry  off  the  next  one,  and  so  on. 

If  frames  are  heavy  with  honey,  we  may 
lift  out  only  one  frame.   Having  seen  the 


FRAMES,  TO  MANIPULATE.        165       FRAMES,  TO  MAXIPULATE. 


surfaces  of  two  or  three  combs,  the  practiced 
eye  will  get  a  pretty  fair  idea  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  colony  and  what  the  queen  is 
doing.  If  we  see  eggs  and  larvae  in  all 
stages,  as  well  as  sealed  hrood,  we  do  not 
usually  stop  to  hunt  up  the  queen;  accord- 
ingly we  put  back  the  second  pair  removed, 
and  return  the  trio,  as  shown  Id  Figs.  I  and 
•5.    We  do  not  generally  crowd  these  frames 


FIG. 


-3IAXXEE   OF   CKOWDIXG  H0FF3IAX 
FRA3IES  TOGETHER. 


together  at  once.  We  blow  a  little  smoke 
down  between  each  of  the  end-bars,  and 
then  with  a  quick  shove  we  close  them  all 
up  again. 

There  is  no  cut-and-try  spacing  as  with 
loose  frames— no  big  and  little  fingers  to  get 
the  distances  at  wide  and  narrow  spaces. 
There  is  no  need  to  instruct  the  be- 
ginner on  just  how  far  to  space  combs,  and 
there  is  no  finding  the  apiary  afterward, 
with  the  combs  spaced  so  far  apart  that 
spm's  of  comb  are  built  where  they  ought 
not  to  be.  With  the  regular  Hoifman  frames 
the  spaces  must  necessarily  be  exact,  and  the 
combs  will  have  a  fixed  and  definite  thick- 
ness ;  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  one 
can  alternate  them  just  as  well  as,  and  even 
better  than  he  can  many  of  the  loose 
frames.  Let  me  explain.  Space  the  loose 
frame  during  the  honey-harvest,  anywhere 
from  If  to  li  or  even  If  inches  from  center 
to  center,  and  then,  after  the  honey-harvest, 
try  to  alternate  it  with  other  frames  placed- 
a  little  closer,  and  see  where  you  are.  You 
may  say  you  can  space  frames  near  enough 
right.  Although  I  have  visited  many  large 
apiaries,  I  never  saw  a  loose-frame  apiary 
spaced  near  enough  right,  unless  it  was  Mr. 
Manum"s  home  apiary.   He  is  one  of  those 


precise  men  who  are  bound  to  have  every 
thing  just  so. 

Well,  now,  then,  we  will  replace  the  fol- 
lower, and  crowd  the  frames  tight  to- 
gether. If  there  are  any  bees  on  the  tops  of 
the  frames,  a  whifi  of  smoke  will  usually 
drive  them  doT^m.  and  then  the  cover  is  re- 
placed with  a  sliding  motion,  which  I  have 
already  explained. 

Perhaps  from  my  description  about  ma- 
nipulating the  hive  with  Hoffman  frames,  it 
may  appear  like  a  long  operation  :  but  I  can 
assure  the  reader  that  it  is  a  very  short  one. 
Mr.  Hoffman  says  he  can  handle  nearly 
double  the  number  of  colonies  on  his  frame 
that  he  could  on  any  loose  frame ;  and  I  will 
add  right  here,  that  he  used  loose  fi'ames 
for  years,  until  necessity,  the  mother  of  in- 
vention, caused  him  to  bring  out  this  style. 

There  is  another  good  featm'e;  namely,  by 
removing  two  or  three  frames  in  a  trio,  the 
rest  of  the  frames  in  the  hive  need  not  be 
lifted  out.  They  can  be  slipped  back  and 
forth,  and  each  sm-face  examined  ;  but  if 
the  tin  rabbet  is  covered  with  pieces  of  pro- 
polis, this  lateral  sliding  is  not  easil}-  ac- 
complished. 

As  is  already  explained  under  Hive-mak- 
iXG,  there  are  some  localities  where  propo- 
lis is  very  much  worse  than  in  others.  In~ 
such  places  the  Hoffman  frame  is  not  as 


FIG.  6— HAXDLIXG    HOFFMAX   FEA^IES  IX 
PAIRS  AXD  TRIOS. 

satisfactorily  used  as  the  staple-spaced 
shown  on  page  182.  With  perhaps  one  ex- 
ception this  can  be  handled  like  the  Hoff- 
man :  and  that  exception  is  that  it  can  not 
be  handled  in  pairs  or  trios.  Each  comb 
must  be  manipulated  individually.  In  this 
respect  it  is  quit€  a  little  behind  the  Hoff- 
man.^39. 


FEAMES,  TO  MANIPULATE.       lt)6       FRAMES,  TO  MANIPULATE. 


HOW    TO    MANIPULATE    QTJINBY  FRAMES. 

Remove  the  outside  case,  after  which  pry- 
loose  the  honey-board  or  quilt,  ^ith  a 
jack-knife  or  screwdriver  pry  apart  a  couple 
of^the  frames,  and  then  draw  them  apart  as 
shown  in  Fig.  7. 

Sometimes  the  queen  may  be  found  on 
the  first  frame,  as  shown  in  Fig.   7.  If 


a  little  side-sliding  the  bees  may  be  brushed 
off  from  the  surfaces  of  the  end-bars  that 
are  to  come  in  contact. 

Let  A,  Fig.  8,  be  a  bottom-boardand  C, 
and  B,  the  end-bars  covered  with  bees.  C 
slides  in  the  direction  of  the  arrow  A,  and 
brushes  the  bees  off  from  the  end-bar  B.  If 
there  happen  to  be  no  bees  on  the  end-bars. 


FIG.  7.    QUmBY  CLOSED-E] 

not,  pry  loose  one  of  the  others,  and  slide  it 
along  and  take  a  glance  at  the  others, 
and  so  on.  If  necessary,  unhook  the  frame 
or  frames  from  the  bottom  board,  and  set 
them  to  one  side,  to  make  room  for  the  oth- 


FIG.  8.     HOW  THE  QUmBY  FRAME  AVOIDS 
KILLING  BEES. 

ers  that  it  may  be  necessary  to  examine. 
When  we  have  found  the  queen,  or  satisfied 
ourselves  as  to  the  condition  of  the  hive, 
we  hook  the  frames  into  place.  To  avoid 
killing  bees  we  should  be  careful  not  to  push 
the  frames  laterally  against  each  other ;  by 


FRAMES  MANIPULATED. 

;  the  frames  can  be  shoved  laterally  together, 
of  course. 

By  referring  to  Fig.  7,  the  closed  end 
Quinby  frames  offer  facility  in  looking  in, 
not  only  over  the  top,  but  between  the  open 
sides  ;  and  these  open  sides  admit  of  light 
entering,  so  as  to  give  a  good  clear,  distinct 
view. 

In  point  of  exact  spacing,  convenience  in 
moving  oyer  rough  roads,  absence  of. burr- 
combs,  etc.,  these  have  nearly  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  HoffjpQan  frames  ;  but  they 
are  used  by  only  a  few  bee-keepers,  compar- 
atively; and  those  who  would  like  to  adopt 
the  Hetherington-Quinby  system  could  not 
very  well  do  so  in  toto,  without  discarding 
their  hanging-frame  hives  ;  and  as  the  mod-- 
ified  Hoffman  has  the  very  desirable  fea- 
ture of  the  hanging  frames  as  well  as  fixed 
distances,  I  would  recommend  it  in  prefer- 
ence to  any  other  fixed  frame,  to  those  who 
would  like  to  adopt  the  tixed  spacing. 

FRUXT-BZiOSSOlVES.  In  the  northern 
portions  of  the  United  States,  where  much 
fruit  is  grown,  especially  apples,  pears,  and 
peaches,  there  will  be  an  occasional  spring 
when  quite  a  little  honey  will  be  gathered 
from  the  blossoms.  Nearly  every  season 
fruit-trees  yield  a  little  honey,  if  not  too 
cold,  just  when  it  is  most  needed  to  stimu- 


FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


167  FJRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


late  brood-rearing:  and  although  the  bees 
may  not  store  much,  they  will  gather  enough 
to  give  the  whole  apiary  a  new  impetus,  so 
that,  in  a  region  where  fruit  is  grown  exten- 
sively, bee-keepers  often  receive  consider- 
able benefit. 

As  to  the  quality,  the  honey  from  fruit- 
blossoms  is  among  the  very  best.  It  is  light 
in  color,  of  good  body,  and  in  flavor  not  un- 
like the  beautiful  aroma  one  smells  when 
going  through  an  orchard  in  full  bloom. 
Such  honey,  if  it  could  be  gathered  in  sufla- 
cient  quantities,  would  doubtless  have  an 
extensive  demand  :  but  it  is  very  seldom  one 
is  able  to  get  enough  to  enable  the  bees  to 
store  in  the  supers  or  in  sections. 

SPRAYING  DURING  BLOOM  DESTRUCTIVE  TO 
BEES  AND  BROOD. 

^Towthat  spraying  with  arsenites  has  come 
to  be  almost  imiversal  among  fruit-growers, 
we  hear  on  every  side  of  bees  and  brood  be- 
ing killed.  Experiment  stations  all  over  the 
country  have  shown  that  it  is  quite  useless 
to  spray  during  the  time  the  trees  are  in  bloom ^ 
and  that  just  as  good  and  better  results  can 
be  obtained  after  the  petals  have  fallen,  and 
when  there  is  no  danger  of  bees  visiting  the 
trees  in  quest  of  pollen  or  nectar.  In  a  num- 
ber of  States  laws  have  been  enacted  making 
it  a  misdenieanor  to  spray  during  blooming- 
time  ;  but  nevertheless  there  are  many  igno- 
rant fruit-growers,  stubborn  as  w^ell  as  igno- 
rant, who  persist  in  administering  the  poi- 
sonous mixtures  on  the  very  flowers  on  which 
the  bees  are  gathering  pollen  and  nectar. 
The  result  is,  many  bees  are  killed,  and  a 
great  deal  of  brood  ;  and  the  only  thing  that 
can  be  done  when  there  is  no  law  in  force 
is  to  labor  with  neighbors  and  friends  who 
may  be  ignorant  of  or  indifferent  to  the 
rights  of  others.  Show  them  that  the  use  of 
the  arsenites  during  the  flowering  of  the 
trees  is  a  waste  of  chemicals,  a  waste  of 
time,  and  a  very  great  damage  to  the  bees 
and  to  the  bee-keeper,  if  not  a  menace  to  hu- 
man beings  who  might  eat  of  the  honey 
tinctured  with  the  poisons  that  bees  gather 
from  the  trees.  Much  more  can  be  done  by 
moral  suasion  than  by  big  talk  and  bluff, 
threatening  suit  for  damages. 

The  first  thing  for  the  bee-keepers  of  any 
State  to  do,  where  there  is  no  anti-spraying 
legislation,  is  to  see  that  a  law  is  enacted  at 
the  next  session  of  the  legislature.  The 
members  of  both  the  upper  and  lower  houses 
should  be  deluged  with  literature  from  ex- 
periment stations ;  and  then  when  the  bill 
comes  up  for  passage  some  one  should  be 
present  to  see  that  it  is  not  what  is  called 


"  killed  in  committee  "  nor  voted  down  from 
sheer  lack  of  interest  or  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  great  importance  of  the  measure.  Be 
careful  to  show  that  the  proposed  law^  is  not 
to  prohibit  spraying  entirely,  but  only  at 
such  times  when  it  endangers  life  and  prop- 
erty. 

The  appearance  of  poisoned  brood  is  very 
much  like  that  of  pickled  and  black  brood. 
It  is  never  ropy,  the  brood  is  often  of  a  whit- 
ish and  sometimes  grayish  and  sometimes 
brownish  color.  There  is  no  way  by  w^hich 
such  dead  brood  can  be  detected  from  any 
diseased  brood  except  by  the  microscope,  or 
by  applying  to  some  chemist  w^ho  can  anal- 
yze the  fluid  juices  of  the  dead  larva,  and 
thus  determine  the  presence,  if  any,  of  poi- 
sons. 

AGENCY  OF  BEES  IN  FEBTILIZ- 
ING  FBUIT-BLOSSOMS. 

At  various  times  bee-keepers  and  fruit- 
growlers  have  come  into  conflict,  the  latter 
aflirming  that  the  bees  puncture  the  ripe 
fruit,  besides  interfering  more  or  less  dur- 
ing its  packing ;  and  the  consequence  is, 
that  bee-keepers  have  in  some  cases  been 
asked  to  remove  their  bees,  on  the  ground 
of  a  nuisance.  But  the  fruit-growers  little 
realized  that  they  were  trying  to  drive  away 
something  that  w^as  necessary  to  the  proper 
fertilization  of  fruit-blossoms.  I  am  happy 
to  say,  however,  in  later  years  the  two  fac- 
tions are  beginning  to  realize  that  their 
industries  are  mutually  interdependent.  If 
any  thing,  the  fruit- growler  derives  very 
much  more  benefit  from  the  bees  than  the 
bee-keeper  himself;  for  it  is  now  know^n, 
as  we  shall  presently  show,  that  certain 
kinds  of  fruit  not  only  depend  very  largely 
for  their  proper  development  upon  the 
agency  of  the  bee,  but  in  many  instances 
will  fail  to  come  to  fruitage  at  all  without  it. 
Some  years  ago  a  bee-keeper  in  Massachu- 
setts was  obliged  to  remove  his  bees  to 
another  locality,  on  complaint  of  the  fruit- 
growers that  they  were  a  nuisance ;  but 
after  a  year  or  two  had  passed  they  were 
very  glad  to  have  the  bees  back  again,  be- 
cause so  little  fruit  was  set  on  the  trees  in 
proportion  to  the  amount  of  blossoms  ap- 
pearing. The  upshot  of  it  was,  that  the 
bee-keeper  was  recalled ;  and,  as  was  to  be 
expected,  not  only  more  fruit  but  more 
perfect  fruit  development  followed. 

It  is  also  related  that  red  clover,  after  be- 
ing introduced  into  Australia,  failed  to 
bear  seed.  Finally  bumble-bees  were  im- 
ported, and  then  there  .was  seed. 


ERUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


168  FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


In  more  recent  years,  very  careful  and 
elaborate  experiments  have  been  conducted 
by  scientific  men,  as  well  as  by  bee-keepers 
and  fruit-growers  together;  and  the  testi- 
mony shows  almost  conclusively  that  the 
two  industries  depend  more  or  less  upon 
each  other. 

Much  has  been  written  in  the  back  vol- 
umes of  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  on  this 
question ;  but  in  the  journals  for  January 
15  and  February  15, 1894,  there  appeared  a 
symposium  in  which  a  few  of  the  facts  were 
collated  together.  It  would  be  impossible 
for  me  to  give  space  to  the  whole ;  and  I 
will,  therefore,  refer  to  only  a  few  para- 
graphs. It  may  seem  almost  unnecessary  to 
give  evidence  of  that  which  we  already 
know  to  be  true ;  but  many  a  time  ignorant 
prejudice  on  the  part  of  fruit-growers  causes 
trouble,  because  they  can  not,  or  think  they 
cannot,  afford  to  read  the  papers  ;  but  if  the 
bee-keeper  can  present  to  them  a  few  facts 
and  figures  they  will,  if  disposed  to  be  fair, 
acknowledge  their  mistake. 

Well,  here  are  the  facts !  In  Gleanings  in 
Bee  Culture  for  Sept.  15, 1891 ,  there  appeared 
a  most  valuable  article  from  the  pen  of 
Prof.  A.  J.  Cook,  professor  of  entomology, 
then  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College, 
detailing  the  experiments  that  had  been 
made  at  that  place  on  the  subject  of  this 
fruit-fertilization  question.  He  goes  on  to 
say  that,  while  there  are  solitary  insects 
that  help  to  do  this  pollen-scattering,  the 
work  they  perform  is  infinitesimal  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  bees,  because,  unlike 
the  bees  that  live  over  winter,  they  are  not 
present  in  early  spring,  when  the  fruit-trees 
are  in  bloom.  After  calling  attention  to 
the  fact  that  it  is  important,  by  definite  ex- 
perimentation, that  we  learn  just  how  nec- 
essary the  bees  are  in  the  pollenization  of 
plants,  he  says: 

I  tried  many  experiments  last  spring..  I  counted 
the  blossoms  on  each  of  two  branches,  or  plants,  of 
apple,  cherry,  pear,  strawberry,  raspberry,  and 
clover.  One  of  these,  in  case  of  each  fruit  or  each 
experiment,  was  surrounded  by  cheese-cloth  just 
before  the  blossoms  opened,  and  kept  covered  till 
the  blossoms  fell  off.  The  apple,  pear,  and  cherry, 
were  covered  May  -ith,  and  uncovered  May  25th  and 
May  19th.  The  number  of  blossoms  considered 
varied  from  33,  the  smallest  number,  to  300,  the 
largest.  The  trees  were  examined  June  11th,  to  see 
what  number  of  the  fruit  had  set.  The  per  cent  of 
blossoms  which  developed  on  the  covered  trees  was 
a  little  over  3,  while  almost  30  per  cent  of  the  uncov- 
ered blossoms  had  developed.  Of  the  pears,  not  one 
of  the  covered  developed,  while  5  per  cent  of  the  un- 
covered developed  fruit.  Of  the  cherries,  3  per  cent 
only  of  the  covered  developed,  while  40  per  cent  of 
the  uncovered  blossoms  set  their  fruit.  The  straw- 


berries were  covered  May  18th,  and  uncovered  June 
16th.  The  number  of  blossoms  in  each  experiment 
varied  from  60  in  the  least  to  313  in  the  greatest.  In 
these  cases,  a  box  covered  with  cheese-cloth  sur- 
rounded the  plants.  The  plants  were  examined  June 
3d.  Eleven  per  cent  of  the  covered  blossoms,  and 
17  per  cent  of  the  uncovered  had  developed.  To  show 
the  details,  in  one  case  60  blossoms  were  considered, 
9  of  which  in  the  covered  lot,  and  37 in  the  uncovered, 
had  developed.  That  is,  three  times  as  many  flowers 
had  set  in  the  uncovered  as  in  the  covered.  In  an- 
other case  of  313  blossoms,  the  fruit  numbered  80 
and  104.  In  a  case  of  133  blossoms,  the  number  of 
fruit  was  30  and  36.      *      *      *  * 

Our  experiments  with  clovers  were  tried  with  both 
the  white  and  alsike.  While  the  uncovered  heads 
were  full  of  seeds,  the  covered  ones  were  entirely 
seedless.  This  fully  explains  the  common  experience 
of  farmers  with  these  plants. 

In  the  symposium  referred  to  at  the  out- 
set, the  first  article  of  the  series  was  from 
J.  C.  Gilliland,  who,  in  the  summer  of  1893, 
in  a  large  field  of  medium  red  clover  that 
came  within  30  feet  of  his  door,  covered 
some  blossoms  with  netting,  and  around 
others  not  covered  he  tied  a  small  thread. 
During  the  following  August  he  gathered 
seed  from  the  covered  blossom,  and  also 
some  from  the  plants  not  covered ;  and  by 
carefully  counting  the  seeds  he  found  that 
the  latter  gave  21  per  cent  more  seed.  His 
experiments  were  repeated  again,  with  like 
results.  As  the  bumble-bees  visited  the 
field  very  prof  usely  this  year,  it  seems  pretty 
evident  that  the  larger  amount  of  seed 
came  as  a  result  of  cross-fertilization  by  the 
bees.  But  this  only  shows  what  bumble- 
bees mav  do.  When  it  comes  to  the  ordinary 
honey-hees,  the  per  cents  in  favor  of  uncov- 
ered blossoms  as  against  the  covered  are 
very  much  larger.  Witness,  for  instance, 
the  extract  from  Prof.  Cook's  article  just 
preceding. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  a  bee-keeper,  was  a 
delegate  at  the  California  State  Fruit- 
growers' Association  for  1893,  and  reports 
that : 

A  gentleman  stated  that  he  had  a  friend  in  this 
State  who  started  into  fruit-groAving  several  years 
ago,  locating  35  miles  from  any  fruit-groAving  sec- 
tion, or  where  any  bees  were  located.  The  first  year 
that  his  trees  blossomed,  and  in  expectancy  of  at  least 
some  returns  from  his  orchard,  what  should  be  the 
result  but  complete  failure  !  He  was  advised  to  pro- 
cure some  bees  to  aid  in  the  fertilization  of  the 
blossoms,  and  since  then  his  orchard  has  been  pro- 
ductive. 

C.  J.  Berry,  one  whose  fruit-orchard  con- 
tains 440  acres,  and  who  is  Horticultural 
Commissioner  for  Tulare  Co.,  Cal.,  an  inland 
county  that  has  made  great  progress  in  the 
fruit-industry,  gives  this  valuable  testi- 
mony: 


FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


169 


PRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


Bees  and  fruit  go  tx)gether.  I  can't  raise  fruii 
without  bees.  Some  of  the  other  cranks  say  I'm  a 
crank;  but  I  notice  there  is  a  pretty  good  following 
after  me,  hereabouts,  and  they  keep  a-comin'. 

Yes,  sir,  'e.  I  have  bees  all  about  my  big  orchard. 
Two  years  in  succession  I  have  put  netting  over  some 
limbs  of  trees;  and,  while  they  blossomed  all  right, 
nary  fmit;  while  on  the  same  tree,  where  limbs  were 
exposed  to  the  aid  of  bees,  plenty  of  fruit. 

Some  three  or  four  years  ago,  in  the  State 
of  Michigan,  a  convention  of  fruit-growers 
and  bee-men  assembled  together  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  their  common  inter- 
ests ;  and  the  fruit-men  acknowledged  gen- 
erally that  the  keeping  of  bees  in  the  vicinity 
of  their  orchards  was  an  important  factor  in 
the  production  of  fruit.  At  the  various 
conventions  of  the  Michigan  State  Bee- 
keepers' Association,  it  has  been  shown 
quite  conclusively  by  the  bee-keepers  who 
were  fruit-growers,  that  not  only  more  but 
more  perfect  fruit  is  secured  by  having  the 
orchards  in  the  vicinity  of  bees. 

Again,  Chas.  A.  Green  writes  for  the 
Fruit  Grower,  published  in  Rochester,  Y., 
an  article  from  which,  for  lack  of  space,  we 
shall  be  able  to  quote  only  a  couple  of  para- 
graphs : 

It  has  now  become  demonstrated  that  many  kinds 
of  fruits,  if  not  all  kinds,  are  greatly  benefited  by 
the  bees,  and  that  a  large  portion  of  our  fruit,  sucla 
as  the  apple,  pear,  and  particularly  the  plam,  would 
be  barren  were  it  not  for  the  helpful  work  of  the 
honey-bee.  This  discovery  is  largely  owing  to  Prof. 
Waite,  of  the  Agricultural  Department  at  Wasliing- 
ton.  Prof.  Waite  covered  the  blossoms  of  pears, 
apples,  and  plums,  with  netting,  excluding  the  bees, 
and  found  that  such  protected  blossoms  of  many 
varieties  of  apple  and  pear  yielded  no  fruit.  In  some 
varieties  there  was  no  exception  to  the  rule,  and  he 
was  convinced  that  large  orchards  of  Bartlett  pears, 
planted  distant  from  other  varieties,  would  be 
utterly  barren  were  it  not  for  the  work  of  the  bees, 
and  even  then  they  could  not  be  profitably  grown 
unless  every  third  or  fourth  row  in  the  orchard  was 
planted  to  Clapp's  Favorite,  or  some  other  variety 
that  was  capable  of  fertilizing  the  blossoms  of  the 
Bartlett.  In  other  words,  he  found  that  the  Bartlett 
pear  could  no  more  fertilize  its  own  blossoms  than 
the  Crescent  strawberry.  We  have  already  learned 
that  certain  kinds  of  plurhs  will  not  fertilize  their 
own  blossoms,  such  as  the  Wild  Goose,  etc. 

The  fruit-growers  of  the  country  are  greatly  in- 
debted to  .Prof.  Waite  for  the  discovery  he  has  made. 
The  lesson  is,  that  f  ruit-gTOwers  must  become  inter- 
ested in  bees,  and  I  do  not  doubt  that  within  a  few 
years  it  will  be  a  rare  thing  to  find  a  fruit-grower  who 
does  not  keep  honey-bees,  the  prime  object  being  to 
employ  the  bees  in  carrying  pollen  from  one  blossom 
to  another  from  the  fields  of  small  fruits  as  well  as 
for  the  large  fruits. 

Mr.  r.  A.  Merritt,  of  Andrew,  la.,  testi- 
fies as  follows : 

THE  TWO  SIDES  OF  A  TREE. 

Our  apple-orchard  is  situated  in  such  a  way  that 
it  is  exposed  to  both  the  north  and  south  winds. 


About  four  years  ago,  as  the  trees  on  the  south 
row  (Transcendenteral,  that  throws  out  a  heavy 
growth  of  foliage  at  the  same  time  it  blooms) 
began  to  open  its  bloom,  a  heavy  south  wind  pre- 
vailed for  about  five  days.  I  noticed,  during  this 
period,  that  the  bees  could  not  touch  the  bloom 
on  the  south  side  of  these  trees,  but  worked  mer- 
rily on  the  more  sheltered  limbs  of  the  north  side. 
What  was  the  result  ?  Those  limbs  on  the  north 
side  were  well  loaded  with  fruit,  while  on  the 
south  side  there  was  almost  none  to  be  seen.  Does 
this  prove  that  these  trees  depend  on  the  aid  of  in- 
sects to  fertilize  the  bloom?  I  leave  it  to  the 
judgment  of  the  reader. 

Mr.  G.  M.  Doolittle,  in  winding  up  his 
article  for  the  symposium  above  referred  to, 
says  : 

Again,  I  wish  to  note,  as  a  matter  of  history, 
that,  during  the  past  season  of  189B,  very  little 
buckwheat  honey  was  secured  from  the  buckwheat 
regions  of  the  State  of  New  York— so  little  that  we 
have  had,  for  the  first  time  in  my  remembrance, 
I  buckwheat  honey  selling  in  our  markets  for  nearly 
if  not  quite  the  same  price  as  No.  1  clover  honey, 
while  it  usually  sells  for  about  two-thirds  the  price 
of  clover  honey.  And  what  has  been  the  result  ? 
Why,  the  unheard-of  thing  of  buckwheat  gTain 
bringing  75  cts.  a  bushel,  on  account  of  its  scarcity, 
while  the  best  of  white  wheat  is  selling  at  only  63 
cts. !  As  a  general  thing,  buckwheat  brings  from 
one-half  to  two-thirds  the  price  of  wheat.  That  it 
now  brings  nearly  one-fourth  more  than  the  best 
of  wheat  tells  very  largely,  under  the  circum- 
stances, on  the  side  of  the  bee. 

Mr.  H.  A.  March,  of  Puget  Sound,  Wash., 
one  of  the  most  extensive  seed-growers  of 
the  Pacjfic  coast,  testifies  that  he  found  the 
bees  very  valuable,  and  that  the  seed  was 
very  much  more  abundant  w^hen  the  bees 
were  allowed  to  work  on  the  flowers ;  and 
he  says  that  the  stone  fruits  seemed  almost 
incapable  of  self-fertilization,  as  he  had  fully 
proved  by  trying  to  grow  peaches  under  glass. 

The  editor  of  the  Bural  New -Yorker  T^ut 
in  his  paper,  unsolicited,  this  short  pithy 
paragraph : 

In  those  great  greenhouses  near  Boston,  where 
early  cucumbers  are  grown,  it  is  always  necessary 
to  have  one  or  two  hives  of  bees  inside  to  fertilize 
the  flowers.  No  bees,  no  cucumbers,  unless  men 
go  around  with  a  brush  and  dust  the  pollen  from 
one  flower  to  another. 

In  the  spring  of  1892  the  late  Allen  Pringle, 
of  Selby,  Ont.,  one  of  the  leading  bee-keep- 
ers of  Canada,  testified  that  he  w^as  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  a  legislative  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Assembly  of  Ontario, 
to  give  evidence  of  the  agency  of  bees  in 
scattering  pollen.  The  Minister  of  Agricul- 
ture summoned  not  only  the  leading  bee- 
men,  but  those  engaged  in  growing  fruit,  to 
present  the  facts,  experiences,  and  the  pros 
and  cons  on  both  sides.  Xot  only  this,  but 
the  scientists  w^ere  also  summoned  from 


rRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


170 


FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


Ottawa  and  Guelph.  Mr.  Pringle  goes  on 
to  say,  that  "  the  horticulturists,  with  one 
single  exception,  admitted  the  valuable  and 
indispensable  offices  performed  by  the  hon- 
ey-bees in  the  fertilization  of  fruit-bloom. 
And  this  was  corroborated  and  confirmed 
by  the  entomologists.  .  .  .  Prof.  James 
Eletcher,  the  Dominion  Entomologist,  said 
bees  did  '  not  visit  in  dull  weather,  and  then 
we  have  but  little  fruit  in  consequence.'  .  . 
As  to  bees  injuring  fruit,  there  is  no  direct 
evidence.''   Mr.  Pringle  also  says  : 

I  have  kept  bees  for  30  years,  and  have  grown 
fruit  and  clover  alongside  for  30  years.  I  have 
also  studied  a  little  and  experimented  a  little  in 
this  line  as  well  as  many  other  lines.  As  to 
some  kinds  of  fruit— notably  apples— 1  have  ob 
served  that  if,  during  the  bloom,  the  weather 
was  such  that  neither  the  winged  insects  nor 
the  wind  (being-  wet  and  cold)  could  perform 
their  function  with  the  flowers,  the  fruit  was 
nan  est.  When  the  weather  at  other  times  was 
favorable,  and  the  bloom  abundant,  I  have  ex- 
cluded the  bees  from  certain  portions  of  the 
tree,  only  to  find  the  fruit  also  excluded— but  only 
from  those  certain  portions  

The  fruit-growers  agi'eed  that  the  "bees  play  a 
very  important  part  in  cross-fertilization,  and, 
therefore,  should  not  be  destroyed;"  that  "we  are 
very  generally  dependent  upon  insects  for  the 
fertilization  of  our  orchard.  To  destroy  them  to 
any  extent  would  be  very  injurious  to  fruit- 
growers." 

The  consensus  of  the  meeting  was,  that  "bee- 
keepers and  fruit-growers  are  of  great  help  to  each 
other,  and  even  indispensable,  if  each  class  is  to 
obtain  the  best  results  in  their  work." 

Mr.  Prank  Benton,  in  the  employ  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Washington, 
D.  C,  in  one  of  the  G-overnment  Bulletins 
for  1894,  page  254,  commenting  on  the 
agency  of  the  bees  in  the  fertihzation  of 
fruit-blossoms,  says : 

The  facts  they  have  brought  forward  are  gradu- 
ally becoming  more  widely  known  among  fruit- 
growers and  bee-keepers,  and  additional  evidence 
accumulates.  A  case  illustrating  very  clearly  the 
value  of  bees  in  an  orchard  has  recently  come  to 
the  notice  of  the  writer,  and  its  authenticity  is  con- 
firmed by  correspondence  with  the  parties  named, 
who  are  gentlemen  of  long  and  extensive  experi- 
ence in  fruit-growing,  recognized  in  their  locality 
as  being  authorities,  particularly  in  regard  to 
cherry  culture.  The  facts  are  these:  For  several 
years  the  cherry  crop  of  Vaca  Valley,  in  Solano 
Co.,  Cal.,  has  not  been  good,  although  it  was  for- 
merly quite  sure.  The  partial  or  complete  failures 
have  been  attributed  to  north  winds,  chilling  rains,  | 
and  similar  climatic  conditions;  but  in  the  minds 
of  Messrs.  Bassford,  of  Cherry  Glen,  these  causes 
did  not  sutBciently  account  for  all  the  cases  of 
failure. 

These  gentlemen  recollected  that  formerly,  when 
the  cherry  crops  were  good,  wild  bees  were  very 
plentiful  in  the  valley,  and  hence  thought  perhaps 
the  lack  of  fruit  since  most  of  the  bees  had  disap- 


peared might  be  due  to  imperfect  distribution  of 
the  pollen  of  the  blossoms.  To  test  the  matter 
they  placed,  therefore,  several  hives  of  bees  in 
their  orchard  in  1890.  The  result  was  striking,  for 
the  Bassford  orchard  bore  a  good  crop  of  cherries, 
while  other  growers  in  the  valley  who  had  no  bees 
found  their  crops  entire  or  partial  failures.  This 
year  (1891)  Messrs.  Bassford  had  some  sixty-five 
hives  of  bees  in  their  orchard,  and  Mr.  H.  A.  Bass- 
ford writes  to  the  Entomologist:  "Our  crop  was 
good  this  season,  and  we  attribute  it  to  the  bees." 
and  he  adds  further:  "Since  we  have  been  keep- 
ing bees  our  cherry  crop  has  been  much  larger 
than  formerly,  while  those  orchards  nearest  us, 
five  miles  from  here,  where  no  bees  are  kept,  have 
produced  but  light  crops." 

Again,  J.  £.  Crane  writes  in  this  same 
symposium  an  article  so  full  of  pith  and 
point  that  I  can  not  forbear  publishing  the 
whole  of  it  here  in  permanent  form  : 

HOW    BLOSSOMS    ARE    FERTILIZED;    WHY  SOME 
FLOWERS  ARE  MORE  GATTDY  THAN"  OTH- 
ERS; EXPERIMENTS  OF  CHARLES 
DARWIN. 

Many  volumes  have  been  published  in  several 
different  languages  upon  the  fertilization  of  flow- 
ers—the first  by  Christian  Conrad  Springel,  in  1793; 
but  the  subject  attracted  but  little  attention  until 
thirty  or  forty  j^ears  later,  since  which  many 
botanists  have  given  the  subject  much  attention. 
Our  most  eminent  botanists  now  classify  flowering 
plants  in  their  relation  to  fertilization  into  two 
classes :  AnemopMlous  and  Entomop]iiJ(jus—UtevB,\]y, 
wind-lovers  and  insect-lovers.  The  flowers  fertil- 
ized by  the  wind  are  dull  in  color,  and  nearly  des- 
titute of  odor  or  honey.  The  sexes  are  frequently 
separated,  either  on  the  same  or  on  separate 
plants.  They  produce  a  superabundance  of  pollen, 
light  and  dry,  easily  transported  hy  the  air  or 
wind. 

Pines,  firs,  and  other  conifera,  are  familiar  ex- 
amples, which  sometimes  fill  a  forest  with  "show- 
ers of  sulphur  "  when  shedding  their  pollen.  Our 
nut-bearing  trees  are  examples  among  deciduous 
trees.  The  grasses  and  grains  are  familiar  to  all. 
A  kernel  of  corn  will  grow  as  well  alone  as  with 
other  plants;  but  "the  ear  will  not  fill  "  unless  it 
can  receive  the  wind-wafted  pollen  from  neighbor- 
ing plants.  On  the  other  hand,  those  plants  which 
seem  to  have  need  of  bees  or  other  insects  to  carry 
their  pollen  from  one  flower  to  another  have  more 
showy  blossoms,  with  bright  colors,  or  white, 
which  are  showy  at  dusk,  or  they  give  out  a  strong 
perfume  or  nectar,  or  both.  The  pollen  grains  are 
moist  or  glutinous,  or  hairy,  or  otherwise  so  con- 
structed as  to  adhere  to  the  insects  that  visit 
them,  and  thus  be  carried  from  flower  to  flower. 
In  this  class  of  plants  or  flowers  many  ingenious 
arrangements  are  provided  to  secure  cross-fertil 
ization.  One  sex  is  found  in  one  blossom,  and  the 
other  in  another,  on  the  same  plant,  as  in  the 
squash  and  melon  families.  In  otlier  si)ecies  the 
sexes  are  found  upon  separate  plants,  as  the 
willow-trees.  In  some  plants  the  pistils  appear 
first,  and  become  fertile  before  the  stamens  ripen 
their  pollen.  In  others  the  stamens  shed  their 
vitalizing  dust  before  the  stigma  of  the  pistil  is 
ready  to  receive  it. 

The  common  red  raspberry  matures  its  pistils 
first,  so  that,  unless  the  bees  or  other  insects  carry 


FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


171  FRUIT-BLOSSOMS. 


the  pollen  to  it  from  other  earlier  blossoms,  the 
fruit  is  imperfect. 

The  partridg-e-berry  is  very  interesting-.  The 
blossoms  upon  about  half  of  the  plants  produce 
their  stamens  first;  the  other  half,  the  pistil.  In  a 
week  or  ten  days  the  order  is  reversed  in  the  same 
flowers. 

Many  flowers  that  invite  insects  appear  to  be 
capable  of  self-fertilization,  and  often  are;  but  the 
pollen  from  a  neighboring  plant  of  the  same  species 
seems  more  potent.  Some  flowers  are  so  construct- 
ed that  the  stamens  are  placed  so  that  their  polien 
can  not  fall  upon  the  stigma  of  the  same  flower, 
but  with  special  adaptation  for  the  transport  of 
pollen  by  insects  from  one  flower  to  another.  One 
curious  plant  produces  small  inconspicuous  flowers 
early  in  the  season,  capable  of  self-fertilization; 
later  in  the  season  it  produces  more  sliowy  flowers 
that  can  become  fertile  only  through  the  agency  of 
insects. 

Many  plants  remain  constantly  barren  unless 
they  receive  the  visits  of  insects.  Many  of  your 
readers  have  doubtless  observed  how  the  fuschia 
or  begonia  never  produces  seed  in  a  closed  room; 
yet,  when  set  out  of  doors  in  summer,  they  seed 
abundantly.  Still  other  plants  never  produce  seed 
because  the  insects  that  feed  upon  their  blossoms 
have  not  been  imported  with  the  plants. 

Butthis  is  a  large  subject,  and  to  me  one  of  great 
interest,  as  I  study  the  many  ways  the  Author  of 
nature  has  provided  for  the  best  good  of  all  his 
works.  A  large  number  of  examples  have  been 
given  of  bees  as  agents  in  the  production  of  fruit 
and  seed,  but  I  will  give  one  or  two  more. 

Mr.  H.  A.  March,  of  Puget  Sound,  while  here  last 
summer,  informed  me  that  he  produced  large 
quantities  of  cauliflower  seed,  and  found  bees  very 
valuable,  as  the  seed  was  much  more  abundant 
when  bees  were  provided  to  work  on  the  flowers. 

The  stone  fruits  seem  almost  incapable  of  self- 
fertilization,  as  is  often  proven  by  trj^ing  to  grow 
peaches  under  glass,  success  seeming  to  come  only 
when  bees  are  provided  when  the  trees  are  in  bloom. 
A  curious  problem  has  presented  itself  to  the 
horticulturists  of  this  country  for  a  number  of 
years  past,  in  the  refusal  of  some  varieties  of  the 
Chickasaw  plum  to  produce  fruit  in  the  Northern 
States  unless  set  near  some  other  variety  or  species 
of  plum,  that  insects  might  carry  the  pollen  from 
one  to  the  other.  Such  a  tree  I  can  see  from  my 
window  as  I  write,  that  is  a  bank  of  bloom  every 
spring,  but  has  never,  to  my  knowledge,  produced 
a  crop  of  fruit. 

Now,  suppose  it  were  true  that  all  trees  or  plants 
that  produce  fruit  or  seed  of  value  for  the  use  of 
man  would  become  fertile  without  the  aid  of  bees 
or  other  insects,  would  it  prove  them  of  no  value  ? 
Not  at  all.  Enough  has  been  written  to  show  that 
the  Creator  has  desired  cross-fertilization  among 
plants,  and  has  wisely  provided  for  it  in  a  multi- 
tude of  ways;  and  the  chances  of  such  fertilization 
appear  to  be  as  great  among  plants  as  among  our 
bees,  for  which  such  special  arrangement  has  been 
made.  We  might  assume  it  to  be  valuable  or 
necessary,  even  if  we  could  see  no  good  reason  for 
it.  We  all  know  that  birds  or  domestic  animals 
will  prove  fruitful  for  one  or  perhaps  several  gen- 
erations in  spite  of  the  intermarriage  of  near  rela- 
tions; but  it  is,  I  believe,  the  universal  experience 
that  such  unions  are  most  unwise,  and,  as  a  rule' 
prove  injurious. 


Some  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago  Charles 
Darwin,  in  studying  this  subject,  and  noting  the 
provisions  of  nature  for  the  cross-fertilization  of 
flowers,  became  so  much  interested  in  it  that  he 
began  a  large  number  of  experiments  to  test  the 
value  of  insects  in  cross-fertilization,  and  the 
effects  of  cross  and  self  fertilization  upon  plants. 
His  experiments  were  conducted  with  great  care, 
and  continued  through  several  years ;  and  his  book 
on  the  effects  of  "Cross  and  Self  Fertilization," 
describing  these  experiments,  containing  several 
hundred  pagt  s,  is  very  interesting  reading  to  say 
the  least. 

Of  some  125  plants  experimented  with,  more  than 
half  were,  when  insects  were  excluded,  either  quite 
sterile  or  produced  less  than  half  as  much  seed  as 
when  insects  were  allowed  to  visit  them.  Among 
his  catalog  of  these  plants  I  notice  the  white  and  red 
clover.  His  experiments  with  these  are  very  similar 
to  those  of  Prof.  Cook,  late  of  Michigan  Agricultural 
College.  He  says,  page  361,  of  red  clover,  "One 
hundred  flower-heads  on  a  plant  protected  by  a  net 
did  not  produce  a  single  seed,  while  100  heads  on 
plants  growing  outside,  which  were  visited  by  bees, 
yielded  68  grains  of  weight  of  seeds ;  and  as  80  seeds 
weighed  two  grains,  the  hundred  heads  must  have 
yielded  2720  seeds.  His  experience  with  white  clover 
was  nearly  the  same. 

Another  most  interesting  result  of  his  experiments 
was  that  plants  grown  from  seed  from  self-fertilized 
flowers  were,  as  a  rule,  when  grown  side  by  side 
with  seed  from  cross-fertilized  flowers,  much  less 
vigorous,  although  in  other  respects  the  conditions 
were  as  nearly  alike  as  it  was  possible  to  make  them. 
On  page  371  he  says,  "The  simple  fact  of  the  neces- 
sity in  many  cases  of  extraneous  aid  for  the  trans- 
port of  the  pollen,  and  the  manj^  contrivances  for 
this  purpose,  render  it  highly  probable  that  some 
great  benefit  is  thus  gained;  and  this  conclusion 
has  now  been  firmly  established  by  the  superior 
growth,  vigor,  and  fertility  of  plants  of  crossed 
parentage  over  those  of  self -fertilized  parentage." 

In  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  for  June  1, 
1894,  Prof.  Cook  furnishes  the  following  ad- 
ditional : 

Prof.  Bailey,  the  very  able  horticulturist  of  Cor- 
nell University,  writes:  "Bees  are  much  more  effi- 
cient agents  of  pollenation  than  Avdnd,  in  our  fruits; 
and  their  absence  is  always  deleterious." 

The  Division  of  Vegetable  Pathology,  of  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  has  just  issued  a  most 
valuable  bulletin  on  "  Pollenation  of  Pear-flow&rs," 
by  Norman  B.  Waite.  Mr.  Waite  says:  "Incidental 
mention  has  been  made  of  insect -visitors.  We 
should  not  proceed  without  laying  some  stress 
upon  the  importance  of  these  visits.  The  common 
honey-bee  is  the  most  regular,  important,  and  abun- 
dant visitor,  and  probably  does  more  good  than  any 
other  species."  He  says,  further,  that  cool  or  rainy 
weather  interferes  seriously  with  insect-visits.  Many 
varieties  (22  out  of  364  of  those  he  experimented 
with),  says  Mr.  Waite,  require  cross-pollenation ;  and 
the  pollen  must  be  from  a  different  variety.  Bees 
and  other  insects  are  the  agents  of  the  transporta- 
tion of  pollen.  In  summing  up,  Mr.  Waite  says — 
and  this  from  crucial  decisive  experiments:  "Plant 
mixed  orchards,  or,  at  least,  avoid  planting  solid 
blocks  of  one  variety.  Be  sure  that  there  are  sufli- 
cient  bees  in  the  neighborhood  to  visit  the  blossoms 
properly.   When  feasible,  endeavor  to  favor  insect- 


FRUIT  BLOSSOMS.  172 


FRUIT  BLOSSOMS. 


visits  hy  selecting  sheltered  situations,  or  by  plant- 
ing windbreaks." 

Again,  E.  C.  Green,  of  the  Ohio  Experi- 
ment Station,  for  June  1st  writes  : 

Quite  an  interesting-  fact  came  under  my  observa- 
tion this  winter  in  tomato-forcing,  along  this  line. 
We  had  in  one  house  about  200  Dwarf  Champions 
that  were  planted  in  August;  and  by  the  time  win- 
ter set  in  they  were  as  fine  and  thrifty  plants  as  one 
could  wish  to  see,  and  setting  their  fruit  nicely.  We 
felt  glad  to  think  what  a  nice  crop  of  tomatoes  we 
should  have;  but  when  January  came,  and  they  be- 
gan to  ripen  up  their  fruit,  the  bulk  of  it  was  about 
the  size  of  hickorynuts,  and  ivithout  any  seeds. 

The  tomato,  as  you  know,  is  a  bisexual  flowering 


plant,  but  in  this  case  it  is  evident  that  the  pollen 
from  the  same  flower  was  what  is  called  "self- 
irritant."  If  bees  or  some  other  cause  had  carried 
the  pollen  from  one  flower  to  another,  or  one  plant 
to  the  other,  there  would  have  been  a  good  crop.  1 
have  been  doing  something  in  cross-fertilizing  to- 
matoes this  winter,  and  have  been  surprised  at  the 
ease  with  which  they  crossed,  having  used  the  Po- 
tato-leaf, Dwarf  Champion,  Ponderosa,  Peach,  and 
several  of  the  common  kinds,  making  in  all  about 
40  crosses.  I  do  not  think  I  shall  fail  to  get  seed 
except  in  a  few  of  them.  I  expect  that,  from  the 
seed,  I  shall  get  a  lot  of  "  mongrels,"  as  one  writer 
in  Gleanings  calls  such  crosses;  but  I  prefer  to 
call  them  crossbreeds,  as  "hybrid  "  has  a  different 
I  meaning. 


THKEE  SPECIES  OF  GOLDEKROD. 


G. 


GILL-OVER-THE-GROUND.  ( NeiJeta 
Glechoma.)  This  plant  yields  some  honej^; 
and  in  some  localities  favorable  to  its 
growth,  such  as  the  beds  of  streams  where 
there  is  plenty  of  rich  vegetable  mold,  it 
has  furnished  so  much  honey  that  it  has 
been  extracted  in  considerable  quantities. 


The  honey  is  rather  dark,  and  I  believe  a 
little  strong;  but  if  it  is  allowed  to  become 
perfectly  ripened,  I  think  it  will  pass  very 
well.  Perhaps  the  greatest  benefit  to  be 
derived  from  it,  however,  will  be  to  keep 
the  bees  uninterruptedly  rearing  brood,  un- 
til clover  and  locust  begin  to  furnish  a 
supply. 

This  plant  is  a  near  relative  of  the  catnip, 
which  it  closely  resembles  in  the  shape  of 
the  leaf.  Both  were  originally  from  Nepeta, 
in  Germany,  hence  the  Latin  names,  Ne- 
peia  Cataria  and  Kepeta  Glechoma.  I  pre- 
sume it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  raise 
this  plant  from  the  seed,  but  I  would  hesi- 
tate some  in  sending  out  such  seed,  be- 
cause it  is  such  a  noxious  weed.  Indeed,  it 
is  quite  impossible  to  exterminate  it. 

GRANULATED  HONEY.  See  Candied 


aOZiDENXlOD.  [Solidago).  This,  in 
some  localities,  fm-nishes  the  bulk  of  the 
great  yield  of  fall  honey.  It  grows  almost 
all  over  the  U.  S.,  and  there  are  so  many 
different  varieties  that  it  would  be  almost 
out  of  the  question  to  try  to  give  you  a  pic- 
ture of  it  at  all ;  the  botany  describes  58  dif- 
ferent varieties,  and  it  is  common  to  find  a 
half  -  dozen  growing  within  a  few  rods.  Its 
name  describes  it,  so  that  almost  any  one 
^hould  be  able  to  identify  it.  If  you  see 
autumn  flowers,  as  yellow  as  gold,  growing 
on  the  top  of  tall  rods,  you  may  be  pretty 
sure  they  belong  to  this  family.  The  flow- 
ers are  very  small,  but  grow  in  great  mass- 
es, sometimes  in  long  racemes,  and  again  in 
dense  bunches.  The  general  characteristics 
are  such  that,  after  a  little  practice,  you  can 
readily  identify  any  one  of  the  family;  but  to 
assist  you,  we  give  the  cuts  on  opposite  page. 

Bees  are  almost  incessantly  humming 
over  the  flowers  in  some  localities;  in  others, 
they  seem  to  pass  them  entirely  unnoticed. 
I  have  passed  it  in  localities  where  bee- 
keepers say  they  have  never  seen  a  bee  on 
it  at  all.  Bees  are  seen  on  it,  occasionally, 
in  our  locality,  but  I  do  not  think  they  get 
enough  honey  from  it,  in  ordinary  seasons, 
to  make  it  perceptible  in  the  hive. 

The  honey  is  usually  very  thick,  and  of  a 
rich  golden  color,  much  like  the  blossoms. 
When  first  gathered,  it  has,  like  the  honey  of 
most  other  fall  flowers,  a  rather  rank  weedy 
smell  and  taste;  but  after  it  has  thoroughly 
ripened,  it  is  rich  and  pleasant.  On  getting 
the  first  taste  of  goldenrod  honey,  one 
might  think  he  would  never  like  any  oth- 
er; but  like  many  other  kinds,  one  soon  tires 
of  the  peculiar  aromatic  flavor,  and  goes 
back  to  the  clover  honey  as  the  great  uni- 
versal staple  to  be  used  with  bread  and  but- 
ter. A  patch  of  goldenrod  might  have  a 
place  on  our  honey-farm,  and  perhaps,  with 
cultivation,  it  might  do  better  and  give  a 
surer  crop  in  all  localities  ;  but  as  it  is  only 
a  common  weed  on  our  farms,  I  would  hard- 
ly favor  a  general  distribution  of  the  seed. 


H. 


HAUIiIl^CS-  BEBS.  See  Moving 
Bees. 

I-IEAHiTSZSASE  [Polygonum  persica- 
rii).  This  is  one  of  a  large  family  of  honey- 
bearing  plants  of  whicli  the  common  buck- 
wheat is  one.  Heartsease,  sometimes  known 
as  knotweed  or  heartweed,  and  (perhaps  in- 
correctly) smartweed,  is  scattered  over  cer- 
tain portions  of  the  West,  particularly  in 
Illinids,  Kansas,  and  Nebraska.  In  the 
last  named  it  reaches  a  height  of  from  three 
to  live  feet,  and  grows  luxuriantly  on  a  1 
waste  and  stubble  lands.  The  flo\Aers  in 
clusters  are  generally  purple,  and,  in  rare 
instances,  white.  It  yields  in  Nebr.iska. 
and  other  States  in  that  section  of  the  coun- 
try, immense  quantities  of  honey.  One 
bee-keeper,  Mr.  T.  R.  Belong,  at  the  North 
American  convention  held  in  Lincoln,  in 
October,  lb96,  reported  that  two  of  his 
colonies  yielded  each  450  lbs.  of  extracted, 
and  that  the  average  tor  his  entire  apiary 
was  250  lbs.  per  colony  — all  heartsease. 
While  perhaps  these  yields  were  exception- 
ally large,  quite  a  number  of  other  bee- 
keepers reported  at  the  same  convention  an 
average  of  200  lbs.  from  the  same  source. 
When  I  visited  Nebraska  last  there  were 
acres  and  acres  of  this  honey-plant  over  the 
plains  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach ;  and  as 
it  yields  honey  from  August  till  frost,  one 
is  not  surprised  at  the  enormous  yields. 

The  extracted  honey  varies  in  color  from 
a  light  to  a  dark  amber;  and  the  flavor, 
while  not  quite  up  to  the  white  honey,  is 
very  good.  Heartease  comb  honey,  in  point 
of  color,  is  almost  as  white  as  the  clover. 

The  extracted  granulates  in  very  fine 
crystals,  and  looks  very  much  like  the  can- 
died product  of  any  white  honey.  Care 
should  be  taken  in  liquefying,  as  heartsease 
honey  is  injured  more  easily,  and  to  a  great- 
er extent,  by  overheating,  than  any  other 
honey. 

HIVE  -  MAKmd.  Unless  one  is 
so  situated  that  freights  are  high,  and  un- 
less, also,  he  is  a  mechanic,  or  a  natural 
genius  in  ''making  things,"  he  had  better 
let  hive -making  alone.^^s   Hives  can  be 


bought,;'usually,  with  freight  added,  for  a 
great  deal  less  than  the  average  bee-keeper 
can  make  them  himself,  if  we  consider 
spoiled  lumber,  sawed  fingers,  and  the  ex- 
pense of  buzz-  saws ;  and,  besides,  hives  made 
in  the  large  factories,  where  they  are  turned 
out  by  the  thousands,  by  special  machinery 
run  by  skilled  workmen,  are  much  more  ac- 
curately cut,  as  a  general  thing.  But  there 
is  lots  of  fun  in  making  things,  even  if  they 
are  not  so  well  made ;  and  there  are  some 
rainy  or  wintry  days  in  the  year,  when,  if 
one  is  a  farmer,  for  instance,  he  can  as  well 
as  not,  and  at  little  oi-  no  expense  for  time, 
make  a  few  hives  and  other  "  fixin's. "  Again, 
if  one  lives  in  a  foreign  country  he  may  not  be 
able  to  get  the  hives  that  I  shall  recommend. 

REQUISITES  OF  A  GOOD  HIVE. 

While  it  is  very  important  to  have  good, 
well-made  hives  for  the  bees,  I  would  by  no 
means  encourage  the  idea  that  the  hive  is 
going  to  insure  the  crop  of  honey.  I  think, 
as  Mr.  Gallup  used  to  say,  that  a  good 
swarm  of  bees  would  store  almost  as  much 
honey  in  a  half  -  barrel  or  nail-keg  as  in  the 
most  elaborate  and  expensive  hive  made, 
other  things  being  equal.  This  is  suppos- 
ing we  had  a  good  colony,  in  the  height  of 
the  honey-season.  If  the  colony  were  small, 
it  would  do  ihuch  better  if  put  into  a  hive  sa 
small  that  the  bees  could  nearly  or  quite  fill 
it,  thus  economizing  the  animal  heat,  that 
they  might  keep  up  the  temperature  for 
brood  -  rearing,  and  the  working  of  wax. 
Also,  should  the  bees  get  their  nail-keg  full 
of  honey,  unless  more  room  were  given 
them  at  just  the  right  moment  a  consider- 
able loss  of  honey  would  be  the  result.  The 
thin  walls  of  the  nail-keg  would  hardly  be 
the  best  economy  for  a  wintering  hive,  nor 
for  a  summer  hive  either,  unless  it  were  well 
shaded  from  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun. 

P.  H.  Elwood,  of  Starkville,  N.  Y.,  who 
owns  over  1300  colonies,  said  in  Gleanings 
in  Bee  Culture,  April  15, 1891,  "A  good  hive 
must  fill  two  requirements  reasonably  well 
to  be  worthy  of  that  name.  1.  It  must  be  a 
good  home  for  the  bees;  2.  It  must  in  ad- 
dition be  so  constructed  as  to  be  convenient 


HiVE-MAKmG. 


175 


HIVE-MAKING. 


to  perform  the  various  operations  required 
by  modern  bee-keeping,^  The  first  of  these 
requirements  is  filled  very  well  by  a  good 
box  or  straw  hive.  Bees  will  store  as  much 
honey  in  these  hives  as  in  any.  and  in  the 
North  they  will  winter  and  spring  as  well  in 
a  straw  hive  as  in  any  other.  They  do  not, 
however,  fill  the  second  requirement;  and 
to  meet  this,  the  movable-frame  hive  was 
Invented." 

Under  the  subject  of  Hives,  a  little  fur- 
ther on,  will  be  shown  styles  and  the  special 
features  that  belong  to  each.  But  there  is 
only  one  hive  that  is  used  largely  throughout 
the  United  States,  and  that  is  the  Lang- 
stroth — that  is,  it  embodies  the  Langstroth 
dimensions.  We  start  first  with  the  frame, 
171  long  by  9i  deep.  This  establishes  the 
length  and  depth  of  the  hive.  As  to  width, 
that  depends  upon  the  number  of  frames 
used.  Some  bee-keepers  prefer  eight,  per- 
haps the  majority  of  them  ;  others  ten,  and 
still  others  twelve  frames.  Where  one  runs 
for  extracted  honey  the  ten  frame  width 
i^hould  have  the  preference,  especially  in  the 
South.  If  one  produces  only  comb  honey  the 
eight-frame-hive  width  should  be  the  one 
.selected,  particularly  in  the  North,  where 
the  honey-tlow  is  of  short  duration  and  is 
principally  from  clover  and  basswood.  The 
selection  of  the  frame,  and  the  number  to 
the  hive,  then,  determines  the  dimensions  of 
the  hive  itself. 

I  said  the  Langstroth  is  the  standard 
throughout  the  United  States ;  but  of  late 
there  has  been  a  tendency  toward  a  frame 
•of  the  same  length,  but  two  inches  deeper. 
There  is  also  a  tendency  to  go  to  the  other 
extreme  in  adopting  a  frame  of  Langstroth 
length,  but  two  or  three  inches  shallower, 
using  two  stories  of  such  a  hive  for  a  single 
iDrood-nest. 

On  account  of  the  diverse  notions  of  bee- 
keepers, and  the  peculiarities  of  locality,  it 
ivould  hardly  be  worth  while  to  give  general 
directions  for  the  manufacture  of  any  one 
hive ;  and,  besides,  no  printed  directions  will 
give  as  good  an  idea  of  the  construction  of  a 
hive  as  the  very  thing  itself.  For  these  and 
other  reasons  it  would  be  far  better  for  the 
one  who  intends  to  make  hives  to  send  to 
some  manufacturer  for  a  sample  in  the  flat, 
all  complete.  With  the  several  pieces  for 
patterns  he  will  then  know  exactly  the  shape 
and  dimensions,  how  to  make  the  rabbets, 
-and  in  general  how  the  hive  is  constructed 
in  every  detail.  If  one  does  not  find  on  the 
market  just  such  a  hive  as  suits  his  notion, 
-of  course  he  sees,  or  thinks  he  sees,  "  in  his 


mind's  eye  "  just  what  he  wants  to  make  ; 
but  in  that  case  I  would  advise  him  to  make 
a  sample  or  two  before  he  makes  very  many 
of  them;  for  nine  times  out  of  ten  —  yes, 
ninety-nine  times  out  of  one  hundred  — he 
will  discard  the  one  of  his  "own  get-up," 
and  adopt  some  standard  made  by  manufac- 
turers generally.  In  the  directions  that  I 
shall  give  in  this  work  I  shall  not,  therefore, 
attempt  to  give  any  dimensions,  for  I  assume 
that  my  ABC  scholar  in  hive-making  will 
know  just  what  these  are  to  be,  and  will  gov- 
ern himself  accordingly ;  but  I  would  strong- 
ly urge  him  to  select  some  standard  hive  as 
his  working  model ;  for  no  beginner  will  be 
able  to  improve  very  much  on  the  work  of 
those  who  have  spent  years  in  the  study  of 
bees  and  hive-construction.  It  ought  hardly 
to  be  necessary  to  say  this,  but  the  records 
show  that  there  are  a  lot  of  bee-hive  invent- 
ors who  hardly  understand  the  first  princi- 
ples of  hive-construction. 

LUMBER  FOR  HIVES. 

Get  white  pine.  If  you  can  not  get  it,  you 
would  better  use  white  wood.  If  you  can  not 
get  that  either,  get  the  best  lumber  that  is 
kept  for  house  -  building,  in  your  locality. 
You  can  get  barn  boards  that  will  answer  the 
purpose  for  about  $20  per  ICOO  feet.  As  soon 
as  you  get  your  lumber  home,  have  it  nicely 
"sticked  up."  I  say  nicely,  for  I  do  not  be- 
lieve I  ever  had  a  boy  that  would  put  up  lum- 
lum  safely,  unless  he  was  told  a  great  many 
times.  Your  lumber  would  better  be  16  feet 
long,  for  this  length  works  with  less  waste 
than  any  that  is  shorter.  Now,  before  you 
stick  it  up,  you  are  to  prepare  a  level  place 
for  the  first  board ;  or,  rather,  you  are  to 
have  the  first  board  lie  straight  and  flat.  If 
it  is  to  be  left  out  of  doors,  it  should  have 
slant  enough  to  carry  ofC  the  water.  If  you 
have  shop  room,  you  can  put  it  indoors.  Do 
not  lay  the  first  board  on  the  floor,  but  have 
some  sticks  under  it.  These  sticks  for  stick- 
ing up  lumber  should  be  of  an  exact  thick- 
ness, and  I  think  it  will  pay  to  provide  some 
that  are  just  right.  If  you  are  making  many 
hives,  you  will  have  refuse  sticks  that  will 
come  very  handy  for  this  purpose.  The 
sticks  should  be  about  1|  inches  wide,  exact- 
ly i  thick,  and  15  or  20  inches  long.  A  stick 
should  be  placed  at  each  end  of  the  boards, 
and  two  more  between  them,  so  as  to  make 
the  spaces  about  equal.  Put  the  sticks  ex- 
actly over  each  other,  or  you  will,  if  you 
have  a  large  pile,  have  the  boards  bent  or 
warped  by  the  weight  of  those  above.  When 
they  are  all  piled  up  square  and  true,  you 
can  feel  safe  in  regard  to  them. 


HIVE-MAKING. 


176 


HIVE-MAKING. 


If  you  are  going  to  make  accurate  work, 
you  must  have  your  lumber  all  of  an  exact 
thickness ;  and  as  it  is  much  easier  to  talk 
and  write  about  having  it  exactly  |  than  it 
is  to  make  it  so,  I  will  explain  to  you  a  kind 
of  gauge  that  I  had  to  give  the  planing-mill 
men,  before  we  planed  our  own  lumber. 
Below  is  a  picture  of  it,  full  size. 


GAUGE  FOR  PLAJ^ING  LUMBER. 

When  you  carry  them  the  lumber,  tell 
them  if  it  is  planed  so  that  the  "  too  large  " 
notch  just  fits  it,  it  will  have  to  be  planed 
over  again ;  and  that,  if  it  goes  into  the  "too 
small"  notch,  it  is  spoiled.  This  will  soon 
get  them  into  the  habit  of  having  it  "  just 
right,"  every  time.  Their  planers  must  also 
be  so  adjusted  that  both  edges  of  the  board 
are  just  right.  As  the  18-inch  Gem  planer 
costs  only  $90,  if  you  have  much  work  to  do 
it  is  by  far  the  most  profitable  way  to  have 
a  planer  of  your  own.  Then  you  can  set  it 
just  as  accurately  as  you  choose,  and  it  will 
pay  for  itself,  where  there  is  work  to  do,  in 
a  few  weeks.  The  usual  price  for  planing 
is  SI. 00  per  M.,  and  you  can  do  that  amount 
without  trouble  per  hour,  with  a  4  -  horse- 
power engine.  If  the  lumber  is  not  well 
seasoned  it  may  be  well  to  have  it  planed 
to  the  too-large  gauge ;  but  this  is  a  very  bad 


soned,  cut  your  stuff  to  the  exact  length, 
then  stick  it  up,  and  leave  it  until  the  very 
last  moment,  before  you  take  it  to  the  exact 
width  you  wish  it.  This  is,  perhaps,  one  of 
the  surest  ways,  especially  when  the.  work 
is  not  all  to  be  sent  off  immediately.  We 
frequently  leave  covers  in  this  way,  and  only 
bring  them  to  the  finishing  width  the 
very  day  they  are  to  be  shipped.  It  is  espe- 
cially needful  that  the  covers  be  well  season- 
ed, for  a  season-check  would  let  in  water, 
and  endanger  the  life  of  the  colony. 

A  great  many  Barnes  foot-power  saws  are 
in  use ;  therefore  I  shall  give  my  directions 
for  them.  They  can  be  obtained  of  W.  F.  & 
J.  Barnes,  Kockford,  111.  The  price  without 
the  scroll-saw  is  $35.00.  These,  for  foot- 
power  saws,  do  very  well  for  light  work;  but 
when  you  wish  to  do  heavy  sawing  or  rip- 
ping, you  will  have  to  use  the  crank  arrange- 
ment, shown  on  the  side ;  and,  of  course,  you 
will  then  require  an  assistant. 


BARNES  SAW. 

way  of  doing,  on  many  accounts.  Get  your 
lumber  seasoned  as  well  as  it  possibly  can 
be,  before  you  commence  work,  and,  if  you 
are  obliged  to  use  that  which  is  not  well  sea- 


A  HOJVIE-MADE  HAND-POWER  BUZZ-SAW. 

The  accompanying  cut  needs  almost  no 
description.  The  saw-arbor  is  geared  to  a 
crank  about  the  same  as  may  be  done  on  the 
Barnes  machine.  Of  course,  there  is  no  foot- 
power  attachment  to  it ;  but  if  you  have  a 
hired  man  who  has  nothing  else  to  do  on  a 
rainy  day,  you  can  set  him  to  turning  the 
crank  while  you  do  the  ripping  or  cross-cut- 
ting, as  the  case  may  be.  This  home-made 
machine  is  very  effective,  and  will  do  very 
good  work,  as  we  know  by  experience  with 
machines  of  that  class.  Even  though  two  men, 
with  a  couple  of  good  sharp  carpenter  saws. 


HIVE-MAKmG. 


177 


HIA^E-MAKIXG. 


might  do  nearly  as  much  work  in  cutting  and 
ripping,  tliey  could  not  possibly  do  as  accu- 
rate work.  With  the  above  machiae.  rigged 
\^ith  the  gauges  described,  a  couple  of  boys 
would  do  the  amount  of  work  that  men 
would,  and  it  would  be  more  accurate  than 
an  expensive  carpenter  with  try-square  and 
smooth-plane  could  possibly  make  it.  I  have 
no  doubt  but  that  the  boys  would  cut  up 
double  the  firewood  they  could  T^^ith  the  or- 
dinary hand-saw. 

HOW  TO  SAW  UP  THE  BOARDS  FOR  THE 
HIVES. 

We  will  first  talk  about  making  the  body 
of  the  hive.  Your  pile  of  boards  is  to  be  cut 
up  in  lengths  depending  upon  the  style  and 
size  of  hive  you  are  to  make.  If  you  have 
quite  a  pile  of  stuff,  a  gauge  that  you  can 
push  the  boards  against  will  be  very  handy. 
Always  commence  at  the  best  end  of  the 
boards.  If  the  end  is  checked  or  bad,  allow 
a  little  for  waste.  Cut  off  a  few  lengths,  and 
leave  the  sm-plus  of  half  a  foot  or  more  on 
the  last  piece ;  that  is,  do  not  cut  it  off. 
Pile  these  last  pieces  by  themselves.  You 
wiU  need  an  assistant  to  do  this  ;  and  if  you 
have  a  boy  ten  or  fifteen  years  old,  he  can 
help  "papa"  a  ''big  lot"  in  making  hives. 

As  we  desire  to  make  the  machine  rip 
boards  to  the  desired  width,  we  will  set  the 
gauge  to  the  proper  place.  After  your  boards 
are  all  cut  up,  you  will  proceed  to  bring  them 
to  an  exact  width  and  straighten  one  side.  As 
we  want  the  boards  to  finish  a  certain  width, 
we  will  trim  them,  the  first  time,  a  little ; 
those  that  will  not  hold  out  this  width  can 
be  saved  to  make  frames  of.  To  bring  one 
side  straight,  you  must  set  the  parallel  bar  at 
the  left  of  the  saw,  at  just  the  right  distance 
from  it,  and  then  push  the  boards  through, 
holding  closely  up  to  the  gauge.  Very  like- 
ly when  you  start,  your  saw  may '•run,"  as  it 
is  termed ;  this  may  result  from  either  of  two 
causes.  If  the  teeth  are  filed  longer  on  one 
side  than  on  the  other,  and  insufiiciently  set, 
the  saw  will  be  very  likely  to  run  either  into 
or  out  of  the  lumber.  This  will  not  do  at 
all,  for  we  can  never  have  an  accurate  hive 
unless  we  get  a  straight  edge,  in  the  first 
place,  to  work  from.  Give  the  saw  set 
enough  to  make  it  run  clear,  as  explained 
further  on,  and  have  the  teeth  so  that  the 
cut  ahead  of  the  saw  shows  as  in  the  dia- 
gram below. 


IMPROPERLY  FILED.     PROPERLY  FILED. 

A  second  cause  of  trouble  may  sometimes 
be  found  in  your  parallel  bar,  which  must 


be  just  parallel,  or  you  can  not  have  a  true 
straight  cut.  The  diagram  will  show  you 
the  consequences  of  having  this  bar  improp- 
erly set. 

In  Fig.  1  the  bar  is  set  so  that  the  board 
between  the  saw  and  the  gauge  wedges,  as 

D  C 


SETTING  THE 


PARALLEL  BAR. 


it  were;  and,  when  this  is  the  trouble,  you 
will  see  the  surface,  at  A.  shows  as  if  it  had 
been  planed ;  this  is  done  by  the  face  of  the 
saw,  which  rubs  or  burnishes  the  wood,  as 
it  squeezes  past.  The  remedy  is  plain; 
move  the  end,  D,  away  from  the  saw  a  little, 
or  the  other  end  nearer  to  it.  as  may  be  nec- 
essary to  preserve  the  proper  distance.  In 
Fig.  2  we  see  the  opposite  extreme  :  and 
when  this  is  the  trouble,  you  will  find  it  al- 
most impossible  to  keep  your  board  up 
against  the  gauge,  for  the  saw  is  all  the 
time  crowding  it  off.  The  piece  B  will 
constantly  be  getting  too  narrow,  and  the 
strip  that  comes  off,  too  wide.  Before  you 
attempt  to  do  any  work,  and  thus  spoil  your 
lumber,  vou  should  test  yoiu^  saw  and  gaug- 
es on  some  refuse  pieces.  When  it  is  all 
right,  the  saw  should  nm  clear  and  smooth- 
ly in  the  center  of  the  saw-cut,  and  the  stuff 
should  easily  be  kept  close  up  to  the  gauge. 

While  you  have  been  doing  this  work,  the 
movable  cross  -  cut  gauge  to  the  table 
should  be  taken  off,  as  it  would  only  be  in 
the  way.  After  one  edge  is  trimmed,  set 
your  gauge  so  as  to  cut  to  the  desired  width, 
and  bring  the  boards  all  to  this  width. 

Xow,  before  going  further  you  are  to  sort 
the  boards,  so  as  to  have  the  heart  side  of 
the  lumber  come  on  the  outside  of  the  hive. 
If  you  look  at'  the  end  of  each  board,  you 
can  see,  by  the  circles  of  growth,  which  is 
the  heart  side,  as  is  sho^n  in  the  cuts. 


WHY  BOARDS  WARP. 

At  B,  5^ou  see  a  board  cut  off  just  at  one 
side  of  the  heart  of  the  tree  ;  at  C,  near  the 
bark ;  at  A,  the  heart  is  in  the  center  of  the 


HIVE-MAKING. 


178 


HIVE-MAKING. 


board.  You  all  know,  almost  without  being 
told,  that  boards  always  warp  like  C ;  that 
is,  the  heart  side  becomes  convex.  The 
reason  is  connected  with  the  shrinkage  of 
boards  in  seasoning.  .When  a  log  lies  until 
it  is  perfectly  seasoned,  it  often  checks,  as 
in  Fig.  2.  You  will  observe  that  the  wood 
shortens  in  the  direction  of  the  circles,  and 
but  very  little,  if  any,  along  the  lines  that 
run  from  the  bark  to  the  center.  To  allow 
this  shrinkage  in  one  direction,  the  log 
splits  or  checks  in  the  direction  shown. 
Now,  to  go  back  to  our  boards,  you  will  see 
that  B  shrinks  more  than  A,  because  A  has 
the  heart  of  the  tree  in ,  its  center  ;  that  C 
will  shrink,  in  seasoning,  much  more  on  the 
bark  side  than  on  the  heart  side ;  that  this 
can  not  fail  to  bring  the  board  out  of  a  lev- 
el ;  and  that  the  heart  side  will  always  be 
convex.  You  have  all  seen  bee-hives,  prob- 
ably, with  the  corners  separated  and  gaping 
open,  while  the  middle  of  the  boards  was 
tight  up  in  place.  The  reason  was,  that  the 
mechanic  had  put  the  boards  on  wrong  side 
out.*  If  the  heart  side  had  been  outward, 
the  corners  of  the  hive  would  have  curled 
inwardly ;  and  if  the  middle  had  been  nailed 
securely,  the  whole  hive  would  have  been 
likely  to  have  had  close,  tight  joints,  even  if 
exposed  to  sun,  wind,  and  rain.  This  mat- 
ter is  especially  important  in  making  covers 
to  hives.  If  your  boards  are  all  sorted  with 
the  heart  side  do\\Tiward,  we  are  ready  to 
proceed.  I  say  heart  side  downward,  for 
you  want  them  placed  just  as  they  are  to  be 
used  on  the  saw.  I  have  seen  boys  who 
would  turn  every  board  over,  just  as  they 
picked  it  up  to  put  on  the  saw-table,  instead 
of  piling  the  whole  just  as  they  were  to  be 
used.  I  have  seen  others  who  would  carry 
each  one  of  several  hundred  boards  6  or  8  ft. 
to  the  saw,  when  the  whole  pile  might  have 
been  put  almost  within  one  foot  of  the  place 
where  it  was  to  be  used.  It  is  very  awkward 
and  extravagant  to  do  work  in  this  wav. 

In  cutting  small  pieces  where  we  work 
near  the  saw,  we  always  use  what  we  call 
"push-sticks."  These  are  simply  curved 
sticks  about  8  or  10  inches  long,  one  end  of 
which  is  shaped  something  like  the  handle 
of  a  pistol,  and  the  other  end  is  notched 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  a  shoulder  crowd- 
ing against  the  stuff  that  goes  against  the 
saw.  If  the  wwk  slips  from  the  saw,  or  any 
thing  happens,  all  the  harm  done  is,  that 
the  push-stick  has  been  ''chawed"  into  by 


*If  the  hives  have  the  dovetailed,  or,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  the  lock-joint  corner,  this  g-aping  is 
impossible. 


the  saw,  and  not  your  hand.   And  I  might 
remark  here  in  passing,  that  it  is  always 
better  to  use  the  push-stick  where  you  can. 
Of  course,  where  you  are  sawing  up  boards, 
I  and  your  hand  is  four  or  five  inches  away 
I  from  the  saw,  the  push-stick  is  unnecessary. 
{    We  have  thus  far  been  using  the  rip-saw 
j  in  edging  up  stuff.   Our  next  business  is  to 
cut  boards  across  the  grain,  and  we  there- 
fore change  our  rip-saw  to  a  cross-cut. 

I  think  we  would  better  "  oil  up  "  at  about 
this  stage  of  proceeding.  I  do  not  know 
why  it  is,  but  I  scarcely  ever  take  hold  of  a 
foot-power  saw  when  it  would  not  be  great- 
ly improved  by  giving  it  a  thorough  oiling. 
It  is  really  a  saving  of  time,  as  well  as  of 
strength,  to  oil  your  machinery  often. 
Much  time  is  also  saved,  in  changing  saws, 
by  having  your  saws  and  wrench  close  at 
hand.  A  ten-cent  monkey-wrench  is  sold 
which  is  just  right  for  Barnes  saw-mandrel, 
and  we  used  to  keep  one  tied,  by  a  stout  cord, 
to  the  frame  of  the  machine,  that  it  might 
be  always  in  readiness.  To  be  obliged  to  stop 
your  w^ork,  and  hunt  for  tools  when  you  are 
in  a  hurry,  is  "  awful."  You  would  better 
fix  some  kind  of  a  drawer  in  your  saw-table, 
to  keep  your  saws,  or  they  may  get  down 
among  the  rubbish,  and  be  lost.  I  have 
known  people  to  lose  their  cut-off  saw,  and 
be  obliged  to  stop  and  hunt  for  it ;  and  I 
sh(  uld  not  be  surprised  if  they  scolded  some- 
body who  was  not  to  blame  at  all.  I  have 
spoken  of  having  one  of  the  children  help 
by  handing  you  the  boards,  etc.;  if  they  do, 
be  sure  that  you  make  the  work  pleasant 
for  them.  If  you  lose  your  tools,  and  scold, 
you  certainly  will  not  make  good  hives. 

You  probably  have  not  made  any  mis- 
takes thus  far ;  but  now,  before  you  com- 
mence cutting  off  the  pieces  to  the  exact 
size,  be  careful. 

To  provide  against  mistakes  I  would  have 
a  gauge  like  that  shown  in  the  accompany- 
ing cut ;  and  it  is  the  same  thing  that  is  used 


GAUGE   FOR  FRAME-MAKING. 


further  on  in  frame-making,  where  it  will 
be  described  a  little  more  minutely.  One  of 
the  brass  stops  should  be  set  at  such  a  point 
that  it  just  measures  the  length  of  one  of 
the  sides  of  the  hives,  so  that,  when  the 
board  has  been  cut  off  on  your  foot-power 
buzz-saw,  it  will  just  slip  between  the  two 
points.  On  the  reverse  side  of  the  gauge, 
the  brass  stop  should  be  so  set  that  it  will 
just  take  in  one  of  the  end-pieces  of  the 


HITE-MAKIXG. 


179 


HIVE-:SIAKrN'G. 


hive.   I  think  it  will  be  well  to  have  two 
sets  of  gauges — one  for  frame-making  and 
one  for  hive -making:  because  experience 
has  shown  that  it  is  not  wise  to  depend  too  ; 
much  on  measuring  with  rules  and  squares,  i 
for  the  eye  can  not  measure  exactly  when  ; 
the  stuff  is  the  right  length,  according  to  j 
the  graduations  on  the  square.    Such  meas- 
ured stuff  may  vary  all  the  way  from  i  lump 
to  scant  measure,  and  this  is  something  that 
we  can  not  tolerate  in  making  hives.  If  you  | 
attempt  to  measure  with  a  square,  you  will 
get  it  TSTong  side  up  or  something,  and  get 
yoiu'  gauges  set  wrong.    It  was  not  long 
since  that  one  of  the  men  cut  up  a  whole  pile  ; 
of  boards  to  the  ^Tong  length,  because  he  : 
looked  -on  the  wrong  side  of  the  square.  ' 
For  fear  he  would  do  something  of  the  kind.  ; 
he  was  given  a  board  just  right,  for  a  sam- 
pie:  but  some  one  else  wanted  it,  and  so  he 
took  the  dimensions,  and  it  turned  out  as  I 
have  said. 

The  length  of  the  side  and  end  pieces 
will  depend  upcn  what  method  you  adopt 
for  nailing  the  hives  together  at  the  corners. 
If  you  ■•  halve  "  the  corners,  either  the  ends 
or  the  sides  should  be  t  shorter  than  the  out- 
side width  or  the  length  of  the  hive,  as  the 
case  may  be.  If  you  miter  the  corners,  cut 
both  sides  and  ends  to  the  exact  length  of 
the  side  and  end  of  the  hive.  If  you  use 
what  is  called  the  box-lap  corner— that  is, 


n 


one  straight  piece  nailed  on  to  the  end  of 
another,  either  the  side  or  end  pieces  should 
be  If  inches  shorter  than  the  length  or 
width  of  the  hive,  as  the  case  may  be.  But 
the  box-lap  joint  does  not  permit  of  cross- 
nailing  ;  and  if  you  propose  using  the  miter 
corners,  you  will  have  to  have  iron  gauge- 
frames,  or  something  to  hold  the  pieces  up 
together  while  nailing :  otherwise  it  will  be 
very  difficult  to  nail  the  hive  togetlier :  and 
I  would  therefore  advise  you  to  use  what  is 
called  the  halved  comer.  What  is  meant  by 
this,  is  illustrated  in  the  accompanying 
cross-section.   Out  of  both  sides  and  ends. 


a  rabbet.  j%  deep  and  vride.  is  cut.  As 
either  the  sides  or  ends  will  have  to  be  cut 
i  inch  shorter  than  the  length  or  width  of 
the  hive.  I  would  recommend  that  it  be  tak- 
en out  of  the  end-pieces. 

Xow.  then,  before  you  begin  cutting  off 
any  considerable  number  of  pieces,  you 
must  look  sharp  to  your  gauges,  and  de- 
termine whether  your  buzz-saw  runs  true. 
When  you  get  nicely  to  going,  tiy  your 
1  gauge  occasionally  to  see  whether  your  stuff 
does  not  vary. 

While  you  are  cutting  up  the  boards  you 
will  find  that  you  will  occasionally  nm  into 
;  knots.  It  is  desirable  to  avoid  these  as  far 
:  as  possible ;  and  this  you  can  do  by  revers- 
'  ing  the  end  of  the  board :  and  this  will  make 
;  the  knot  come  in  the  center  of  one  of  the 
:  side-pieces.  We  want  to  manage  so  as  not 
to  be  obliged  to  work  the  knots. 

HOW  TO  HALVE  OrT  THE  BOAKDS. 

On  the  under  side  of  the  Barnes  saw-tai le 
you  will  find  a  lever  by  which  yiju  can  raise 
or  lower  the  table.  Eaise  the  table  up  un- 
til the  saw  wiH  cut  just  deep.  Xexr  set 
yoiu"  ripping-gauge  so  that  it  will  be  just 
from  the  saw.  Take  one  of  your  boards  and 
pass  the  end  of  it  over  The  saw.  The  edge 
of  the  cut  should  be  now  just  5^  in.  from  the 
end  of  the  board,  and  just  exactly  deep . 
Be  sure  you  make  no  mistake  here.  Then 
go  ahead  and  make  saw-cuts  on  each  end  of 
the  side  and  end  boards.  You  should  now 
take  off  your  cross-cut  and  put  on  your  rip 
saw.  Leave  the  ripping-gauge  on.  as  it  will 
be  j  ust  right,  probably.  IS'ow  turn  the  bc'ard 
on  end  and  pass  it  over  the  top  of  the  saw 
so  as  to  meet  the  other  saw-cut.  If  you 
have  made  no  mistakes,  and  have  done 
every  thing  right,  ycai  will  have  a  rabbet  cut 
just  deep  and  ^  wide  across  the  grain. 
To  make  sine  you  are  right,  measure.  As  a 
fmther  precaution,  rabbet  out  a  pair  of  sides 
and  a  pair  of  ends ;  and  now  put  them  to- 
gether to  see  whether  your  hive  measures 
'  right.  If  so.  you  are  safe  in  going  ahead  in 
cutting  out  the  rabbets. 

CrTTIXG  OVT  HAXD-HOLZS. 

The  body  of  our  hive  is  nearly  all  done. 
;  except  the  handles,  or.  rather,  hand  -  holes. 
;  that  you  lift  them  by :  these  are  made  with 
'  a  wabbling  saw.   Sometimes  oiu'  saws  have 
a  fashion  of  "wabbling."  just  when  we 
would  rather  they  wouldn't,  and  it  would 
seem  to  be  quite  an  easy  matter  to  make 
one  wabble  :  so  it  is.    The  way  in  which  we 
make  a  saw  wabble,  ordinarily,  is  by  a  pair 
of  wooden  washers  like  this  cut.   The  saw 
should  be  secmely  clamped  between  the  two 


HIVE-MAKING. 


180 


HIYE-MAKmG. 


wooden  washers ;  that  is,  clamped  so  «  f^ii. 
it  can  not  really  slip  round,  or  out  of  j^rtj  I 
true.  I  mean  by  out  of  true,  so  that  | 
the  teeth  are  just  as  long  on  one  side  i 
as  on  the  other.  Unless  you  have  it 
so,  the  cavity  will  be  deeper  at  one  side  than 
at  the  other.  You  will  also  need  both  the 
parallel  and  cross  -  cut  gauge  for  this  busi- 
ness, and  they  are  to  be  so  set  that,  when  the 
boards  of  the  hive  are  carefully  and  slowly 
dropped  down  on  the  saw,  one  end  at  a  time, 
a  nice  cavity  for  the  fingers  will  be  cut.  To 
smooth  out  the  bottom  of  the  cut,  you  have 
only  to  move  your  board  slightly  sidewise 
just  before  you  lift  it  off  the  saw.  This 
trims  off  the  strings,  as  it  were,  left  between 
the  saw-teeth.  I  would  have  these  handles 
made  in  the  sides,  as  well  as  the  ends,  for  it 
is  often  convenient  to  lift  a  hive  when  the 
ends,  one  or  both,  are  not  convenient  to 
get  at ;  for  you  must  remember  that  our 
hives  can  be  placed  tight  up  against  each 
other,  as  there  is  nothing  in  the  way  of  so 
doing.  Of  course,  hand-holes  should  be  cut 
in  the  supers  or  half-depth  bodies.  They 
are  not  heavy,  like  full  bodies,  it  is  true,  but 
we  need  something  to  lift  them  by.  I  omit- 
ted to  say,  that  the  depth  of  the  hand-holes 
i-hould  be  f  inch  deep,  and  i  wide.  If  you 
make  them  narrower  and  shallower,  it  will 
not  be  as  easy  to  lift  the  hives,  for  some- 
times a  body  may  weigh  a  hundred  pounds, 
rnd  you  need  all  the  grip  you  can  have. 
Some  prefer  cleats  nailed  all  around  the 
hives.  While  they  are  a  little  handier  to 
get  hold  of,  they  are  in  the  way,  and  add  to 
the  expense,  as  well  as  interfere  in  closely 
packing  the  hives  together  for  moving. 

BEVELED  OR  SQUARE  EDGES  FOR  HIVES. 

You  will  observe  that  thus  far  the  direc- 
tions imply  hives  with  square  edges.  In  a 
former  edition  of  this  work  I  recommended 
what  was  called  the  Simplicity  hive.  This 
had  what  are  called  beveled  edges — that  is, 
the  opposing  surfaces  of  the  hive  that  came 
in  contact  were  beveled  at  an  angle  of  45°, 
so  as  to  shed  water ;  but  as  bees  will  propo- 
lize  the  two  sections  of  a  hive  together,  it 
is  often  difficult  to  separate  them  by  reason 
of  the  propolis.  Tor  that  reason  there 
seems  to  be  a  universal  agreement  among 
all  practical  bee-keepers  that  the  edges  of 
the  hive  should  be  square,  so  that,  when 
they  are  gummed  together,  as  the  bees  will 
surely  do,  they  can  be  readily  pried  apart 
with  a  screwdriver,  or  with  the  blade  of  a 
large  knife.  Aside  from  this,  it  is  easier  to 
make  the  square  edges.  It  requires  less 
mechanical  skill  to  make  all  parts  come  to- 


gether true.  Theoretically,  the  water  would 
seep  into  these  cracks  and  rot  the  edges  of 
the  hives.  But  such  has  not  been  found  to 
be  the  case  in  practice.  Besides  that,  the 
bees  gum  the  cracks  together  so  that  neither 
water  nor  cold  air  can  enter.  Therefore 
these  plain  square  edges  are  just  as  warm 
as  those  that  have  the  telescope  principle. 
Another  thing,  by  sliding  the  cover  or  edges 
of  the  body  above,  the  bees  can,  to  a  very 
great  extent,  be  brushed  off,  and  so  prevent 
maiming  and  killing  bees.  Any  form  of  tel- 
escope cover  is  quite  liable  to  mash  a  lot  of 
bees  unless  a  smoker  and  brush  are  used 
pretty  vigorously  to  brush  off  each  bee ;  and 
it  is  not  many  apiarists  who  will  take  all 
this  precaution.  They  will  claim  that  their 
time  is  more  valuable  than  the  few  bees 
killed. each  day. 

FBAMES  FOR  HIVES. 
It  is  a  very  important  thing  to  have  all 
our  frames,  as  well  as  our  hives,  exact  in 
size  ;  and  to  insure  this,  we  have  gauges 
made  for  each  separate  part.  We  formerly 
used  wooden  gauges  ;  but  after  long  use,  we 
find  there  is  danger  of  inaccuracy  from  the 
shrinking  and  swelling  by  changes  of  weath- 
er, or  loosening  of  joints  by  use,  and  we 
have,  therefore,  decided  on  steel  gauges, 
which  we  make  of  a  cheap  carpenters' 
square,  such  as  are  to  be  had  at  almost  any 
hardware  store.  The  stops  are  made  of 
brass,  and  are  put  on  with  rivets,  as  there 
is  always  more  danger  of  a  solder  joint  giv- 
ing way  than  of  a  riveted  one.  The  draw- 
ing below  will  make  it  all  plain,  I  think. 

GAUGE  FOR  FRAME-MAKING. 

The  plate  on  the  end  is  put  on  that  end  of 
the  square  that  reads  one  inch,  thus  enabling 
us  to  read  the  dimensions  in  inches,  at  the 
same  time  that  we  are  trying  a  piece  of 
board  to  see  if  the  length  is  right.  One  side 
of  the  square  gauges  the  top-bar,  and  the 
other  side  the  bottom-bar.  The  notch  in  the 
side  gives  the  length  of  the  end-bars. 


A  CHEAP  FRAME. 


If  you  wish  to  make  a  cheap  frame,  and 
do  not  care  any  thing  about  the  sagging  of 
the  top -bars  and  the  building  of  burr-combs 


HIYE-MAKING. 


181 


HIVE-MAKmO. 


in  between  the  upper  and  lower  set  of 
frames,  or  between  the  brcod  frames  and 
sections,  you  can  not  get  up  any  thing 
cheaper  than  the  one  shown  in  illustration 
on  previous  page. 

A  frame  of  this  description  can  be  driven 
together,  and  will  hold  tolerably  well  with- 
out nails  ;  but,  of  course,  to  make  it  secure 
it  should  be  nailed. 

THICK-TOP-BAR  FRA^IES. 

On  account  of  the  aforesaid  inconven- 
ience of  the  sagging  of  top-bars,  and  the 
unnecessary  building  of  burr-combs  be- 
tween the  upper  and  lower  set  of  frames 
when  extracting,  in  1889  and  "90  an  effort 
was  made  to  get  rid  of  these  undesirable 
featm-es ;  and  the  disci  ssions  in  Glean- 
ings in  Bee  Culture  which  followed  since 
then  show  quite  conclusively  that  a  top-bar 
li  inches  wide,  and  I  or  i  thick,  having  a 
bee-space  in  the  hive  to  allow  i  inch,  and 
also  having  the  separate  frames  spaced  from 
each  other  If  from  center  to  center,  will  be 
nearly  proof  against  the  building  of  burr 
and  brace  combs. The  L.  frame  is  what  is 
called  a  "  long  one ;  that  is,  the  top-bar 
is  rather  longer  than  the  other  sizes  of 
frames ;  and  to  prevent  its  sagging,  and 
thus  preserve  the  proper  bee-space,  expe- 
rience has  shown  that  it  can  not  be  much 
less  than  I  of  an  inch  thick. 

SELF-SrACING  rKA:&rES. 

A  few  years  ago  the  loose  unspaced  frame 
or  the  old-style  Langstroth  (similar  to  our 
all-wood  above  described)  was  the  only  one 


HOFFMAN  FRAME. 

that  was  used  to  any  considerable  extent ; 
but  in  later  years  bee-keepers  have  discover- 
ed that  the  ^elf-spacing  type  of  frame  is 
superior  for  many  reasons,  chief  among 


which  may  be  named  the  follov\ing :  Fiist, 
I  labor  is  very  greatly  economized.  The 
i  frames  can  be  handled  in  groups  of  three  or 
four ;  and,  when  set  down  in  the  hive,  can 
be  shoved  up  together  at  one  operation 
without  the  necessity  of  fingering  over  each 
I  frame  to  get  it  spaced  exactly  the  right  dis- 
I  tance  from  the  others.   Second,  beginners 
and  careless  bee-keepers  of  extended  expe- 
rience do  not  make  bungling  work  in  spac- 
ing.  There  is  no  guessing  or  haphazard 
spacing;  and  the  consequence  is,  the  combs 
are  even  in  surface  and  uniform  in  thick- 
ness.  Third,  the  spacing  feature  of  the 
frames,  of  whatever  sort  they  may  be,  holds 
the  frames  securely  in  position,  and  at  equal 
distances  apart.   This  is  of  great  importance 
in  the  moving  of  bees. 

The  end-bars,  left  wide  at  the  top,  and 
touching  about  2i  inches,  form  the  self-spac- 
ing feature  of  the  frames.  One  side  of  the 
end-bar  is  brought  to  a  blunt  V  edge,  and 
the  other  is  made  square.  The  two  edges 
come  together  as  shown  at  7,  in  the  cut ;  and 
the  object  of  this  angular  contact  is  to  re- 
duce propolis-sticking,  and  also  to  a  great 
extent  bee-killing,  even  when  the  frames  are 
carelessly  handled. 

The  Hoffmans  are  supplied  with  thick  and 
wide  top-bars  of  a  kind  that  practically  does 
I  away  with  the  burr-comb  nuisance,  thus 
j  rendering  it  possible  to  lift  off  upper  stories 
from  the  brood-chamber  without  tearing 
;  loose  any  burr-combs  more  or  less  filled  with 
honey.   The  under  side  of  the  bar  has  a 
molded  bead  which,  when  no  foundation  is 
used,  will  be  used  by  the  bees  as  a  comb- 
guide.   To  this  bead,  foundation  can  be 
rolled  on  with  the  Daisy  foundation-roller, 
I  shown  elsewhere. 

An  important  improvement,  which  we 
'  introduced  in  1897,  and  which  met  with 
ready  favor,  was  reducing  the  length  of  the 
projection  by  which  the  frame  is  supported. 
This  leaves  a  bee-space  around  the  end,  as 
shown  at  6  in  the  cut.  A  staple  under  the 
projection,  and  abutting  against  the  metal 
rabbet  just  opposite,  prevents  end-play  and 
propolis  -  sticking.  In  removing  a  single 
frame  with  the  long  top-bars  it  was  some- 
times necessary  to  break  this  gluing  of  the 
ends  of  several  frames  before  the  one  sought 
could  be  removed. 

THICK-TOP  STAPLE-SPACED  FRAMES. 

There  is  a  class  who,  while  they  regard 
i  with  much  favor  self-spacing  in  frames, 
I  object  to  the  Hoffman,  either  because  they 
have  not  learned  how  to  use  it  or  because  in 
their  locality  propolis  is  deposited  so  freely 


HIVE-MAKIKG. 


182 


HIVE-MAKIJfG. 


as  to  render  handling  of  this  particular  style 
not  as  pleasant  or  perhaps  oS  rapid  as  some 
frame  having  a  metallic  S])acer  with  less 
edge  of  contact.  Eor  bee-keepers  oH  this 
class  we  know  of  nothing  as  good  or  as 
cheap  as  our  regular  thick  top  frame  we 
have  sold  for  years,  with  staples  driven  as 


shown  in  the  illustration.   One  is  driven 
under  the  projection  of  the  top-bar  at  each 
end,  one  on  each  diagonally 
gg^^^^^^p^  opposite  side,  making  four 

liMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMw^  I  [     jjji       each  frame.  They 

may  be  used  in  the  end- 
bars  lower  down,  but  we  do  not  regard  them 
as  necessary.4''5 

These  frames  may  be  handled  in  every 
way  as  the  Hoffman,  sa\e  in  the  one  point 
that  they  can  not  be  picked  up  in  pairs  or 
groups  as  can  the  Hoffman.^ss  But  to  offset 
this  they  maybe  separated — that  is,  pried 
apart  from  each  other — easier,  and  this  in 
s  >me  localities,  and  with  some  bee  keepers, 
is  quite  important.^es 

This  frame  with  staple  spacers  is  no  ex- 
periment, for  we  find  it  has  been  used  for 
years,  and  quite  largely,  in  parts  of  York 


State  where  propolis  is  a  little  too  plentiful 
for  the  Hoffman.  If  there  are  some  who 
pre'er  a  plain  unspaced  frame,  the  side 


staples  may  be  left  off  entirely ;  but  it  will 
be  necessary  to  use  the  staples  under  the 
top-bar  projections. 

A  tew  have  found  difficulty  in  fastening 
foundation  to  the  other  top-bar,  and  some 
prefer  this.  It  has  on  the  under  side  a 
double  groove,  in  one  of  which  the  founda- 
tion is  inserted  and  in  the  other  the  long 
wedge-shaped  strip  E  driven,  crowding  the 
thin  partition  against  the  foundation,  there- 
by securing  it  fast. 

CONCLUDING  REMARKS  ABOUT  HIVES. 

Work  carefully,  and  avoid  mistakes  and 
I  blunders  by  carefully  measuring,  trying, 
and  testing  every  thing  as  you  go  along. 
Do  not  get  a  lot  of  hives  nailed  up,  and 
then  discover  that  the  frames  will  not  go  in 
them  properly,  but  have  a  frame  right  at 
hand,  and,  before  you  drive  a  nail,  put  the 
frame  in  place  and  see  if  it  is  right.  More 
than  this,  be  sure  that,  your  frame  is  just 
right.  Many  bad  blunders  have  resulted 
from  picking  up  a  frame  supposed  to  be 
right,  but  which  was  found  to  be  a  little  too 
large  or  too  small,  in  some  of  its  dimen- 
sions, after  a  lot  of  hives  were  made  to 
match  it.  Have  a  good  steel  square,  and 
keep  it  carefully,  that  it  may  not  get  out  of 
true,  or  get  rusty  or  injured  in  any  way. 
To  test  its  exactness,  lay  it  on  a  broad 
straight-edged  board,  and  draw  a  fine  line 
along  the  blade  of  the  square,  with  a  keen- 
pointed  knife;  then  reverse  it,  and  see  if  the 
knife  -  point  runs  in  the  same  track.  The 
drawing  below  will  show  you  how.^ 


HOW  TO  TEST  A  SQUARE. 

Let  A  A  represent  the  board  with  the 
straight  edge.  Do  not  say,  "  This  edge  is 
straight  enough,"  until  you  have  made  it  as 
exact  as  you  can.  Lay  the  square  on  as  at 
B,  and  draw  the  line,  D  E,  with  your  knife- 
point ;  now  turn  it  over  as  at  C,  and  draw  a 
line  in  the  same  place,  or  so  near  it  that  you 
can  readily  see  if  the  two  are  exactly  paral- 
lel. You  can  take  your  board  to  the  hard- 
ware store,  and  pick  out  a  square  that  is 
right,  or  you  can  get  the  one  that  is  nearest 
right,  and  then  make  it  right  by  filing. 
Another  point :  you  will  find  squares  with 
the  marks  on  one  side  not  exactly  agreeing 
with  those  on  the  opposite  side.  This  is  a 
very  bad  fault  indeed.  Our  blacksmith  and 
foreman  once  had  quite  a  dispute  on  some 
iron  gauge-frames,  and,  when  the  matter 


HIYE-MAKmG. 


183 


HIVE-MAKIKG. 


was  investigated,  it  was  found  the  square 
given  the  blacksmith  varied  a  82d  of  an  inch 
In  the  way  I  have  mentioned.  Further  in- 
vestigation showed  we  had  but  one  squaire 
on  the  premises  that  exactly  agreed  on  both 
sides.  Now,  when  you  go  to  buy  a  square, 
look  out. 

When  you  get  a  square  that  you  know  you 
can  "put  your  trust  in,"  go  ahead,  but  work 
carefully.  Say  over  and  over  to  yourself, 
when  starting  out,  "  Suppose  I  should  find, 
after  I  get  these  done,  that  they  are  all 
wrong;"  and  so  measure  and  try  your  work, 
at  every  step.  It  is  just  as  easy  to  cut 
l)oards  in  the  right  place  as  it  is  to  cut  them 
in  the  wrong  one  ;  and  it  is  just  as  easy  to 
have  all  the  different  parts  of  your  work 
nice  and  accurate  as  it  is  to  waste  your 
time  by  careless  bungling,  and  then  trying 
to  patch  up  the  consequences  of  your  own 
awkwardness.  I  know,  for  I  have  made  a' 
great  many  awkward  mistakes  in  my  life, 
and  I  also  know,  by  experience,  that  one  so 
awkward  and  careless  that  he,  at  times, 
almost  feels  as  if  there  were  no  use  in  trying 
to  be  a  mechanic,  or  hardly  any  thing  else, 
tor  that  matter,  can  learn  to  be  careful  and 
to  do  nice  work.  I  also  know  the  thrill  of 
■pleasure  that  rewards  one  after  he  has  suc- 
cessfully fought  these  besetting  sins,  and 
come  out  triumphant.  Once  more,  be  care- 
ful ;  work  slowly,  until  you  know  your  work 
is  all  right;  have  your  tools  all  nice  and 
.sharp  ;  keep  every  thing  piled  up  in  neat 
order ;  look  pleasant,  he  pleasant,  and  thank 
God  every,  day  for  being  a  great  deal  kinder 
to  you  than  you  deserve,  while  you  ask  him 
to  help  you  overcome  these  besetting  sins. 

TUTTING  CIRCULAR  SAWS  IN  OU- 
DER. 

And  now  I  am  going  to  take  a  little  space 
to  talk  to  you  about  putting  circular  saws 
in,  order.  It  is  no  use  to  say  you  can  not 
sharpen  a  saw,  for  you  must  do  it,  or  you  are 
not  fit  to  be  a  bee-keeper.  Perhaps  I  can 
help  . you  a  little. 

We  will  takie  the  cutter  -  head  for  an  il- 
lustration, for  it  embodies  nearly  all  the 
principles  involved. 


3 


■I 


-CUTTER  -  HEAD    FOR    GROOVING  SECTION 
BOXES. 

The  point,  or  spur,  D,  is,  of  course,  to  cut  a 
little  ahead  of  the  chisel-shaped  cutter,  C, 
and '  is  to  gauge  the  exact  width  of  the 


groove,  while  C  follows  after,  and  takes 
out  a  shaving  of  wood,  i^ow,  suppose  the 
tool  be  So  carelessly  ground  that  the  heel,  B, 
is  hig:her.  or,  rather,  further  from  the  hole  in 
the  center  than  the  cutting  edge  C ;  it  is 
very  plain  that  the  heel  would  only  rub  on 
the  wood,  get  hot,  and  make  things  smoke, 
without  doing  any  cutting  at  all.  At  about 
this  stage,  the  operator  of  the  foot-power 
saw  is  in  danger  of  losing  his  temper— es- 
pecially if  he  has  tired  himself  out,  and 
worked  himself  into  a  perspiration,  without 
stopping  to  examine  into  the  matter.  To 
illustrate,  I  will  give  a  letter  that  Barnes 
Bros,  wrote  us  after  one  of  our  customers 
had  complained  of  his  cutter-head. 

I    We  mail  you  this  day  the  cutter-head  that  Mr. 

i   —  returns  by  our  request,  for  our  examina- 
tion. He  has  ground  it,  or  sharpened  it,  from  the 
outside,  and  spoiled  it  of  course.  It  should  be  g-round 
or  sharpened  from  the  inner  edge.  Please  put  it  on 
the  saw  and  you  will  see  that  the  edge  is  ground 
down  so  that  the  back  part  will  not  let  it  cut;  hence 
the  jumping  he  speaks  of.  You  will  also  see  that  it 
has  never  been  sharpened  on  the  inner  edge  —  the 
temper  color  has  not  been  removed.  We  would  as 
soon  tell  a  man  not  to  hitch  to  the  tongue  of  a  wagon, 
after  selling  him  one,  as  tell  him  not  to  grind 
these  cutters  on  the  outer  edge.  You  will  fipd,  on 
grinding  back  and  allowing  the  edge  to  be  the  high- 
est, as  it  was  originally,  that  this  same  cutter  will 
beat  the  best  saw  (especially  when  gauged),  cutter, 
or  groover  you  can  get.  We  like  fair  play,  especially 
when  things  are  so  plain  as  to  need  no  explanation. 

If  you  haVe  time,  we  would  like  you  to  write  him 
and,  after  grinding  the  cutter  properly,  return  it  to 
him  to  convince  him.  W.  F.  &  John  Barnes. 

Rockford,  111. 

That  the  above  is  somewhat  harsh,  I  am 
aware ;  but  I  have  given  it  you  to  show  that 
I  think  there  is  blame  on  both  sides.  Our 
friend  was  thoughtless,  it  is  true ;  but  had 
the  cutter  been  sent  him,  ground  just  as  it 
should  be,  at  first,  he  would  have  succeeded 
and  been  pleased;  and  if  it  afterward  got 
out  of  "rig,"  he  would  have  known  the 
fault  was  not  in  the  construction  of  the  im- 
plement. I  have  purchased  much  machin- 
ery, and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  but  little  of  it 
has  been  in  really  nice  working  trim  when 
first  received.  The  planer  I  have  men- 
tioned was  a  pleasant  surprise  in  that  re- 
spect, for  it  was  almost  as  sharp  and  keen 
as  a  razor,  and  every  part  was  as  carefully 
in  order  as  if  the  maker  had  fitted  it  up  for 
his  own  use.  If  all  kinds  of  machinery  were 
sent  out  in  just  this  shape,  it  would  save 
ever  and  ever  so  much  trouble  and  bother, 
and  hard  words  and  feelings  all  round.  I 
know  it  costs  money  to  do  this,  and  I  know 
it  is  hard  to  find  a  man  who  will  take  pride 
in  having  every  thing  just  right,  no  matter 


HIYE-MAKIKG. 


184 


HIVE-MiXKmG 


I 


what  the  cost  may  be ;  but  it  should  be  done. 
There  will  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  a  price 
to  cover  all  expense,  after  the  work  has  once 
earned  a  reputation. 

The  cutter-head  was  received,  as  it  was 
stated.  The  blue  on  the  steel  showed  that 
no  tile  or  stone  had  ever  touched  it  on  the 
inner  edge  at  A,  but  our  friend  had  ground 
the  outside,  in  the  manner  stated.  I  took 
the  tool  to  one  of  our  hands  who  runs  saws, 
explained  the  matter,  and  desired  him  to  tix 
and  try  it.  As  it  did  not  cut  very  well,  I 
stopped  it  and  looked,  and,  behold,  he  had 
not  even  taken  the  blue  from  the  steel  on 
the  inside. 

Messrs.  Barnes,  I  fear  there  are  a  great 
many  thick-headed  people  in  this  world,  and 
I  sometimes  have  reason  to  think  I  am 
chiefest  among  them.  Then  what  shall 
we  do?  I  think  we  shall  have  to  make 
every  thing  very  plain,  and  I  think  our  tools 
would  all  better  be  sharpened  jwst  be- 
fore they  are  sent  out,  and  then  purchasers, 
will  certainly  know  how  they  should  be. 

Messrs.  Barnes  Brothers  have  sent  us 
a  pair  of  their  improved  cutter-heads. 
They  are  of  much  nicer  finish  than  their  old 
ones',  and  there  has  been  some  grinding  done 
on  the  points  of  the  knives;  but  none  of 
them  are  ground  as  they  should  be  to  make 
the  best  speed  in  cutting.  I  think  the  gen- 
tlemen will  excuse  these  criticisms,  for  I 
have  always  found  them  very  ready  to  adopt 
any  improvement  or  suggestion  I  may  have 
made,  if  a  good  one.  We  owe  them  a  vote 
of  thanks  already,  for  having  made  such 
great  reductions  on  the  prices  of  almost  all 
kinds  of  foot-power  machinery.  The  spurs 
on  the  cutters  sent  were  too  long,  and  they 
were  of  such  shape  that  the  block  of  wood 
was  shaken  while  being  grooved ;  when  they 
are  made  so  as  to  be  thin  sharp  blades,  cut- 
ting about  the  thickness  of  a  sheet  of  paper 
into  the  wood,  in  advance  of  the  chisels, 
with  the  steel  ground  back  so  as  not  to  bump 
or  rub  against  the  sides  of  the  finished 
groove,  your  block  will  stand  as  steady  as  if 
no  cutting  were  being  done,  and  your  groove 
will  be  beautifully  smooth  and  clean.  Best 
of  all,  so  little  power  will  be  required  to  do 
the  work  that  you  will  hardly  know  the  tool 
is  cutting.  I  know,  for  I  have  just  stopped 
my  writing  an  hour,  to  be  sure  I  could  make 
them  go.  As  I  have  said  before,  we  use 
saws  instead  of  these  cutters,  because,  with 
the  constant  work  we  have  for  them,  they 
would  require  sharpening  so  often.  A  saw 
has  50  teeth  or  more,  where  these  tools  have 
but  two,  to  do  the  work. 


Kemember,  the  extreme  points  of  the  teeth 
are  to  do  the  work,  and  no  power  can  be 
spared  in  making  the  saw  rub  or  squeeze 
through  the  lumber.  No  part  of  the  saw 
should  ever  touch  the  lumber,  except  these 
extreme  points,  and  they  are  to  be  of  such 
shape,  and  so  disposed,  that  they  pare  off 
just  enough  to  let  the  saw  through,  and 
nothing  more.  If  you  stand  a  chisel  straight 
up  on  a  plank,  and  draw  it  across  it,  it  may 
scratch  the  wood  some,  but  it  will  not  cut  it 
smoothly.  If  you  try  pushing  it  forward  at 
different  angles,  you  will  find  there  is  a  cer- 
tain position  in  which  it  will  make  a  smooth 
cut.  This  is  about  the  angle  we  wishta 
give  the  teeth  of  a  rip-saw.  There  is  a  rule 
for  getting  this  pitch,  which  you  will  under- 
stand from  the  diagram  below. 


SAW  IMPROPERLY  FILED.  PROPERLY  FILED. 

Let  H  represent  the  center  of  the  saw,  and 
F  the  circumference  ;  G  is  a  line  drawn  just 
midway  between  the  center  and  circumfer- 
ence. Now,  if  a  straight-edge  is  held  against 
the  under  side  of  any  tooth,  it  should  lie  on 
the  line  G.  Hold  your  try-square  on  the 
under  side  of  the  tooth  of  your  rip-saw,  and 
you  can  soon  see  if  the  teeth  are  of  the  right 
pitch.  On  the  left-hand  side  you  will  see 
some  teeth  with  a  wrong  angle.  Some  of 
them  would  carry  a  line  toward  the  center 
of  the  saw,  and  one  of  them  would  go  past 
the  center  on  the  other  side.  You  need  not 
say  no  one  ever  did  as  bad  work  as  that,  for 
it  is  not  many  years  since  I  complained  to 
Mr.  Washburn  that  my  saw  would  not  cut 
well,  and  he,  with  a  straight-edge,  showed 
me  just  how  badly  I  had  been  doing.  I  had 
commenced  in  a  hurry,  and  had  filed  the 
saw  just  to  make  it  do  a  little  for  the  time 
being.  I  had  filed  both  top  and  front  of  the 
teeth  to  get  them  to  a  point  "real  quick." 


HOW   SAWS    ARE   WASTED    BY  IMPROPER 
FILING. 

Filing  a  saw  on  the  top  of  the  teeth  is  a 
great  waste  of  time,  files,  and  especially 


HIYE-MAKIXG. 


18o 


HIYE-MAKIXG. 


saws.  Perhaps  I  can  give  you  some  faint 
idea  of  the  matter  from  the  preceding  cut. 

Let  A  be  the  point  of  the  tooth  when  the 
saw  is  new;  and  C,the  point  where  it  would 
be  after  having  been  used  for  a  certain 
amount  of  work,  the  filing  having  all  been 
done  on  the  under  side  of  the  tooth  so  as  to 
leave  the  line  A  C  just  as  it  was  when  it 
was  made  ;  that  is,  it  has  been  untouched  by 
the  file,  and  has  worn  away  only  in  actual 
cutting  on  the  wood.  The  saw  has  been  re- 
duced in  this  way  by  this  amount  of  work, 
exactly  from  D  to  E.  Bear  this  in  mind. 
Xow  suppose  we  have  done  the  sharpening 
by  filing  the  top  of  the  tooth :  in  getting  the 
same  amount  of  cutting  edge,  we  should  file 
do^Ti  from  A  to  B.  This  would  reduce  the 
size  of  the  saw  from  D  to  E.  instead  of  from 
D  to  E.  Eor  filing  these  small  saws  from  6 
to  10  inches  in  diameter,  we  need  a  tile  made 
at  just  the  proper  angle  like  this  cut. 


The  broad  side  of  the  file  is  to  be  laid  on 
the  top  of  the  tooth ;  it  is  never  to  be  used 
for  cutting  downward,  but  only  to  preserve 
the  shape  and  angles  of  the  top  of  the  tooth,  I 
while  the  cutting  is  to  be  done  from  the  un- 
der side  of  each  tooth,  the  top  of  the  tooth 
being  made  while  sharpening  the  one  just 
after  it. 

So  much  for  the  shape  of  the  tooth.  Out 
saw  must  be  set.  or  it  will  not  clear  itself 
through  the  lumber  :  and  for  this  purpose 
we  have  found  the  Boynton  saw-set  as  good 
as  any  thing  for  circular  saws. 

The  diagram  below  will  give  you  an  idea 
of  the  purpose  of  setting  saws. 


A  _.A 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  SETTIXG  A  SAW. 

Yow  will  observe  that  we  depend  on  the 
little  points,  A  and  B,  to  make  a  path  along 
the  dotted  lines,  for  the  blade.  If  these 
points  get  worn  olf,  the  saw  will  pinch,  and 
a  great  part  of  the  power  will  be  consumed 
in  making  it  squeeze  through  the  wood.  If 
y-our  saw  does  not  cut  easily,  this  is  very 
likely  the  trouble.  If  your  lumber  is  un- 
seasoned or  tough,  you  will  need  much  more 
set  than  if  you  have  dry  clear  tender  lum- 
ber. Of  course,  we  wish  to  get  along  with 
as  little  set  as  we  can  consistently,  for  the 
more  wood  we  cut  out.  the  greater  is  the 
power  required.  Xow.  another  considera- 
tion comes  in.   If  we  do  not  set  the  teeth  all  ' 


alike  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  do  this 
with  any  saw-set,  on  account  of  the  tenden- 
cy of  some  teeth  to  spring  more  than  others ) 
we  shall  have  occasionally  a  tooth  sticking 
out  more  than  the  rest:  this  causes  much 
friction,  and  makes  our  lumber  look  bad 
with  gi'ooves  plowed  in  it  at  intervals. 
Eor  large  saws,  a  side-file  is  used :  but  for 
our  work,  I  think  we  can  level  off  the  points 
very  well  with  an  oil-stone.  Lay  the  stone 
on  your  saw-table,  against  the  side  of  the 
saw,  and  turn  the  saw  backward  by  hand. 
!N'ow  be  sure  you  do  not  trim  the  points  too 
much,  and  that  you  do  not  hold  your  stone 
so  as  to  make  the  points  wedge-shaped. 
When  done  rightly,  your  saw  should  cut 
smoothly  and  easily,  and  the  stuff  should 
look  almost  as  if  it  were  planed. 

In  the  drawing,  I  have  given  about  the 
right  angle  for  the  face  of  the  tooth.  The 
point  should  be  almost  square,  like  the  end 
of  a  chisel :  but  as  the  outside  corner  has  by 
far  the  greatest  amount  of  work  to  do.  it 
should  be  kept  a  trifle  higher.  If  you  give 
the  point  of  the  tooth  a  very  sharp  bevel, 
the  saw  will  leave  a  point  in  the  pi 
wood  like  this,  at  A ;  and  if  the  saw  I^^^M 
is  crowded,  the  teeth  will  spring  ^"^^^ 
outward  somewhat,  as  sho^vn  in  the  dark 
lines,  making  a  great  amount  of  friction, 
and  rough  and  unsightly  work.  Have  plen- 
ty of  good  files  at  hand,  and  touch  up  the 
teeth  of  your  saws  often,  if  you  wish  to  ac- 
complish the  most,  with  the  least  amount  of 
hard  work. 

The  above  directions  are  all  for  rip-saws. 
A  crosscut  saw  is  filed  with  a  3-cornered 
file,  and  needs  but  few  directions  different 
from  those  already  given.  As  it  is  always 
used  across  the  grain,  it  will  work  best  to 
have  it  sharpened  so  as  to  leave  the  point  A, 
as  shown  in  the  cut.  for  this  will  break  off 
itself.  The  outer  points  of  the  teeth  are  to 
be  kept  very  sharp,  and  are  to  be  leveled  up 
with  the  oil-stone,  so  they  all  cut  in  the 
same  path.  The  saw  must  also  be  set 
enough  to  clear  itself,  in  all  kinds  of  lum- 
ber. If  you  wish  to  cut  up  boards  that  are 
not  perfectly  seasoned,  you  will  need  to  set 
your  saw  accordingly.  You  can.  with  the 
Barnes  saw.  cut  off  a  foot  board  at  one 
clip,  if  every  thing  is  all  right.  Ours  is  sel- 
dom in  order  to  do  this.  I  know :  but  if  1 
were  going  to  use  it.  I  would  keep  it  in  just 
such  order.  The  grooving-saws  for  section 
boxes  are  to  be  sharpened  like  the  rip-saws. 

SPEED  OF  CIRCULAR  SAWS. 

In  regard  to  the  speed  of  circular  saws, 
'  much  depends  on  the  power  to  be  applied, 


HIVE-MAKING. 


186 


HIVES. 


and  the  material  to  be  cut.  As  a  rule,  we 
may  say  that  the  teeth  should  move  at  the 
rate  of  about  8000  feet  per  minute.  By  get- 
ting the  diameter  you  can  easily  figure  out 
the  number  of  revolutions  per  minute. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  A  SAW  DO  AS  NICE  WORK  AS 
A  PLANER. 

In  the  year  1885  we  discovered  that  a 
rip  saw  filed  with  sufficient  sharpness  and 
accuracy  will  cut  well-seasoned  basswood  as 
smooth  as  or  smoother  than  the  average 
planer  or  sandpaperiug-machine  will  make 
it.  The  saw  is  used  without  any  set.  It  must 
run  absolutely  true  on  the  mandrel.  The 
teeth  must  be  filed  exactly  on  the  pitch  giv- 
en on  page  184,  and  it  may  take  an  experi- 
enced saw- filer  to  do  it  so  that  the  marks  of 
the  teeth  will  not  show  on  the  pieces  of  wood. 
The  saw  must  have  a  high  speed — not  less 
than  4000.  The  stuff  must  be  fed  rather 
slowly,  and  by  a  man  trained  to  run  a  saw 
without  set.  You  can  make  the  saw  do  a 
smooth  nice  job,  my  friends,  I  think,  if  you 
sit  right  down  to  it  and  work  the  matter  out. 
Learn  to  file  your  saws,  and  then  learn  to 
run  them  after  they  are  filed.  If  you  are 
unpracticed  you  will  crowd  the  saw,  or  get 
the  pieces  thin  at  one  end  and  thick  at  the 
other  ;  but  with  practice  you  can  do  it  every 
time,  saving  nearly  half  the  lumber,  and  a 
great  amount  of  time,  over  the  old  way  of 
first  sawing  and  then  planing. 

HIVES.  I  said,  under  Hive  -  making, 
which  we  have  just  passed,  that  hives  based 
on  Lanastroth  dimensions  were  the  stand- 


Heddon, 

5%  X  l8rV 


Danzenbaker, 
7^  X  17: 


ard.  Some  thirty  years  ago  there  were  m 
use  the  American,  Gallup,  Langstroth, 
Adair,  and  Quinby  frames.  All  of  these  re- 
quired, of  course,  hives  of  different  dimen- 
sions. Between  the  Adair,  the  Gallup,  and 
the  American  there  was  but  little  differ- 
ence, comparatively,  as  they  were  square^ 
and  very  nearly  of  a  size.  The  Langstroth 
was  long  and  shallow— the  shallowest  frame 
that  had  then  been  introduced ;  and  the 
Quinby,  having  about  the  same  proportions, 
was  the  largest  frame.  By  consulting  the 
diagram,  containing  the  different  sizes  of 
frames  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  prac- 
ticall}^  two  classes— the  square  and  the  ob- 
long. As  there  would  be  but  very  little  dif- 
ference, theoretically  and  practically,  be- 
tween the  results  secured  with  a  Gallup^ 
American,  and  Adair,  we  will  consider 
briefiy  some  of  the  arguments  that  were  put 
forth  in  favor  of  the  square  frame. 

square  frames  —  ARGUMENTS  IN  FAVOR 
OF. 

In  nature,  bees  have  a  tendency  to  make  a 
brood-nest  in  the  form  of  a  sphere  ;  patches 
of  brood  are  more  inclined  to  be  circular 
than  square  or  oblong.  Theoretically,  then, 
a  circular  frame  would  be  the  best;  but  as 
that  would  not  be  practicable,  owing  to 
the  difficulty  in  the  construction  of  the 
frame  and  hive,  obviously  the  square  frame 
would  come  the  nearest  to  conforming  to 
nature  and  a  perfect  cube  for  the  hive.  The 
square  frame,  as  a  rule,  called  for  a  hive  in 
the  exact  shape  of  a  cube.  If,  for  instance,, 
the  frame  was  12  inches  square,  outside  di- 
mensions, then  the  hive,  if  the  combs  were 
spaced  If  inches  apart,  and  12f  inches  wide 
inside,  should  take  in  just  nine  American 
frames.  Such  a  hive,  it  was  argued,  would 
conserve  the  heat  of  the  bees  to  the  best 
advantage,  would  give  the  greatest  cubical 
contents  for  a  given  amount  of  lumber — 
barring,  of  course,  the  perfect  sphere.  As  it 
economized  heat  in  winter,  it  would  winter 
bees  better  than  a  hive  having  oblong  frames. 

All  of  this  seemed  to  be  very  pretty  in  the- 
ory ;  I  and  there  are  some  users  of  square 
frames  who  insist  that  the  theory  is  borne 
out  by  actual  experience.  But  the  great  ma- 
jority of  bee-keepers,  after  having  tried  the 
square  and  the  oblong  frame,  finally  decided 
in  favor  of  the  Langstroth  for  the  following 
reasons : 

THE  LANGSTROTH  FRAME  AND  HIVE,  ANI> 
WHY  THEY  BECAME  THE  STANDARDS. 

1.  A  shallow  frame  permits  the  use  of  a 
low  flat  hive  that  can  easily  be  tiered  up  one, 
'  two,  three,  and  four  stories  high.   This  is  a 


HIYES. 


187 


HIYES. 


great  advantage  when  one  is  running  for  ex- 
tracted honey,  for  all  he  has  to  do  when  the 
bees  require  more  room  is  to  add  upper  sto- 
ries as  fast  as  the  bees  require  them,  and 
then  at  the  end  of  the  season  extract  at  his 
leisure.  Square  or  deep  hives  can  not  be 
tiered  up  very  high  without  becoming  top- 
heavy  and  out  of  convenient  reach  of  the 
operator.  2.  The  long  shallow  frame  is  more 
easily  imcapped  because  the  blade  of  the  un- 
capping-knife  can  reach  clear  across  it.  3. 
The  shape  of  the  Langstroth  frames  favors 
an  extractor  of  good  proportion.  4.  A  deep 
frame  is  not  as  easily  lifted  out  of  a  hive  ; 
is  more  liable  to  kill  bees  in  the  process  of 
removing  and  inserting  frames.  5.  The  shal- 
low frame  is  better  adapted  for  box  honey. 
It  is  well  known  that  bees,  after  forming  a 
brood-circle,  are  inclined  to  put  sealed  hon- 
ey Just  over  the  brood.  In  a  frame  as  shal- 
low as  the  Langstroth,  there  will  be  less  hon- 
ey in  the  brood-nest  and  more  in  the  boxes  ; 
for  bees,  in  order  to  complete  their  brood- 
circle  in  the  Langstroth.  will,  with  a  prolific 
queen,  shove  tli(^  brood-line  almost  up  to  the 
top  -  bar,  and,  consequently,  when  honey 
comes  in.  will  put  it  into  the  supers  or  boxes 
just  where  it  is  wanted.  6.  "When  bees  form 
their  winter  cluster  they  are  pretty  apt  to 
place  it  very  near  the  top  of  the  hive  Qr 
cover.  This  is  on  account  of  the  greater 
warmth  at  that  point,  for  heated  air  has  a 
tendency  to  rise.  It  sometimes  happens,  in 
case  of  the  square  frame,  that  the  bees  will 
eat  all  of  the  honey  or  stores  away  from  near 
the  top  of  the  hive  ;  and  as  the  cold  weather 
continues,  the  bees  simply  starve,  not  being 
able  to  move  the  cluster  down  into  the  colder 
part  of  the  hive  where  the  stores  are.  In  the 
case  of  the  Langstroth,  the  cluster  may  be 
either  .at  the  front  or  rear.  As  the  stores  ' 
are  consumed  it  will  move  toward  the  stores, 
and  still  keep  within  the  warmest  part  of 
the  hive. 

But  in  actual  experience  bees  seem  to  win-  , 
ter  just  as  well  on  one  frame  as  on  the  other;  | 
and  as  the  shallow  frame  is  better  adapted 
for  box  honey,  bee-keepers  naturally  turned 
toward  the  shallower  frame,  with  the  result 
that  now  probably  three-fourths  of  all  the 
frames  in  the  United  States  are  of  Lang- 
stroth dimensions ;  and  whatever  advan- 
tage there  might  be  in  favor  of  the  square 
shape,  the  bee-keeper  is  able  to  buy  stand- 
ard goods  so  much  cheaper  that  he  adopts 
the  standard  Langstroth  frame.  ' 

FRA31ES  SHALLOWER  AXD  DEEPER  THAX 
THE  LAXGSTROTH. 

Of  late  there  has  been  a  tendency  toward  | 


a  frame  still  shallower  than  the  Langstroth, 
and  what  is  called  the  Heddon ;  but  as 
eight  or  ten  of  these  frames,  or  one  section, 
make  too  small  a  brood-nest,  two  sets  of  such 
frames  are  used  to  accommodate  a  whole 
colony.  Of  the  Heddon  hive  I  shall  have 
more  to  say  later  on. 

There  is  another  class  of  bee-keepers  who 
feel  that  the  Langstroth  is  not  quite  deep 
enough,  and  who.  therefore,  prefer  the  Quin- 
by.  They  argue  that  ten  such  frames,  or 
frames  Langstroth  length,  and  two  inches 
deeper,  are  none  too  large  for  a  prolific 
queen,  and  that  these  big  colonies  swarm 
less,  get  more  honey,  and  winter  better.  Of 
these  latter,  I  shall  have  more  to  say  under 
the  subject  of  "Large  vs.  Small  Hives." 

THE  LAXGSTROTH  HIVE. 

The  old  original  Langstroth  hive  that 
father  Langstroth  put  out  contained  ten 
frames  17fx9i.  Each  hive  had  a  portico,  and 
cleats  nailed  around  the  top  edge  to  support 


a  telescoping  cover,  under  which  were  placed 
the  comb-honey  boxes,  or  big  cushions,  for 
winter.  There  was  a  time  when  this  style  of 
hive  was  the  only  one  used;  but  owing  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  not  simple  in  construction, 
that  the  portico  was  a  splendid  harboring- 
place  for  cobwebs,  and  gave  the  bees  en- 
couragement for  clustering  out  on  hot  days 
instead  of  attending  to  their  knitting  in- 
side of  their  hives,  a  simpler  form  of 
hive  was  devised.  The  Simplicity,  first 
brought  out  by  A.  I.  Eoot,  having  Lang- 
stroth dimensions,  was  the  result.  Instead 
of  having  telescoping  covers  the  contigu- 
ous edges  of  the  hive  were  beveled  so  as  to 
shed  water  and  give  in  effect  a  telescoping 
cover.  The  cover  and  bottom  of  this  hive 
were  exactly  alike,  the  entrance  being  form- 


HIYES. 


188 


HIVES. 


eel  by  shoving  the  hive  forward  on  the  bot- 
tom, thus  making  an  entrance  as  wide  or 
narrow  as  seemed  most  desirable.  The  bot- 
tom was  made  exactly  like  the  cover,  so  the 


two  couM  be  nsed  intercliangeably.  The 
upper  story  was  exactly  the  same  as  the  low- 1 
er  one  or  brood-nest — so,  taking  it  all  in  all, 
the  hive  was  simplicity  itself.  But  it  had 
one  serious  defect,  and  that  was  the  beveled 
edge.  It  was  found  to  be  practically  impos- 
sible at  times,  on  account  of  the  bee-glue,  to 
separate  the  upper  story  from  the  lower  one 
without  breaking  or  splitting  the  bevel.  Fi- 
nally there  was  introduced  a  hive  very  much 
the  same,  having  straight  square  edges,  and 
along  with  it  came  the  feature  of  dovetailing 
or  locking  the  corners,  as  shown  in  the  hive 
below.  I 
This  hive  was  introduced  in  1889,  and  , 
seemed  to  meet  with  the  general  approba- 
tion of  bee-keepers.   It  embodied  in  the  , 


main  the  Langstroth  dimensions,  but  used 
eight  instead  of  ten  frames  ;  for  at  the  time 
it  was  introduced,  nearly  every  one  preferred 
eight  frames.  The  original  Dovetailed  hive 
had  a  flat  cover,  and  a  bottom-board  made 
the  same  as  the  cover,  except  that  there  were 
side-cleats  to  raise  the  hive  off  the  bottom- 
board. 

Since  that  time  there  have  been  modifica- 
tions of  the  hive,  and  it  is  now  made  in  eight, 
ten,  twelve,  and  sixteen  frame  sizes.  The 
cover  is  made  of  six  pieces.  The  body  is 
locked  at  the  corners,  and  the  bottom-board 


is  made  reversible,  one  side  giving  an  en- 
trance If  inches  deep,  and  the  other  |  inch. 
In  winter  the  bottom  is  adjusted  so  as  to 
leave  a  I  width  of  opening.  In  hot  weather 
it  is  reversed  so  as  to  give  the  w  ide  entrance, 
for  it  has  been  found  that  the  ordin-<iry  en- 
trance has  a  tendency  to  encourage  swarm- 
ing and  clustering  out. 

Another  style  of  bottom-board  and  hive- 
stand  combined  that  is  getting  to  be  a  gen- 
eral favorite  for  the  Dovetailed  hive  is  the 
one  that  is  shown  in  the  annexed  engrav- 
ings.  It  consists  of  side  pieces  |  inches 


thick  by  4  wade,  having  grooves  on  the  in- 
ner side,  running  on  a  slant  to  receive  boards 
I  inch  thick.  When  the  boards  are  in  place, 
and  the  bottom-board  put  together,  there 
will  be  a  bee-space  at  the  rear,  of  f  inch,  in- 
creas  ng  gradually  up  to  li  in  front.  Mr.  S. 
T.  Pettit,  Mr.  Vernon  Burt,  and  other  prom- 


inent honey -producers,  greatly  prefer  a 
bottom-board  with  a  slanting  floor- first,  be- 
cause it  gives  a  good  wide  entrance ;  and , 
secondly,  because  the  outside  sections  are 


HIVES. 


189 


HIVES 


better  filled  out.  Another  feature  is  that 
the  hive  proper  may  be  set  perfectly  plumb 
and  level,  and  yet  the  water  will  run  out  at 
the  entrance  during  any  beating  storm. 
Still  another  feature  is  that  this  peculiar 
construction  renders  the  hive-stand  unnec- 
essary, because  the  4-iuch  side  pieces  raise 
the  hive  proper  off  the  gi'ound,  away  from 
dampness,  and  high  enough  to  make  it  con- 
venient for  working.  Where  the  other  style 
of  bottom-board,  namely,  the  Danzeubiiker, 
is  used,  a  hive  stand  like  that  shown  under 
ExTRAXCES  should  be  used. 

The  Hoffman  self-spacing  frame,  describ- 
ed under  Fixed  FEA]yiES,and  Era3IE>.  Ma- 
NiPULATiXG,  also  undcr  Hive-makixc^,  is 
used  in  the  Dovetailed  hive  almost  exclusive- 
ly. The  usual  ^^idth  of  the  hive  is  eight- 
frame,  although  there  seems  to  be  a  tenden- 
cy toward  the  ten  and. twelve  frame  sizes  at 
the  present  time  (1900).  The  supers  for  this 
hive  are  the  same  as  those  shown  under 
Co:yiB  HoxEY. 


three  nari  ow  boa  rds  would  be  better.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  E.xcelsior  was  devised.  It 
consists  of  boards  not  exceeding  6  inches  in 
width,  for  narrow  boards  will  not  shrink 
and  check  from  the  influence  of  the  weather 
like  the  wide  ones.    The  center  board.  4i 


As  now  constructed  the  hive  embodies  the 
very  latest  developments  in  hives  and  hive- 
construction.  It  can  be  handled  rapidly, 
and  is  especially  adapted  for  out-apiary 
work,  where  frequent  moving  from  one  field 
to  another  is  necessary.  It  is  standard,  and 
is  made  by  all  the  supply  -  manufacturing 
concerns,  and  is  for  sale  everywhere.  The 
lock  corner  is  especially  well  adapted  for  hot 
climates  :  and  for  anyplace  it  is  far  superior 
to  work  depending  on  nails  alone.  The  ordi- 
nary miter  or  halved  joint  is  inclined  to  pull 
apart  in  parts  of  California,  Texas,  Florida, 
and  other  portions  of  oiu'  coimtry  subject  to 
extremes  of  heat,  or  hot  dry  winds. 

A  very  important  requisite  of  a  good  hive 
is  a  good  cover.  While  the  flat  cover— one 
making  use  of  one  flat  board  and  two  cleats 
—was  a  good  one.  yet,  owing  to  the  width  of 
a  single  board,  and  its  liability  to  check  in 
hot  climates,  something  made  of  two  or 


inches  wide,  is  channeled  otit  on  tlie  under 
side,  as  shown  at  H.  leaving  shoulders  at 
each  edge  that  telescope  over  corresponding 
shoulders,  as  at  G,  of  the  two  side-boards 
below.  This  prevents  the  water,  during  a 
beating  rain,  from  wcrking  between  the 
boards,  for  the  very  obvious  reason  that 
water  can  not  rim  up  hill.  The  space  be- 
tween the  side-boards  is  filled  up  with  a  nar- 
row f-inch  strip,  and  the  whole  are  held  to- 
gether by  means  of  two  groo  >  ed  cleats,  such 
as  have  been  used  for  years,  and  which  are 
heavy  enough  to  hold  the  cover  true  and 
rigid.  By  putting  one  nail  in  the  center  of 
each  end  of  the  side-boards,  as  shown,  there 
is  no  chance  fer  the  splitting  or  checking  of 
the  boards  at  the  points  of  nailing. 


In  very  hot  climates  a  beveled  or  gabled 
cover  is  used.  The  lower  part  of  the  cover  is 
flat,  and  the  upper  part  gabled,  as  shown  in 
the  accompanying  illastration.=t'^' 

HIVES  THAT  WE  REC03EMEXD. 

The'  hives  we  have  thus  far  shown  are 
those  that  we  use  and  recommend  ourselves. 


HIVES 


190 


HIYES. 


"because  we  have  tried  them  on  a  sufficiently 
large  scale  so  that  we  know  that  we  are  rec- 
ommending no  experiment  But  there  are 
other  good  hives  that  are  not  standard,  that 
may  be  just  as  good  or  better;  but  as  they 
illustrate  certain  principles  of  hive-construc- 
tion, and  as  each  one  of  them  has  some  val- 
uable feature,  I  will  endeavor  to  explain 
their  general  construction  and  points  of 
merit,  without  in  any  sense  giving  them  an 
indorsement,  as  fairly  and  carefully  as  I 
know  how.    We  will  first  have  to  do  with 

HIVES  WITH  CLOSED  END  FRAMES. 

Under  Fixed  Frames,  and  Frames,  to 
MAmpuLATE,  I  have  spoken  of  the  Quinby, 
as  that  is  one  that  is  used  very  largely  in 
Central  'New  York,  especially  in  Herkimer 
and  Otsego  Counties.  But  in  this  depart- 
ment I  shall  have  more  to  do  with  the  sub- 
ject of  closed-end  frames,  certain  principles 
of  their  construction,  and  their  adjustment 
in  several  of  the  best  hives. 

Closed-end  frames  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes  —  the  standing  and  the  suspended. 
The  Quinby,  already  spoken  of  under  Fixed 
Frames,  the  Bingham,  and  the  Heddon,are 
of  the  first-mentioned  classes;  the  Dan- 
zenbaker,  to  which  I  shall  presently  refer, 
belongs  to  the  latter  class.  It  is  generally 
considered  that  frames  with  closed  uprights, 
while  not  as  convenient,  perhaps,  for  general 
manipulation,  are  better  adapted  to  winter- 
ing. Frames  partly  closed  end,  like  the 
Hoffman,  or  open  all  the  way  up,  like  the  or- 
dinary loose  hanging  frame,  permit  of  cur- 
rents of  air  around  the  ends  of  the  frames, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  bees  are  not  as  inclin- 
ed, so  it  is  claimed,  to  bring  their  brood  clear 
out  to  the  end-bars  as  they  do  when  closed 
ends  are  used.  Whether  there  is  very  much 
in  this  I  can  not  say  from  experience.  That 
there  should  be  any  great  difference  in  this 
respect  I  have  my  doubts,  although  in  winter 
and  spring  the  closed  uprights  undoubtedly 
afford  better  protection.  In  later  years  there 
has  been  a  more  marked  tendency  toward 
closed-end  frames  ;  and  w^hether  this  is  due 
to  their  real  or  theoretical  superiority  it  is 
hard  to  say.  Time  will  have  to  decide. 

THE  BINGHAM  HIVE. 

One  of  the  first  hives  to  make  use  of 
closed-end  frames  was  the  Bingham,  which 
was  introduced  to  the  bee-keeping  public  in 
1867,  in  a  form  somewhat  modified  from  its 
present  construction.  This  was  very  short- 
ly changed  to  the  pattern  shown  in  the  il- 
lustration. Mr.  Quinby  was  probably  the 
first  one  to  make  use  of  perpendicular  end- 


bars  that  were  closed  their  entire  length. 
Almost  cotemporaneously  Mr.  Bingham 
caught  hold  of  the  same  idea  and  made  a 
hive  consisting  of  a  number  of  closed-end 
frames  having  a  top-bar  but  no  bottom-bar. 
Hut  the  peculiar  feature  of  this  hive  was 
that  it  made  use  of  shallow  frames  only  5 
inches  deep,  a  series  of  them  being  lashed 
together  by  means  of  a  wire  loop  and 
stretcher  sticks,  said  loop  drawing  on  the 
fol'ower  boards  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring 


tight  compression  on  the  frames  inclosed 
in  the  manner  shown.  Seven  of  these  brood- 
frames  in  the  present  hive  make  up  a  brood- 
nest,  and  an  entire  brood-nest  may  consist 
of  one  or  two  sets  of  frames.  The  top-bar 
is  dropped  down  from  the  top  of  the  end- 
bars  a  bee-space,  while  the  bottom-bars  are 
flush  with  the  bottoms  of  the  end-bars. 
With  a  bottom  board  having  a  f  in.  strip  on 
each  side,  the  ordinary  bee-space  is  pre- 
served through  the  several  divisions  of  the 
hive. 

The  super  is  like  any  ordinary  one  adapt- 
ed to  comb  honey,  except  that  it  uses  coiled 
springs  to  produce  the  necessary  tension. 

Although  Mr.  Bingham  has  used  this  hive 
for  a  great  many  years,  and  quite  success- 
fully too,  no  one  else  seems  to  have  done 
much  with  it;  but  a  modification  of  the 
hive  is  shown  in  the  Danzenbaker  and  the 
Heddon,  both  of  which,  in  some  sections, 
have  come  to  be  favorites. 

THE  DANZENBAKER  HIVE. 

The  Danzenbaker  hive,  with  closed-end 
frames,  is  one  of  the  very  best ;  certain  it  is, 
it  is  slowly  working  its  way  into  the  confi- 
dence of  bee-keepers.^71  it  consists  of  a  brood- 


HIVES. 


191 


HIVES. 


chamber  of  the  same  length  and  width  as  the 
10-f  rame  Langstroth  Dovetailed  hive,  but  only 
deep  enough  to  take  in  a  depth  of  frame  of  H 
in.  The  rabbet,  instead  of  being  near  the 
upper  edge,  is  dropped  down  about  midway, 
or,  more  strictly  speaking,  there  is  a  cleat  or 
board  nailed  on  the  inside  of  the  ends  of  the 
hive,  as  shown  at  F  E  in  the  accompanying 
diagram  of  the  hive.   On  this  support  hang 


outside  or  secondary  wall.  These  frames 
being  pivoted  in  the  center  as  shoAvn  at  C, 
may  be  reversed,  and  this  feature,  w^hen  it 
costs  nothing,  is  something  to  be  desired,  as 
it  enables  us  to  have  all  frames  filled  solid 
with  comb. 

The  bottom  of  these  hives  is  the  same  as 
that  shown  for  the  Dovetailed,  already  d  - 
scribed  ;  or,  to  be  more  exact,  the  Dovetail- 
ed hive  has  appropriated  the  bottom-board 
of  the  Danzenbaker.  The  cover  is  a  special 
pattern,  its  manner  of  construction  being 
shown  in  the  next  engraving.  The  sui  er 
lor  comb  honey  takes  in  the  4x5  plain  sec- 
lion,  and  makes  use  of  the  fence-separator 
system.  The  sections  are  supported  in  sec- 
tion -  holders  ;  indeed,  the  w^hole  arrange- 
ment is  the  same  as  the  section-holder  super 
already  dcscriled  in  Co3IB  Honey. 


the  closed  end  brood-frames,  pivoted  at  the 
center  of  the  end-bars  by  means  of  a  rivet 
driven  through  from  the  inside,  as  shown  at 
I  in  the  diagram.  Ten  of  these  frames  fill 
the  hive  ;  and  when  they  are  crowded  to- 
gether with  a  follower-bo Ard  on  the  side,  we 


This  hive  is  especially  adapted  to  the  pro- 
duction of  comb  honey,  and  Mr.  Danzenba- 
ker prefers  to  use  only  one  brood-chamber  at 
a  time,  although  in  some  localities  it  might 
be  better  to  use  two. 

THE  HEDDOX  HIVE. 

This  hive  was  patented  and  introduced  by 
Mr.  James  Heddon,  of  Dowagiac,  Mich.,  in 
188-5.  Its  peculiar  and  distinguishing  feature 
Is  in  the  use  of  one  brood-chamber  divided 


have  practically  a  double-walled  hive— the 
ends  of  the  frames  w^ith  closed  uprights 
forming  one  wall,  and  the  ends  of  the  hive 
the  second  or  outer  wall ;  the  follower  on 
one  side  w^all,  and  the  side  of  the  hive  the 


into  halves  horizontally,  each  hnlf  contain- 
ing a  set  of  eight  closed  -  end  close  -  fitting- 
brood-frames,  5|  in.  deep  by  ISj-V  The  end- 
bars,  as  already  stated,  are  close-fitting— that 
is,  the  brood-frame  slides  into  the  hive  with 
just  enough  play  to  allow  of  its  easy  removal 
and  insertion.  On  the  bottom  inside  edge  of 
the  ends  of  each  case  are  nailed  strips  of  tin 
to  support  the  frames,  and  the  whole  set  of 


HIVES. 


192 


HIVES. 


eight  are  squeezed  firmly  together  by  means 
of  wooden  thumbscrews  as  shown.  Ijnder 
the  head  of  Comb  Honey  I  have  aheady 
spoken  of  the  value  of  compression  for 
squeezing  sections  or  section-holders  or  wide 
frames.  The  more  tightly  the  parts  are  held 


HEDDON  BROOD-CHAMBER  WITH  HONEY-BOARD 


together,  the  less  chance  there  is  for  bees  to 
chink  propolis  into  the  cracks. 

The  bottom  board  of  this  hive  is  much 
like  that  used  on  the  standard  hives,  in  that 
it  has  a  raised  rim  on  the  two  sides  and  ends, 
to  support  the  brood-chamber  a  bee-space 
above  the  bottom-board,  and  at  the  same 
time  provide  for  an  entrance  at  the  front. 
The  cover  is  the  ordinary  flat  one-board, 
cleated  at  the  ends. 

As  I  have  already  stated,  the  peculiar  fea- 
ture of  this  hive  is  the  divisible  brood-cham- 
ber, not  two  shallow  hives  one  upon  the 
other,  but  two  halves  composing,  one  com- 
plete whole.  The  purpose  of  the  inventor 
in  having  the  hive  divided  in  this  way  was 
to  afford  more  rapid  handling,  and  to  ac- 
complish contraction  and  expansion  by  sim- 
ply taking  from  or  adding  to  the  brood  part 
of  the  hive  one  or  more  sections.  This  divis- 
ible feature  of  the  hive,  according  to  its  ad- 
vocates, enables  them  to  handle  hices  instead 
of  frames,  to  find  the  queen  by  shaking  the 
bees  out  of  one  or  both  of  the  shallow  sec- 
tions. The  horizontal  bee-space  through  the 
center  of  the  brood-nest  is  considered  an  ad- 
vantage in  wintering,  in  that  the  bees  can 
move  up  and  down  and  laterally  through  the 
combs. 

A  very  enthusiastic  advocate  and  user  of 
these  hives  is  Mr.  W.  Z.  Hutchinson,  editor 
of  the  Bee  keepers''  Review,  and  author  of 
"  Advanced  Bee  Culture."  From  the  last- 
named  work  I  make  the  following  extract 
regarding  the  Heddon  hive  : 

I  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying  that,  in  my  opinion, 
the  new  Heddon  hive  comes  the  nearest  to  being  the 
perfect  hive  of  any  v^ith  which  I  am  acquainted.  It  is 
at  once  the  largest  or  the  smallest  hive,  by  simply 


removing  or  adding  sections.  There  is  no  handling 
of  frames  nor  of  "dummies"  or  division  boards. 
When  the  brood  nest  is  contracted  the  supering  sur- 
face remains  the  same.  None  of  the  sections  are  left 
"out  in  the  cold,"  so  to  speak,  with  "dummies"  in- 
stead of  brood  underneath  them.  The  brood  can  be 
"  spread "  whenever  it  is  desirable,  by  simply  inter- 
changing the  sections.  No  handling  of 
combs  in  the  operation.  The  combs  can 
be  inverted  singly  or  a  whole  hive  full 
at  one  operation.  It  is  a  light,  readily 
movable,  single-walled  hive,  and  its 
closed-end  frames  make  it  particularly 
adapted  to  the  establishing  of  out- 
apiaries  or  the  moving  of  bees  to  secure 
better  pasture.  This  hive  has  often  been 
recommended  as  an  excellent  hive  for 
raising  comb  honey.  It  is  equally  good 
to  use  when  producing  extracted  honey. 
The  shallow  frames  are  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  tiering-up  plan,  which 
is  nearly  as  valuable  in  raising  extract- 
ed honey  as  in  raising  comb  honey. 
Supers  filled  with  shallow  combs  may 
be  tiered-up  and  left  on  the  hive  for  the  honey  to 
ripen,  when  they  can  be  cleared  of  bees  as  readily 
as  a  case  of  sections,  handled  as  easily,  and  when 
in  the  honey-house  it  is  only  necessary  to  invert  a 
super,  loosen  the  screws,  slip  off  the  case,  and  there 
stand  the  combs  all  ready  for  extracting.  These  shal- 
low combs  are  uncapped  more  readily  than  deep 
combs. 

Some  have  tried  this  hive  and  do  not  like 
it.  They  say  they  do  not  find  it  practicable 
to  shake  the  bees,  especially  Italians,  out  of 
the  sections  in  order  to  find  the  queen ;  that 
the  hive  is  too  expensive,  and  at  times  too 
slow  to  manipulate,  because  there  are  times 
when  it  is  necessary  to  look  over  each  one 
of  the  comb  surfaces  of  the  16  little  frames 
composing  the  one  brood-nest.  But  not- 
withstanding this  there  are  others  who 
think  there  is  no  hive  like  it. 

CLOSED  -  END  CLOSE  -  FITTING  FRAMES  IN 
DEEP  HIVES. 

Under  the  head  of  Frames,  Manipu- 
lating, I  have  already  shown  how  it  is 
possible  to  handle  closed -end  Quinby 
frames  without  killing  bees.  In  the  accomr 
panying  illustration  it  will  be  seen  how 
the  ordinary  closed  ends  can  be  inserted  in 
the  hive  without  killing  a  bee,  even  though 
the  end -bars  are  literally  covered  with 
them.  The  illustration  shows  a  full-depth 
eight -frame  Dovetailed  hive  with  closed- 
end  close-fitting  frames.  That  is,  these 
frames  fit  in  the  hive  with  just  enough  end 
play  to  permit  of  their  easy  removal  from 
and  insertion  into  the  hive.  The  plan  is 
this  :  A  frame  covered  with  bees  is  picked 
up  and  set  over  against  the  next  frame  in 
the  hive,  in  the.  manner  shown.  It  is  then 
slid  down  gently,  brushing  the  bees  off  as  it 
goes  down.    The  other  three  frames  are  in- 


HIVES. 


193 


HIVES. 


serted  at  one  operation  iu  the  same  ^va\. 
This  particular  form  of  hive  never  came 
into  use,  so  far  as  I  know.  The  chief  diffi- 
culty seemed  to  be  that  the  frames  of  this 
depth  would  stick,  and  cause  trouble  as  they 
went  down  into  the  hive-body:  but  it  illus 
trates  hoic  frames  of  the  Danzenbaker  and 
Ileddon  style  can  be  inserted  without  killing 
a  bee.  To  be  sure,  it  takes  time  to  do  this, 
but  not  necessarily  longer  than  it  takes  to 
insert  unspaced  frames. 

THE  DAD  ANT  HIVE. 

Almost  the  very  opposite  of  the  Heddon 
in  principle  and  general  construction  is  the 
Dadant.  While  Mr.  Heddon  divides  up  the 
brood-chamber  in  one.  two.  or  three  sepa- 
rate portions,  Mr.  Dadant  would  have  it  all 
in  one  large  complete  whole.  His  frames 
are  ISixlli— that  is  to  say.  they  have  the 
Quinby  dimensions,  and  he  uses  nine  or  ten 


swarms  are  enormous.  In  regard  to  this 
point,  in  an  article  that  was  published  in 
Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture.  Xov.  1.  1S98.  C.  P. 
Dadant  says : 

I    Don't  uudtrsTand  me  to  say  that,  with  large  hives, 
j  yon  Avill  have  no  swarms,  for  this  is  incorieet;  bnt 
i  if  you  want  to  prevent  swarming,  to  the  greatest 
j  possible  extent,  yon  must,  first  of  all,  have  large 
j  hives.   Other  things  are  required,  such  as  the  re- 
moval of  the  excess  of  drone  combs,  plentiful  venti- 
lation, a  supply  of  surplus  combs,  etc.:  but  the  sine 
qiia  Hon,  in  our  eyes,  is  large  hives. 
!    With  a  little  care  it  Is  not  difficult  to  keep  swarm- 
ing down  to  such  a  point  that  the  natural  swarms 
will  barely  make  up  for  winter  losses.   In  our  case 
we  find  it  instifficient.  and  we  resort  to  artificial 
swarms  or  divisions,  which  we  find  much  more  sat- 
isfactory, for  we  can  breed  from  the  queens  that  we 
prefer,  and,  at  ihe  same  time,  keep  our  best  colonies 
for  producing  honey.   Every  practical  bee-man  will 
agree  that  it  is  the  large  colonies  that  give  the  large 
crops,  whatever  may  be  his  opinion  as  to  the  size  of 
hive  needed. 


HOW  BEE-KIT.LIXG  3IAT  BE  AVOIDED  WITH  CLOSED-EXD  FEA3IES. 


to  the  hive.  Such  a  hive  has  about  the 
equivalent  capacity  of  a  twelve-frame  Lang- 
stroth,  regular  dei'th.  The  Dadants  have 
always  insisted  that  their  ten-frame  Quin- 
bys,  when  compared  with  the  ten  -  frame 
Langstroths.  averaged  up  year  after  year, 
would  give  far  better  results,  both  in  honey 
and  in  economy  of  labor.  This  opinion  is 
not  based  on  the  experience  of  two  or  three 
years,  but  on  a  period  covering  a  good  many 
years.  The  large  hives,  they  claim,  swarm 
less,  produce  more  honey,  and  winter  better. 
If  I  am  correct  they  do  not,  at  their  home 
yard  at  least,  have  to  exceed  two  per  cent  of 
swarming,  and  their  average  has  been  main- 
tained year  after  year.  Apparently  the  col- 
onies in  these  large  hives  have  very  little  de- 
sire to  swarm  ;  but  when  they  do  swarm  the 


But  if  we  miisf  have  swarms,  with  large  hives  they 
will  be  large,  take  my  word  for  it. 

The  Dadants  have  claimed  that  the  ordi- 
nary eight  and  ten  frarae  hives  are  iv  t  large 
enough  for  good  prolific  queens  :  that  a 

.  brood-frame  of  Langstroth  depth  is  too  shal- 
low :  that  we  never  know  what  a  good  queen 
can  do  till  we  give  her  a  large  hive  and  a 

:  large  frame.  Again,  in  one  of  their  articles 
for  Oct.  1.  1S98.  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture, 
Mr.  C.  P.  Dadant  says  : 

I  With  the  large  hives  we  found  queens  that  had  a 
capacity  of  4500  eggs  per  day.   Exceptions,  you  will 

I  say  ?  Certainly,  but  it  is  a  very  nice  thing  to  give  a 
chance  for  those  exceptions.  And  I  hold  that  you 
can  not  do  this  as  fully  wiih  a  two-story  eight-frame 
hive  as  with  a  hive  that  may  be  enlarged,  one  fi-ame 
at  a  time,  till  it  contains  all  the  room  that  the  queen 
may  need.   Your  eight-frame  hive  gives  her  too 


HIVES. 


194 


HIVES. 


much  room  at  once  when  it  is  doubled  in  size.  If 
the  season  is  a  little  cool,  there  is  a  chance  of  delay- 
ing the  breeding  by  chilling  the  combs.  The  bees 
will  then  concentrate  themselves  upon  the  brood 
and  keep  it  within  narrow  limits,  for  the  queen  will 
seldom  go  out  of  the  cluster  to  lay. 

As  to  the  matter  of  wintering,  these  jiun- 
bo  hives  seem  to  offer  exceptional  advantag- 
es. Mr.  Dadant,  in  one  of  these  articles, 
says  : 

The  facts  I  base  myself  upon  are  those  that  we 
have  seen  under  our  own  eyes,  of  the  better  success 
for  winter  of  the  large  deep  hive.  .  .  We  have 
thus  stronger  colonies  for  winter,  which  is  in  itself 
a  great  advantage,  as  the  number  of  bees  has  much 


men ;  and  in  France  liquid  honey  has  rather 
the  preference.  There  can  be  no  sort  of 
doubt  that  these  large  hives,  for  extracted 
honey,  have  some  advantages  over  the  small- 
er ones;  but  when  it  comes  to  the  production 
of  comb  honey,  then  there  is  a  question,  and 
a  big  one  too— is  such  a  large  hive  as  good  as 
a  smaller  one  ?  In  some  localities  the  bees 
might  fill  only  a  brood-nest  in  such  a  hive ; 
whereas  if  a  shallower  one  were  used,  like 
the  eight-frame  Langstroth,  the  available 
comb  space  below  would  be  filled  with 
brood  ;  and  the  honey,  when  it  did  come  in, 
and  what  little  there  was  of  it,  would  be 


to  do  with  their  ability  to  keep  warm,  and  their  abil- 
ity to  retain  the  heat  has  also  much  to  do  with  their 
honey  consumption.  A  weak  colony  suffers  much 
from  the  cold,  and  is  compelled  to  eat  more.  .  . 
But  to  me  the  greatest  advantage  of  the  deep  large 
frame  is  in  the  greater  ease  the  bees  have  in  reach- 
ing the  honey  and  in  keeping  in  a  more  compact 
cluster. 

LARGE  HIVES  ;  WHERE  AND  UNDER  WHAT 
CIRCUMSTANCES  USED. 

The  Dadants  have  a  considerable  follow- 
ing in  their  vicinity ;  and  in  France  the 
Dadant-Quinby  has  come  to  be  almost  the 
standard  hive.  But  it  should  be  remember- 
ed that  the  Dadants  are  extracted  -  honey 


forced  into  the  supers.  In  the  selection  of  a 
large  hive,  then,  a  good  deal  depends  on  the 
locality,  and  whether  one  proposes  to  run  for 
comb  or  extracted  honey. 

THE  LARGE  HIVES  NON-SWARMERS. 

But  there  is  one  very  important  feature  in 
favor  of  the  Dadant  hive,  or,  in  fact,  any 
large  hive  ;  and  that  is,  the  reduction  or  al- 
most entire  control  of  swarming.  There  has 
been  no  satisfactory  method  proposed  to  ac- 
complish this  result  with  the  single-story 
eight-frame  Langstroth  when  run  for  the 
production  of  comb  honey  ;  and  a  great 
many  give  up  the  problem,  stating  that  it  is 


HIVES. 


195 


HIVES. 


better  to  let  the  bees  swarm  once,  and  then 
somehow  afterward  control  the  after  - 
swarms,  arguing  that  more  actual  comb 
honey  will  be  produced  from  the  parent  col- 
ony and  its  swarm  than  where  other  meth- 
ods are  employed.  But  if  swarming  is  to  be 
allowed,  what  is  to  be  done  at  outyards  ^  If 
an  attendant  has  to  be  constantly  on  hand 
during  the  swarming  part  of  the  day,  it 
means  a  big  expense,  and  this  might,  in  a 
poor  season,  balance  the  entire  proceeds  of 
the  honey  crop.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
swarms  are  allowed  to  go  to  the  woods,  then 
there  is  a  loss.  It  is  true  that  swarms  will 
not  escape  if  the  queens'  wings  are  clipped  ; 
and  to  a  very  great  extent  clipping  does  pre- 
vent this  waste.*  But  better— far  better- 
is  it  to  take  away  the  desire  for  swarming 
altogether,  ?/it  can  be  done.  In  the  produc- 
tion of  extracted  honey,  at  least,  the  I)a- 
dants  have  demonstrated  that,  with  their 
large  hives,  they  have  pi  actical  control  of 
swarming,  because  their  hives  are  so  large 
that  the  bees  and  the  queens  rarely  feel 
cramped  for  room.  But  Mr.  Dadant  argues 
that  he  wou'd  use  large  hives,  even  if  he 
w^ere  running  for  cowb  honey ;  for  with  a 
division  -  board  he  can  reduce  the  brood- 
chamber  to  any  size  desired.  And  then  if 
he  has  a  prolific  queen  that  can  fill  a  whole 
Quinby  hive  he  is  that  much  ahead,  because 
the  colonv  has  more  working  bees  to  its  size 
than  a  smaller  oue;  and  there  is  no  use  in 
denying  the  fact  that  these  jumbo  colonies 
have  a  certain  vim  and  energy— a  day-after- 
day  " stick-to- it-iveness "—that  we  do  not 
find  in  the  smaller  ones.  Personally  I  believe 
in  large  colonies ;  and  I  am  hopeful  that  the 
time  will  soon  come  when  we  shall  learn 
how  to  make  these  big  colonies  produce 
comb  honey  as  well  as,  at  the  same  time,  re- 
main practically  non-swarmers  ;  but  at  the 
present  time  (Sept.,19U0)  the  eight-frame 
Eangstroth  hive,  single  story,  has  the  gener- 
al preference  for  comb  honey;  and  this  pref- 
erence seems  to  cover  nearly  all  the  terri- 
tory in  the  northern  portion  of  the  country 
—the  territory  where  the  main  honey  supply 
is  almost  entirely  from  clover  and  bass  wood. 

LARGE  COLONIES  IN  TWO  -  STORY  EIGHT  - 
FRAME  LANGSTROTH  HIVES. 

I  have  experimented  a  little  with  two  col- 
onies in  eight-frame  Langstroth  hives  tiered 
one  above  another,  raising  brood  in  both 
bodies.  When  we  have  a  good  queen,  such 
colonies  in  such  double  chambers  grow  to 


*  See  CiiippiNG  Queens'  Wings  to  Prevent 

SWAKMING. 


be  tremendously  strong,  and  they  show  less 
inclination  to  swarm— no  sort  of  doubt  about 
that ;  and,  what  is  more,  in  a  few  instances 
I  have  planed  comb-honey  supers  on  top  of 
these  same  colonies,  and  had  them  fill  two 
\  and  three  supers.  But  in  a  majority  of  cases 
.  the  colonies  will  not  be  strong  enough  to  fill 
two  stories  and  go  into  the  supers  besides  ; 
so,  after  getting  the  colonies  up  to  good 
strength,  and  just  at  the  approach  of  or  dur- 
!  ing  the  honey-flow,  I  take  away  one  story 
1  and  place  on  one  or  two  comb-hon^^y  supers. 
I  Such  a  large  force  of  bees,  of  course,  rush 
right  into  them  ;  and  if  there  is  any  honey 
in  the  fields  the  supers  are  filled  and  com- 
pleted in  short  order.  I  have  thus  far  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  stronger  colonies  in  this 
way  than  in  a  single  eight-frame  brood-nest 
alone.  By  thus  breeding  in  double  stories, 
and  having  prolific  queens,  or,  perhaps,  what 
may  be  better,  working  colonies  on  one 
eight-frame  full-dei)th  story,  and  one  eight- 
frame  half -depth  story,  I  can  get  the  bees 
into  the  sections  at  once.  For  particulars 
regarding  this  last,  see  the  Barber  plan 
spoken  of  under  Comb  Honey. 

OBJECTIONS  TO  LARGE  HIVES. 

Their  size  renders  them  both  heavy  and 
unwieldy.  They  cost  more  money — about 
twice  as  much  if  made  as  shown  in  the  en- 
graving of  the  Dadant  hive.  It  is  difiicult, 
in  the  first  place,  to  get  good  clear  lumber 
wide  enough  to  make  these  c'eep  hives  ;  and 
then  when  they  are  made,  and  are  full  of 
bees  and  honey,  it  is  not  practical  to  move 
them  about  much.  The  Dadants,  for  in- 
stance, leave  these  large  hives  on  their 
stands  all  summer  and  winter,  both  at  the 
home  and  out  yards.  They  find  it  more 
practical  to  do  so ;  and  even  when  winter- 
ing on  their  summer  stands  in  single- walled 
hives,  their  loss,  I  believe,  just  about  equals 
the  slight  increase  they  have  in  swarming. 

These  large  frames  are  not  nearly  as  easy 
to  manipulate  as  the  shallow  Langstroth.  It 
takes  longer  to  get  them  out  of  the  hive,  and 
j  during  the  operation  there  is  more  danger 
i  of  killing  bees.   The  Dadants  and  others 
who  use  the  Quinby  find  it  necessary  to  use 
another  size  frame  that  they  call  their  shal- 
low, or  half-depth,  SfxlSi,  for  extracting. 
These  are  placed  on  top  of  the  brood-nest, 
and  are  tiered  up  one,  two,  three,  or  four 
;  high.   One  is  led  to  wonder  why  a  compro- 
j  mise  between  a  deep  Quinby  and  these  ex- 
I  tracting- frames  would  not  be  better  —  a 
I  frame  adapted  for  breeding  as  well  as  for 
I  extracting  —  as,  for  instance,  one  like  the 
I  Langstroth ;  then  when  one  wants  a  large 


HIVES. 


196 


HIVES. 


hive  he  can  tier  up  one  brood-chamber  on 
top  of  the  other. 

THE    TEN  -  FRAME  LAN^GSTROTH  HIVE  OF 
EXTRA  DEPTH. 

It  was  suggested  by  A.  N.  Draper,  of  Up- 
per Alton,  111.,  one  of  Mr.  Dadant's  follow- 
ers, in  order  to  reduce  cost,  that,  instead  of 
making  a  hive  after  the  Qiiinby  dimensions, 
and  after  the  Dadant  pattern, the  former  be- 
ing odd-sized  and  the  latter  expensive  to 
construct,  a  hive  be  constructed  after  the 
pattern  of  the  regular  ten-frame  Dovetailed, 
having  Langstroth  dimensions  save  in  the 
one  measurement— that  of  depth.  He  would 
add  to  the  hive  and  frame  2i  inches.  As  the 
Dadants  ordinarily  use  nine  frames  in  their 
Quinby  hives,  ten  frames  2i  inches  deeper, 
with  Laugstroth  top-bar,  would  give  the 


Langstroth  Dovetailed ;  the  super,  covers, 
and  bottom-boards  would,  of  course,  cost  no 
more.  Where  one  by  reason  of  locality  or 
preference  desires  such  large  hives,  the 
Draper  ten-frame  Langstroth  of  extra  depth, 
suitable  for  taking  standard  ten-frame  fix- 
tures and  fittings,  would  be  the  hive  to  se- 
lect. 

CLEATS  vs.  HAND-HOLES  TO  LIFT  HIVES  BY. 

By  referring  to  the  illustration  of  the  orig- 
inal Langstroth  hive  on  page  187,  and  also 
to  the  illustration  of  the  Dadant  hive,  page 
194,  one  will  see  that  they  have  cleats  or 
rims  running  clear  around  the  hive  near  the 
top  edge.  These  serve  the  double  purpose 
of  supporting  the  telescopic  covers  and  of 
affording  convenient  handles  by  which  to 
lift  the  hives ;  but  on  account  of  the  ex- 


THE  COMPARATIVE  DIFFERENCE   IN  SIZE   BETWEEN  A  REGULAR   EIGHT-FRAME  HIVE 

AND  A  DRAPER  BARN. 


hive  equal  capacity.  Such  a  hive  would 
take  regular  Langstroth  ten-frame  bottom- 
boards,  cover,  supers,  honey-boards,  winter- 
cases— in  fact,  every  thing  adapted  to  the 
regular  ten -frame  Langstroth  Dovetailed 
hive.  As  the  ten-frame  hive  is  one  of  the 
standards,  it  seems  reasonable  to  suppose 
that,  if  the  large  hive  is  really  better,  such  a 
hive  would  be  more  simple,  and  cost  less, 
than  to  adopt  regular  Quinby-frame  dimen- 
sions, and  make  the  hive  as  the  Dadants 
show  it  in  the  illustration.  Indeed,  I  have 
been  told  that  the  Dadants  would  favor  such 
a  hive  rather  than  the  one  they  have  adopt- 
ed, if  they  were  to  start  anew.  Your  supply- 
dealer  will  make  the  brood-chamber  for  about 
25  per  cent  more  than  the  regular  ten-frame 


pense,  these  cleats  running  around  the  hive 
were  in  later  years  abandoned,  and  hand- 
holes  made  by  uieans  of  a  wabble-saw,  as 
explained  under  Hive-making,  were  used 
instead.  But  these  hand  holes,  while  very 
neat  and  cheap,  did  not  begin  to  afford  the 
excellent  gr  p  that  one  secures  when  getting 
hold  of  a  seven-inch  cleat.  But  a  far  better 
arrangement  tlian  e  ther  is  a  combination  of 
cleat  and  hand-hole,  as  shown  in  the  second 
illustration  of  the  Dovetailed  hive  on  page 
188.  A  short  strip  of  i-inch  molding  is  nail- 
ed just  above  the  hand-hole  so  that  the  fin- 
gers get  a  doable  grip.  In  the  accompany- 
ing diagrams  the  reader  will  see  the  advan- 
tage of  this  arrangement.  Referring  to  the 
diagram  at  D,  when  one  lifts  by  the  hand- 


HIVES. 


197 


HIVES. 


holes  alone  lie  lifts  by  the  tips  of  the  tingers 
only;  and  when  the  hive  is  heavy,  the  strain 
on  the  fingers  is  severe  and  often  painfnl. 
But  if  he  can  get  the  greater  part  of  the 
weight  on  the  middle  joints  of  the  fingers, 
as  shown  at  A.  and  on  a  rounding  edge,  he 


can  lift  aU  his  back  will  stand.  The  cleat 
alone  would  not  give  room  enough  for  The 
fingers  to  permit  of  the  grip  on  the  middle 
joints,  as  shown  at  A  ;  but  when  the  side  of 
the  hive  is  recessed  by  the  hand-hole,  it  al- 
lows of  the  fingers  being  shoved  to  a  point 
to  get  the  best  possible  grip.  If  one  expects 
to  use  heavy  hives,  then  he  needs  some  such 
arrangement  as  this.  The  cost  is  insignifi- 
cant, and  the  advantage  great. 

DOUBLE -WALLED  OB  CHAFF 
HIVES. 

The  hives  that  I  have  thus  far  described 
are  what  may  be  called'  single-walled  hives : 
that  is.  the  outer  shell  or  case  consists  of 
a  single-board  thickness  of  lumber.  Such 
hives,  as  a  rule,  unless  as  large  as  the  Da- 
dant,  can  not  very  well  be  wintered  oiudoors 


HII.TOX"S  TWO-STORY  CHAFF  HIVE. 


on  their  summer  stands.  They  either  have 
to  be  carried  into  the  cellar  at  the  approach 
of  cold  weather,  or  else  have  to  be  put  in 
outside  packing-cases,  as  the  single  walls 
hardly  afford  sufficient  protection  to  enable 
the  average  colony  to  go  through  the  winter 


safely,  or  without  great  loss  both  in  bees  and 
in  stores.  The  poorer  the  protection,  the 
greater  the  consumption  of  winter  food.  A 
colony  poorly  protected  outdoors  will  prob- 
ably consume  twice  as  much  as  one  ade- 
quately protected. 

In  the  South,  of  course  it  is  not  necessan- 
to  caiTy  the  single  walled  hives  into  the  cel- 
lar or  winter  repository :  but  north  of  lati- 
tude 40.  hives  of  single  -  board  thickness 
either  ouglit  to  be  housed  or  protected  with 
"uinter  -  cases.    Where  one  from  choice  or 


EIGHT-FEAMZ  DL'^'ZTAILED  DOrBLE-WAEL- 
ED  HIVE. 

necessity  has  to  winter  outdoors,  what  are 
known  as  double  -  walled  or  chaff  hives 
should  be  used.  These  have  the  same  inside 
dimensions  as  the  singie-waUed  hive,  and 
are  generally  made  to  take  the  same  supers 
and  the  same  inside  furniture.  The  first 
double-walled  hives  that  we  used  were  two- 
story  :  but  they  were  awkward  and  im- 
wieldy  things  compared  with  the  hives  of 
to-day.  The  one  shown  in  the  accompany- 
ing illustration  represents  an  eight-frame 
Langstroth  single  story  double-walled  hive : 
and  as  it  represents  the  simplest  form  of 
wintering  hive.  I  wiU  describe  this  only, 
leaA'ing  the  reader  to  adapt  it  to  the  dimen- 
sions of  whatever  frame  he  is  using. 

It  can  be  made  large  or  small :  so  also  the 
distance  between  the  walls  may  be  increased 
or  diminished  in  accordance  with  the  de- 
mands of  the  locality  in  which  one  lives. 
The  outer  waU  consists  of  a  shell  of  f  inch 
lumber,  locked  at  the  corners.  This  outer 
shell  should  be  made  just  large  enough  to 
give  two  inches  of  space  between  the  walls 
for  packing  material.  In  our  locality  a  pack- 
ing of  two  inches  seems  to  answer  very  weU. 
The  inner  waU  is  simply  a  hive  made  of 
|-inch  kmiber.  and  is  let  down  in  the  outer 
case,  and  secured  to  the  same  by  means  of  a 


HIVES. 


19.8 


HIVES. 


water-table  or  picture-frame,  as  we  may  call 
it,  to  shed  water.  Between  the  outer  and 
inner  walls  there  is  a  boxed  passageway,  as 
showTi,  for  an  entrance.  The  other  details 
of  construction  will  be  readily  understood 
from  the  annexed  sectional  drawings. 


The  raised  projection  of  the  water-table  is 
made  to  fit  the  upper  story  of  an  eight  frame 
Dovetailed  hive,  or  any  of  the  supers  or  cov- 
ers of  that  hive ;  and  in  summer  the  hive  { 
may  be  tiered  up  as  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying  illustration ;  and  in  winter  it  may 
be  prepared  as  described  under  WmTER- 
ING,  which  see. 

At  our  own  home  apiary  we  prefer  this 
double-walled  hive  to  the  single  because  it 
is  nearly  as  light,  and  because,  in  our  local- 
ity, we  can  leave  the  colonies  in  these  hives 
winter  and  summer.  There  is  no  lugging 
into  and  out  of  the  cellar ;  and  after  the  col- 
onies are  fed  up  for  winter  the  preparations 
for  their  long  winter's  sleep  and  housing  are 
very  shoit,  occupying  two  or  three  minutes 
to  a  hive.  Then  the  double  walls  also  affoi  d 
excellent  protection  in  hot  weather,  in  the 
same  way  that  the  two  walls  and  packing 


material  bet\^  een  the  walls  of  a  refrigerator 
prevent  a  too  rapid  melting  of  the  ice  within. 

PACKING  MATERIAL  FOR  DOUBLE-WALLED 
HIVES. 

We  formerly  used  wheat  or  oat  chaff ;  but 
as  we  could  not  ser-ure  this  readily  we  grad- 


EIGHT-FR.'  ME     DOUB  E  -  AVAi,Lj:.D  HIVE 
WITH  AJ^  EIGHT-FRAME  SINGLE- 
WALL  UPPER  STORY. 

ually  began  to  use  planer- shavings,  which 
we  can  get  more  easily.  These,  we  find, 
answer  every  purpose,  and  we  now  use  them 
exclusively.   Forest  leaves,  if  good  and  dry, 


SECTIONAL  VIEW  OF  ONE-STORY  DOUBLE- WALLED  HIVE. 


IIIYES. 


199 


HIVES. 


would  doubtless  do  just  as  well,  and  would 
have  the  advantage  that  they  would  make 
the  hive,  when  packed,  lightei— that  is,  eas- 
ier to  lift  and  handle. 


OUTSIDE  WmTER-CASES. 

There  are  a  great  many  who,  having  in 
use  a  large  number  of  single -walled  hives, 
prefer  to  winter  on  their  summer  stands,  if 
that  can  be  done.  For  such  there  has  been 
devised  a  winter-case  made  of  f-inch  lum- 
ber, and  just  enough  larger  than  the  hive  to 
be  protected  to  give  one  or  two  inches  of 


THP-I   hnni    hnni   hna  1  hnn 


packing-space  all  around  the  hive.  This  is 
placed  over  and  around  the  smaller  hive, 
the  space  at  the  bottom  edges  between  it 
and  the  inner  hive  being  closed  up  with 
1-inch  cleats  padded  so  as  to  fit  the  hive 
closely,  as  showoi  in  the  diagram.  Packing 
material  is  then  poured  in  and  around  the 
hive  and  on  top,  when  the  teh  scope  cover  is 
placed  over  the  whole. 

Colonies  in  such  packing-cases  winter  al- 
most perfectly,  and  I  have  no  hesitancy  in 
recommending  them.  But  when  it  comes  to 
unpacking  in  spring,  they  are  very  inconven- 
ient, to  say  the  least.  The  packing  material 
has  to  be  pawed  out  and  poured  into  bas- 
kets, when  the  cover  is  removed  to  see  if  the 
bees  are  alive.  The  packing  material  tum- 
bles down  between  the  frames,  much  to  the 
annoyance  of  the  apiarist  and  disr^omfort  of 
the  bees.  For  that  reason  we  greatly  prefer 
the  regular  double- walled  hive  pure  and 
simple.  If  the  locality  is  cold  enough  to 
warrant  wintering  in  the  cellar,  I  should,  of 
course,  use  single-walled  hives  exclusively. 


HOLT-LAND  BEES.  See  Italians. 

KOrrZiV.  Every  reader  of  a  work  of 
this  kind  is  supposed,  of  course,  to  know 
what  honey  is ;  and  yet  there  may  be  a  good 
many  who  have  only  a  superficial  idea  of  it, 
and  perhaps,  therefore,  a  very  brief  state- 
ment should  be  made. 

A  sharp  distinction  should  be  drawn  be- 
tween the  nectar  of  flowers  and  honey.  The 
former  is  a  sweet,  thin  liquid  containing  an 
excessive  amount  of  water ;  a  mixture  of 
several  kinds  of  sugar,  and  perhaps  at  times 
a  little  pollen.  Honey,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  the  nectar  of  flowers  that  has  been  trans- 
formed, or  digested,  by  the  bees,  as  Prof. 
Cook  puts  it,  so  that  it  is  fit  for  human  con- 
sumption. ''A  salivary  secretion,"  accord- 
iag  to  Cheshire,  "is  added  to  the  gathered 
nectar,  and  this,  like  the  saliva  in  our  own 
case,  converts  the  cane  sugar  into  grape 
sugar ;  and  probably,  also,  as  with  ourselves, 
tliis  is  an  initial  step  in  the  assimilation, 
since  cane  sugar  is  actually  poisonous  to  the 
blood,  while  grape  sugar  acts  within  it  as  a 
normal  producer  of  heat  and  force."  This 
supports  Prof.  Cook's  view  of  digested  nec- 
tar, and  goes  to  show  why  many  physicians 
consider  honey  more  wholesome  than  cane 
sugar.  * 

In  addition  to  the  chemical  change  there 
is  a  process  of  thickening,  during  which  the 
excess  of  water  is  evaporated  out,  leaving 
anywhere  from  15  to  30  per  cent.  A  good 
ripe  thick  honey  ought  not  to  contain  more 
than  15  per  cent  of  water,  and  a  thin  honey 
perhaps  as  much  as  30. 

Scientists  are  not  all  agreed  as  to  exactly 
what  the  bees  do  do  with  the  nectar  in  con- 
verting it  into  honey.  That  some  change 
does  take  place,  and  quite  a  marked  one, 
can  scarcely  be  doubted.  Almost  any  thin 
sweet  liquid,  even  thin  sugar  syrup,  if  fed 
slowly,  will  be  converted  into  a  sort  of  hon- 
ey, although  no  sugar  syrup  fed  to  bees  and 
afterward  capped  over  and  put  on  the  mar- 
ket should  be  sold  for  honey.  While  it 
might,  chemically,  be  honey,  yet  morally  it 
would  be  a  fraud  on  the  consumer,  because 
he  would  say  that  he  could  buy  sugar  syrup 
for  four  or  five  cents  a  pound  where  he 
would  have  to  pay  fifteen  to  eighteen  for 
the  same  article  after  it  was  converted  and 
sealed  in  the  comb. 

But  not  all  nectar  receives  from  the  bees 
the  same  amount  of  manipulation  or  change. 
Nectar  that  is  gathered  rapidly  may  be  stor- 
ed in  the  combs  when  but  partly  inverted  or 

*See  Honey  as  Food. 


HOXEY. 


200 


HOKEY. 


digested,  while  at  other  times  the  change 
may  be  very  complete. 

For  the  further  consideration  of  this  sub- 
ject see  Extracted  Honey,  Honey-dew, 
Honey  as  Eood. 

HONEYS  AND  THEIR  COLORS.  The 
colors  of  the  various  kinds  of  honey  vary  all 
the  way  from  nearly  black  to  almost  water- 
white.  While  the  same  honey  from  different 
localities  varies  slightly  in  color,  the  flavor 
remains  practically  the  same. 

Of  the  northern  white  honeys,  in  the  or- 
der of  their  whiteness  may  be  named  the 
willow-herb,  of  Michigan,  which  is  almost 
water- white.  Next  to  it  in  whiteness  is 
mountain  sage.  Following  close  on  to  it  is 
the  basswood  of  all  the  northern  States. 
Next  we  have  white  clover,  distributed  over 
even  a  larger  area,  comprising  nearly  all  the 
central  and  eastern  States,  and  even  some 
of  the  southern  States.  Alsike  clover  is 
even  a  trifle  lighter,  if  any  thing,  than  the 
ordinary  white  clover ;  but  alsike  is  obtained 
only  in  those  regions  where  farmers  have 
learned  the  value  of  this  forage-plant.  Ked- 
clover  honey  is  a  trifle  darker  than  either  of 
the  other  two,  but  the  flavor  is  good. 

The  alfalfa  of  Colorado,  Arizona,  New 
Mexico,  Kansas,  and  other  western  States, 
resembles  in  color  very  much  the  white  clo- 
ver of  the  East,  and  the  flavor  is  considered 
by  many  to  be  better  than  any  other  known 
honey,  not  excepting  white  clover.  The 
celebrated  Canada-thistle  honey,  over  across 
the  border,  is  another  beautiful  honey,  white 
in  color  and  exquisite  in  flavor.  Apple- 
blossom,  which  was  formerly  thought  to  be 
a  dark  honey,  is  now  classed  as  a  white ; 
and  although  the  area  from  which  this  hon- 
ey may  be  obtained  is  scattered  throughout 
the  United  States,  yet  the  aggregate  amount 
from  this  source  is  very  limited.  Easpber- 
ry  honey  is  another  first-class  finely  flavored 
white-colored  article.  We  find  this  honey 
more  particularly  in  the  fruit-growing  re- 
gions. Of  the  other  northern  white  honeys 
we  have  sweet  clover,  which,  while  white^ 
has  somewhat  of  a  greenish  cast.  It  has  a 
delicate  minty  flavor  that  is  greatly  prized 
by  many.  Honey  from  cucumber,  in  the 
pickle-growing  regions,  is  also  white,  and 
the  flavor  is  fair. 

Of  the  southern  white  honeys  we  have  the 
following  :  Orange,  mangrove,  tupelo,  and 
palmetto,  of  Florida  ;  the  marigold  and 
mesquite,  the  catclaw— a  water- white  hon- 
ey—and cotton,  of  Texas  ;  the  mountain 
sage.  Rocky  Mountain  bee-plant,  and  alfal- 
fa, in  California  and  Colorado.   In  the  Car- 


olinas  we  have  the  sourwood  and  the  gall- 
berry.   In  Cuba  there  is  the  bellflower,  or 
campanula,  which  has   already  obtained 
quite  a  reputation  for  itself.   In  Jamaica 
we  have  the  logwood.   All  of  these  honeys 
so  far  named  are  white,  and  vary  greatly 
in  flavor.    When  I  say  "  white  "  I  mean 
what  we   call   a    light    honey.  Strictly 
speaking,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  water- 
white  nor  inky-black  honey ;  but  there  are 
1  gradations  of  white  honeys  that  vary  all  the 
i  way  from  a  light  golden  yellow  to  almost 
j  water- white.   Of  those  so  far  named  there 
:  will  be  variations  from  one  extreme  to  the 
other.   Of  the  flavors,  those  in  the  North 
j  are  generally  regarded  as  the  best.   On  the 
:  other  hand,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in 
the  South  the  white  honeys  are  praised  as 
highly  as  our  white  clovers,  bass  woods,  and 
sages. 

Of  the  amber  honeys  we  have  the  golden- 
rod,  the  wild  sunflowers,  heartsease,  aster, 
Spanish-needle,  sumac,  and  milkweed,  of 
the  North :  the  magnolia,  of  Florida,  and 
the  horsemint,  of  Texas. 
■  Of  the  dark  honeys,  the  most  prominent  is 
the  buckwheat  of  the  East.  This  honey  is 
produced  in  nearly  all  of  the  north -central 
States,  but  more  particularly  in  New  York. 
In  that  State  many  people  prize  it  just  as 
highly  as  they  do  the  best  of  white  clover, 
and  very  many  prefer  it.  It  has  a  deep  rich 
purplish  color,  and  a  very  strong  flavor.  To 
one  who  is  used  to  clover  and  basswood  it  is 
any  thing  but  pleasant,*'*  and  such  honey 
would  sell  at  a  very  low  price  were  it  not  for 
the  fact  that  there  is  a  very  large  patronage 
in  the  East  that  prefer  the  deep  dark  rich 
honey  of  their  fathers  to  any  thing  else. 
The  honey  from  poplars  and  white  woods  is 
another  dark  honey,  and  the  flavor  is  some- 
what inferior.   See  Honey-dew. 

In  a  general  way  we  may  say  that  most  of 
the  southern  honeys  are  dark  and  amber, 
while  most  of  the  northern  honeys  are  white. 
The  nearer  to  the  equator  we  go,  the  darker 
the  color  and  stronger  the  flavor,  although 
there  are  marked  exceptions,  as  we  have  al- 
ready seen. 

Extracted  honey  is  usually  sold  by  sam- 
ple in  a  small  bottle  or  vial  sent  by  mail. 
Three  elements  go  to  make  up  the  price ; 
viz.,  source,  body,  and  color. 

HONEY,  ADULTERATION  OF.  There 
was  a  time  when  adulterated  honey  was  a 
rare  article,  but  within  recent  years  glucose 
— a  product  made  of  corn,  and  selling  at 
from  2  to  3  cts.  per  lb.,  has  been  used  for 


HONEY. 


201 


HONEY-COMB. 


adulterating,  the  amounts  of  the  inferior 
article  ranging  as  high  as  from  33  to  75  per 
cent.  Indeed,  dark  hone}'  —  that  which 
would  be  unsalable  simply  from  its  looks  — 
has  been  adulterated  by  putting  in  enough 
glucose  to  bring  it  to  a  fair  color.  The 
temptation  is  so  great  to  realize  large  prof- 
its, and  to  improve  the  appearance  of  dark- 
looking  honey  by  putting  in  glucose,  on  the 
part  of  the  dealer,  and.  in  one  or  two  in- 
stances, we  are  sorry  to  say.  of  bee-keepers, 
that  far  too  much  impure  honey  has  found 
its  way  upon  the  market. 

Glucose  itself  is  a  mucilaginous  substance, 
almost  water-white  in  color,  with  a  very 
low  grade  of  sweetening  power.  The  pure 
stuff  as  it  comes  from  the  factory  has  a 
twangy,  brassy,  disagreeable  flavor,  and  is 
unfit  to  go  into  the  human  stomach,  even 
when  diluted  half  and  half  with  honey. 
But  this  is  not  all.  Glucose  brings  down 
the  price  of  all  honeys,  as  it  places  the  pure 
article  in  competition  with  the  doctored 
stuff. 

Another  substance  that  is  sometimes  used 
for  adulterating  honey  is  sugar  syrup.  But 
it  costs  a  good  deal  more  than  glucose :  and 
the  expense  of  mixing,  and  the  danger  of 
detecting,  probably  render  sugar-syrup  adul- 
terations infrequent. 

In  1893  one  factory  alone,  according  to  the 
daily  paper,  made  150,000,000  lbs.  of  glucose, 
syrups,  etc.;  and  while  probably  only  a  small 
part  of  this  went  into  honey,  there  is  far  tco 
much  of  it.  The  problem  with  bee-keepers 
is,  how  to  fight  the  evil.  We  do  not  know 
of  any  way  to  do  it  except  to  have  the  sus- 
pected samples  analyzed,  and  the  mixer  of 
the  goods  exposed  and  prosecuted  accord- 
ing to  law. 

Glucose  is  almost  the  only  adulterant;  but, 
very  fortunately,  chemists  are  now  able  to 
detect  unerringly  that  product  in  honey, 
even  where  small  percentages  of  it  are 
used.  In  States  like  Ohio,  where  there  is  a 
pure  -  foo:l  law,  and  honest,  fearless  food 
commissioners,  there  is  little  or  no  adulter- 
ation. In  other  States,  where  either  is  lack- 
ing, adulteration  is  carried  on  extensively, 
much  to  the  detriment  of  the  bee-keeper 
and  consumer.  An  effort  is  now  being 
made,  looking  toward  the  enactment  of  a 
imtioncil  law;  and  some  States,  having  seen 
what  can  be  done  in  Ohio,  are  about  to  fol- 
low suit. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  evil  may  be  han- 
dled in  some  way,  as  there  is  probably  no 
one  thi!  g  thnt  does  so  much  to  bring  down 
the  price  of  honey,  and  disgust  consumers. 


as  the  vile  cheap  glncose  that  disgraces  and 
cheapens  otherwise  good  honey.^'-^ 

HONZSIT-COZMEB.  Everybody  knows 
that  the  cells  of  the  honey-comb  are  6-sided, 
audi  presume  most  people  know  why  they 
are  6-sided.  If  they  were  square,  the  yoimg 
bee  would  have  a  much  more  imcomfortable 
cradle  in  which  to  grow  up,  and  it  would 
take  a  much  greater  space  to  accommodate 
a  given  number  of  bees.  This  last  would, 
of  itself,  be  a  fatal  objection :  for  to  have 
the  greatest  benefit  of  the  accumulated  ani- 
mal heat  of  the  brood,  they  must  be  closely 
packed  together.  This  is  not  only  the  case 
with  the  unhatched  bees,  but  with  the  bees 
of  a  whole  colony  in  winter.  When  each  bee 
is  snugly  ensconced  in  a  cell,  they  occupy 
less  room  than  they  could  by  any  other  ar- 
rangement, i*^' 

If  the  cells  were  round,  they  could  be 
grouped  together  much  in  the  same  way  as 
!  they  are  now ;  viz.,  one  in  the  center,  and  6 
I  all  around  it,  equally  distant  from  the  cen- 
j  tral  one,  and  from  each  other,  like  the  cut, 
1  in  the  figure  A ;  but  even  then  the  circles 
I  will  leave  much  waste  room  in  the  corners, 
'  that  the  bees  would  have  to  fill  with  wax. 


B  A 


WHY  THE  CELLS  OF  THE  H0XEY-C03IB  ARE 
MADE  6-SIDED. 

At  A  we  see  the  cells  are  nearly  as  com- 
fortable for  the  young  bee  as  a  round  one 
would  be— of  course,  I  mean  from  our  point 
of  view,  for  it  is  quite  likely  that  the  bees 
know  just  what  they  need,  a  great  deal  bet- 
ter than  we  do ;  and,  at  tlie  same  time, 
they  come  together  in  such  a  way  that  no 
space  is  left  to  be  filled  up  at  all.  The  bees, 
therefore,  can  make  the  walls  of  their  cells 
so  thin  that  they  are  little  more  than  a  silky 
covering,  as  it  were,  that  separates  each  one 
from  its  neighbor.  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that  a  bee,  when  in  its  cell,  is  squeezed 
up,  if  we  may  so  term  it,  so  as  to  occupy 
much  less  space  than  it  otherwise  Avould ; 

!  and  this  is  why  the  combined  animal  heat  of 
the  cluster  is  so  much  better  economized  in 

i  winter,  when  the  bees  have  a  small  circle  of 

I  empty  cells  to  cluster  in,  with  sealed  stores 

!  all  aromid  them.i'^' 

'    But,  my  friends,  this  is  not  half  of  the  in- 


HONEY-COMB. 


202 


HONEY-COMB. 


genuity  displayed  about  the  cell  of  the  bee. 
These  hexagonal  cells  must  have  some  kind 
of  a  wall  or  partition  between  the  inmates 
of  one  series  of  cells  and  those  in  the  cells 
on  the  opposite  side.  If  we  had  a  plain 
partition  running  across  the  cells  at  right 
angles  with  the  sides,  the  cells  would  have 
flat  bottoms  which  would  not  fit  the  rounded 
body  of  the  bee,  besides  leaving  useless 
corners,  just  as  there  would  have  been  if 
the  cells  had  been  made  round  or  square. 
Well,  this  problem  was  solved  in  much  the 
same  way  by  making  the  bottom  of  the  cell 
of  three  little  lozenge  -  shaped  plates.  In 
the  figure  below  we  give  one  of  these  little 


How  does  it  come  that  the  bees  have 
solved  so  exactly  this  intricate  problem,  and 
know  in  just  what  form  and  shape  their 


HOW  THE  BOTTOM  OF  THE  CELL,  IS  MADE. 

plates,  and  also  show  the  manner  in  which 
three  of  them  are  put  together  to  form  the 
bottom  of  the  cell. 

Now,  if  the  little  lozenge  plates  were 
square  we  should  have  much  the  same  ar- 
rangement, but  the  bottom  would  be  too 
sharp-pointed,  as  it  were,  to  use  wax  with 
the  best  economy,  or  to  best  accommodate 
the  body  of  the  infantile  bee .  Should  we ,  on 
the  contrary,  make  the  lozenge  a  little  long- 
er, we  should  have  the  bottom  of  the  cell 
too  nearly  flat,  to  use  wax  with  most  econo- 
my, or  for  the  comfort  of  the  young  bee. 


Either  extreme  is  bad,  and  there  is  an  exact 
point,  or  rather  a  precise  proportion  that  the 
width  of  this  lozenge  should  bear  to  the 
length.  This  proportion  has  been  long  ago 
decided  to  be  such  that,  if  the  short  diago- 
nal A  C  of  the  lozenge  is  equal  to  the  side 
of  a  square,  the  long  diagonal  B  D  should 
be  exactly  equal  to  the  diagonal  of  this  same 
square. 

Where  the  obtuse  angles  of  three  of  these 
rhombs  meet,  as  at  C,we  shall  have  the  ex- 
act figure  of  the  bottom  of  a  honey-comb 
cell.  If  twelve  of  these  rhombs  or  surfaces, 
as  shown  by  A,  B,  C,  D,  be  put  together,  we 
shall  have  a  solid  called  the  rhombic  dodeca- 
hedron, as  shown  below. 


RHOMBIC  DODECAHEDRON. 

precious  wax  can  be  used,  so  as  to  hold  the 
most  honey,  with  the  very  least  expenditure 
of  labor  and  material?  Some  are  content 
with  saying  that  they  do  it  by  instinct,  and 
let  it  drop  there  ;  but  I  believe  God  has  giv- 
en us  something  farther  to  do  than  to  in- 
vent names  for  things,  and  then  let  them 
drop.  By  carefully  studying  the  different 
hives  in  a  large  apiary,  we  see  that  not  all 
of  them  build  comb  precisely  alike,  and  not 
all  colonies  are  equally  skilled  in  working 
wax  down  to  this  wonderful  thinness.  Some 
bees  will  waste  their  precious  moments — 
and  wax — in  making  great,  awkward  lumps 
of  wax  ;  coarse,  irregular  cells  ;  crooked,  un- 
even comb,  etc.,  with  very  bad  economy 
either  for  the  production  of  brood  or  for  the 
storing  of  honey ;  while  others  will  have 
all  their  work  so  even  and  true,  and  so  little 
wax  will  be  wasted,  that  it  is  wonderful  to 
contemplate  the  regularity  and  system  with 
which  the  little  fellows  have  labored.  Now, 
it  does  not  require  any  great  amount  of  wis- 
dom to  predict  that  the  latter  would,  in  a 
state  of  nature,  stand  a  far  better  chance  of 
wintering  than  the  ones  that  were  wasteful 
and  irregular  in  their  ways  of  doing  things. 
If  this  be  the  case,  those  queens  whose  pro- 
geny were  best  laborers,  most  skillful  wax- 
workers,  as  well  as  most  energetic  honey- 
gatherers,  would  be  most  sure  to  perpetuate 
themselves,  while  the  others  would,  sooner 
or  later,  become  extinct.  I  have  found  more 
of  a  tendency  in  bees  to  sport,  or  to  show 
queer  peculiarities,  than  in  any  other  de- 
partment of  the  animal  or  vegetable  king- 
dom. They  vary  in  color,  in  shape,  in  size, 
in  disposition,  in  energy  ;  and  almost  every 
colony,  if  studied  closely,  will  be  found  to 
have  some  little  fashion  or  way  of  doing 
things,  different  from  all  the  rest  in  the 


HOKEY-COMB. 


204 


HOi^EY-COMB. 


apiary.  Now,  when  we  take  into  account 
the  fact  that  many  generations  can  be  rear- 
ed in  a  single  summer,  we  see  how  rapidly, 
by  fostering  and  encouraging  any  desirable 
trait  or  disposition,  the  bees  may  be  molded 
to  our  will.  The  egg  that  is  laid  by  a  queen 
to-day  may,  by  proper  care,  be  made  to  pro- 
duce a  queen  laying  eggs  of  the  same  kind 
herself,  in  the  short  time  of  only  25  days,  as 
I  have  explained  heretofore.  Well,  if  we 
should  pick  out  'a  queen  whose  progeny 
made  the  thinnest  comb,  and  rear  others 
from  her,  doing  the  same  thing  for  several 
generations,  we  should  probably  get  bees 
whose  combs  would  break  down  by  the 
weight  of  the  honey.  In  a  state  of  nature 
this  extreme  would  correct  itself,  as  well  as 
the  other. 

DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  C  ELLS  IN  THE  HON- 
EY-COMB. 

The  bees  build  two  distinct,  regular  sizes — 
drone  .  and  worker  cells.  The  worker-comb 
measures  very  nearly  five  cells  to  the  inch, 
on  an  average.  Some  specimens  average  a 
little  larger,  and  some  a  little  smaller  ;  but 
when  the  comb  is  at  all  irregular,  it  is  quite 
apt  to  be  a  little  larger.  The  best  specimens 
of  true  worker-comb  generally  contain  5 
cells  within  the  space  of  an  inch,  and  there- 
fore this  measure  has  been  adopted  for  the 
comb  foundation. If  there  are  five  cells  to 
the  inch,  a  square  inch  would  give,  on  an 
average,  about  25*  cells,  and  25  on  the  oppo- 
site side  would  make  50  young  bees  that 
would  be  hatched  from  every  square  inch  of 
solid  brood.  As  foundation  is  so  much 
more  regular  than  the  natural  comb,  ^e  get 
a  great  many  more  bees  in  a  given  surface 
of  comb,  and  here,  at  least,  we  can  fairly 
claim  to  have  improved  on  nature. 


DRONE-COMB.  AVORKER-COMB. 


The  drone  -  comb  measures  just  about  4 
cells  to  the  inch,  but  the  bees  seem  less  par- 
ticular about  the  size  of  it  than  with  the 
worker.  They  very  often  seem  to  make  the 
cells  of  such  size  as  to  best  fill  out  a  given 
space  ;  and  we,  accordingly,  find  them  of 

*The  exact  mathematical  calculation  makes  these 
numbers  29,  29.  and  58,  respectively,  but  ordinarily 
the  numbers  I  have  given  in  the  context  are  more 
nearly  correct. 


all  sizes,  from  worker  size  all  the  way  up  to 
considerably  larger  than  i  of  an  inch  in 
width.  Drones  are  raised  in  these  extra- 
large  cells  without  trouble,  and  honey  is  al- 
so stored  in  them;  but  where  they  are  very 
large,  the  bees  are  compelled  to  turn  them 
up,  or  the  honey  would  flow  out.  As  the 
honey  is  kept  in  place  by  capillary  attrac- 
tion, if  the  cells  exceed  a  certain  size  the 
adhesion  of  the  liquid  to  the  wax  walls  is  in- 
sufiicient,  of  itself,  to  hold  the  honey  in 
place.  Where  drones  are  to  be  reared  in 
these  very  large  cells,  the  bees  contract  the 
mouth,  by  a  thick  rim.  As  an  experiment, 
I  had  some  plates  made  for  producing  small 
sheets  of  foundation,  having  only  3i  cells  to 
the  inch.  The  bees  worked  on  a  few  of 
these,  with  these  same  thick  rims,  but  they 
evidently  did  not  like  the  idea  very  well,  for 
they  tried  to  make  worker-cells  of  some  of 
it,  and  it  proved  so  much  of  a  complication 
for  their  little  heads  that  they  finally  aban- 
doned the  whole  piece  of  comb,  apparently 
in  disgust.  Bees  sometimes  rear  worker 
brood  in  drone-comb,  where  compelled  to 
from  want  of  room,  and  they  always  do  it  in 
the  way  I  have  mentioned,  by  contracting 
the  mouth  of  the  cells,  and  leaving  the 
young  bee  a  rather  large  berth  in  which  to 
grow  and  develop.  Drones  are  sometimes 
reared  in  worker-cells  also,  but  they  are  so 
much  cramped  in  growth  that  they  seldom 
look  like  a  fully  developed  insect. 

Several  times  it  has  been  suggested  that 
we  enlarge  the  race  of  honey-bees  by  givmg 
them  larger  cells;  and  some  circumstances 
seem  to  indicate  that  something  may  be 
done  in  this  direction,  although  I  have  little 
hope  of  any  permanent  enlargement  in  size, 
unless  we  combine  with  it  the  idea  of  se^ 
lecting  the  largest  bees  to  propagate  from, 
as  given  a  few  pages  back.  By  making  the 
cells  smaller  than  ordinarily,  we  can  get 
small  bees  with  very  little  trouble ;  and  I 
have  seen  a  whole  nucleus  of  bees  so  small 
as  to  be  really  laughable,  just  because  the 
comb  they  were  hatched  from  was  set  at  an 
angle  so  that  one  side  was  concave  and  the 
other  convex.  The  small  bees  came  from 
the  concave  side.  Their  light,  active  move- 
ments, as  they  sported  in  front  of  the  hive, 
made  them  a  pretty  and  amusing  sight  for 
those  fond  of  curiosities.  Worker-bees 
reared  in  drone-cells  are,  if  I  am  correct, 
sometimes  extra  large  in  size;  but  as  to 
whether  we  can  make  them  permanently 
larger  by  such  a  course,  I  am  inclined  to 
doubt.  The  difficulty,  at  present,  seems  to 
be  the  tendency  to  rearing  a  great  quantity 


HOXEY-COMB. 


205 


IIOXEY-COMB. 


of  useless  drones.  By  having  a  hive  fur- 
nished entirely  with  worker-comb,  we  can 
so  nearly  prevent  the  production  of  drones 
that  it  is  safe  enough  to  call  it  a  complete 
remedy. 

HOW  THE   BEES  BUILD   THE  C03IB. 

In  this  day  and  age  of  bees  and  honey,  it 
would  seem  that  one  should  be  able  to  tell 
how  the  bees  build  comb,  with  almost  as 
much  ease  as  they  would  tell  how  cows  and 
horses  eat  grass  ;  but  for  all  that,  we  lack 
records  of  careful  and  close  experiments, 
such  as  Darwin  made  many  years  ago.  In 
om'  house-apiary,  there  are  dozens  of  hives 
where  the  bees  are  building  right  up  close  to 
the  glass,  at  this  very  minute  ;  and  all  one 
has  to  do.  in  order  to  see  how  it  is  done,  is 
to  take  a  chair  and  sit  do^ATi  before  them. 
But  the  little  fellows  have  such  a  queer, 
sleight-of-hand  way  of  doing  the  work,  that 
I  hardly  know  how  they  do  accomplish  it. 

If  we  examine  the  bees  closely  during  the 
season  of  comb-building  and  honey-gather- 
ing, we  shall  find  many  of  them  with  the 
wax  scales  protruding  betrsTen  the  rings 
that  form  the  body,  and  these  scales  are 
either  picked  from  their  bodies,  or  from  the 
bottom  of  the  hive  or  honey-boxes  in  which 
they  are  building.  If  a  bee  is  obliged  to 
carry  one  of  these  wax  scales  but  a  short 
distance,  it  takes  it  in  its  mandibles,  and 
looks  as  business-like  with  it  thus  as  a  car- 
penter with  a  board  on  his  shoulder.  If  it 
has  to  carry  it  from  the  bottom  of  the  honey- 
box,  it  takes  it  in  a  way  that  I  can  not  ex- 
plain any  better  than  to  say  it  slips  it  un- 
der its  chin.  ^Yhen  thus  equipped,  you 
would  never  know  it  was  encumbered  with 
any  thing,  imless  it  chanced  to  slip  out, 
when  it  will  very  dextrously  tuck  it  back 
with  one  of  its  fore  feet.  The  little  plate  of 
wax  is  so  warm  from  being  kept  under  its 
chin  as  to  be  quite  soft  when  it  gets  back  ; 
and  as  it  takes  it  out.  and  gives  it  a  pinch 
against  the  comb  where  the  building  is  going 
on.  one  would  think  it  might  stop  a  while, 
and  put  it  into  place  :  but.  not  it ;  for  off  it 
scampers  and  twists  around  so  many  differ- 
ent ways,  you  might  think  it  was  not  one  of 
the  working  kind  at  all.  Another  follows 
after  it  sooner  or  later,  and  gives  the  wax 
a  pinch,  or  a  little  scraping  and  burnishing 
with  its  polished  mandibles,  then  another.  [ 
and  so  on:  and  the  sum  total  of  all  these  ma- 
TioemTes  is.  that  the  comb  seems  almost  to 
grow  out  of  nothing :  yet  no  one  bee  ever 
makes  a  cell. 

The  finished  comb  is  the  result  of  the  imit- 
ed  efforts  of  the  moving,  restless  mass:  and 


the  great  mystery  is,  that  any  thing  so  won- 
derful can  ever  result  at  all  from  such  a 
mixed-up.  skipping-about  way  of  working, 
as  they  seem  to  have.  When  the  cells  are 
built  out  only  part  way.  they  are  filled  with 
honey  or  eggs,  and  the  length  is  increased 
when  they  feel  disposed,  or  "get  around 
to  it,""  perhaps.  It  may  be  that  they  find  it 
easier  working  with  the  shallow  walls  about 
the  cells,  for  they  can  take  care  of  the  brood 
much  easier,  and  put  in  the  honey  easier 
too,  in  all  probability;  and,  as  a  thick  rim  is 
left  around  the  upper  edge  of  the  cell,  they 
have  the  material  at  hand  to  lengthen  it  at 
any  time.  This  thick  rim  is  also  very  nec- 
essary to  give  the  bees  a  seciuT  foothold,  for 
the  sides  of  the  cells  are  so  thin  they  would 
be  very  apt  to  break  down  with  even  the 
light  weight  of  a  bee.  When  honey  is  com- 
ing in  rapidly,  and  the  bees  are  crowded  for 
room  to  store  it.  theii'  eagerness  is  so  plainly 
apparent,  as  they  push  the  work  along,  that 
they  fairly  seem  to  quiver  with  excitement ; 
but  for  all  that,  they  skip  about  from  one 
cell  to  another  in  the  same  way.  no  one  bee 
working  in  the  same  spot  to  exceed  a  min- 
ute or  two.  at  the  very  outside.  Yery  fre- 
quently, after  one  has  bent  a  piece  of  wax  a 
certain  way.  the  next  tips  it  in  the  opposite 
direction,  and  so  on  until  completion :  but 
after  all  have  given  it  a  twist  and  a  pull,  it 
is  found  in  pretty  nearly  the  right  spot.  As 
nearly  as  I  can  discover,  they  moisten  the 
thin  ribbons  of  wax  with  some  sort  of  fluid 
or  saliva.  As  the  bee  always  preserves  the 
thick  rib  or  rim  of  the  comb  it  is  working, 
the  looker-on  would  suppose  it  was  making 
the  walls  of  a  considerable  thickness :  but  if 
we  drive  it  away,  and  break  this  rim,  we 
will  find  that  its  mandibles  have  come  so 
Dearly  together  that  the  wax  between  them, 
beyond  the  rim.  is  almost  as  thin  as  tissue 
paper.  In  building  natmal  comb,  of  course 
the  bottoms  of  the  cells  are  thinned  in  the 
same  way.  as  the  work  goes  along,  before 
any  side  walls  are  made  at  all. 

When  no  foundation  is  furnished,  little 
patches  of  comb  are  started  at  different 
points,  as  shown  in  the  engraving.  Then  as 
these  patches  enlarge,  their  edges  are  united 
so  perfectly  that  it  is  sometimes  diflicult. 
when  the  frame  is  filled  solid,  to  determine 
ichert  the  pieces  were  united,  so  perfect  is 
the  work.  At  other  times  there  is  perhaps 
a  row  of  irregular  or  drone  cells  along  the 
line  of  the  imiou. 

.  Under  Comb  Fovxdation  we  have  al- 
ready explained  how  the  midrib  of  natural 
comb  becomes  thicker  as  it  approaches  the 


HONEY-DEW. 


206 


HONEY-DEW. 


line  of  support  and  tapers  toward  the  bot- 
tom. Why  this  is  so  is  evident.  That  there 
should  be  a  gradual  gradation  in  thickness 
from  top  to  bottom  seems  wonderful  when 
we  rembember  that  there  is  such  hap-hazard 
skip-about  work  on  the  part  of  so  many  dif- 
ferent bees. 

For  the  consideration  of  the  thickness  of 
combs  and  how  far  to  space  them  apart  see 
Fixed  Distances;  also  SPAcma  or 
Frames  ;  also  Comb  Found atioi^. 

HONTtlT-BEW.  So  named  because  it 
w^as  formerly  supposed  that  it  came  down 
from  the  heavens  in  the  form  of  a  saccha- 
rine spray,  settling  on  the  leaves  of  trees  and 
low^-growing  shrubbery.  It  is  now  known 
that  it  is  the  product  of  aphides,  or  j  lant- 
lice,  and  coccids,  or  scale  insects.  These 
are  sometimes  found  in  the  topmost  limbs  of 
the  tree,  and  the  honey-dew  which  they  se- 
crete is  thrown  out  as  a  spray,  w^hich  falls 
on  the  lower  limbs  and  on  the  sidew^alk*  or 
grass.  Observers,  seeing  the  leaves  of  the 
lower  limbs  of  the  trees  and  the  grass  cover- 
ed with  a  sort  of  saccharine  varnish,  nat- 
urally came  to  the  conchision  that  this  sub- 
stance was  a  real  honey-dew,  and  hence  the 
name. 

There  are  certain  plants  which,  under 
certain  conditions,  will  exude  a  sort  of  sac- 
charine substance  from  the  lenves,  but, 
strictly  speaking,  it  is  not  honey-dew.  The 
ordinary  "  stuff  "  that  is  gathered  by  the 
bees,  commonly  called  honey-dew, is*  nothing 
but  a  secretion  f  i  om  plant-lice.  There  are 
several  species  of  honey-dew  lice,  among 
which  may  be  named  Lecaniimi  tilice,  th  ft 
attacks  the  basswoods;  Lecamimi  tvlipifeia, 
of  the  tulip-tree,  often  called  poplar,'"  and 
the  scale  or  bark  louse  that  attacks  ni^  ple- 
trees, FuJvinaria  innumerabilis  (Eaih. ).  Prof. 
Cook,  formerly  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural 
College,  now  of  Claremc  nt,  CaL,  professor 
of  entomology,  and  a  bee-keeper  of  long  ex- 
perience, thus  describes  these  lice : 

The  maple-tree  scale  or  bark  louse  {Piilvinaria  in- 
numerabilis^  Rath.)  consists  at  this  season  (1884)  rf  a 
brown  scale  about  five-eighths  of  an  inch  long,  which 
is  oblong,  and  slightly  notched  behind.  On  the  back 
of  the  scale  are  tr?.nsverse  depressions,  marking  seg- 
ments. The  blunt  poj-terior  of  the  insect  is  raised  by 
a  large  dense  mass  of  fibrous  cotton-like  material,  in 
which  will  be  found  about  800  small  white  eggs.  These 
eggs  falling  on  to  a  dark  surface  look  to  the  unaided 
eye  like  flour;  but  with  a  lens  they  are  found  to  be  ob- 
long, and  would  be  pronounced  by  all  as  eggs,  at  once. 
This  cotton-like  egg-receptacle  is  often  so  thick  as  to 
raise  the  brown  scale  nearly  a  fourth  of  an  inch. 


*  Sometimes  the  sidewalks  in  our  vicinity,  in  July 
and  August,  are  spotted  all  over  near  the  trees. 


These  scales  are  found  on  the  under  side  of  tiie  limbs 
of  the  trees,  and  are  often  so  thick  as  to  overlap  each 
other.  Often  there  are  hundreds  on  a  single  main 
branch  of  the  tree.  I  find  them  on  basswood,  soft  and 
hard  maple,  and  grapevines,  though  much  the  more 
abundant  on  the  maples. 

Another  feature,  at  this  mature  stage  of  the  insect, 
is  the  secretion  of  a  large  amount  of  nectar.  This  falls 
on  the  leaves  below,  so  as  to  fairly  gum  them  over,  as 


MALL    .-'J  11  BE 


though  they  were  varnished.  This  nectar  is  much 
prized  bj'  the  bees,  which  swarm  upon  the  leaves.  If 
such  nectar  is  pleasant  to  the  taste,  as  some  aver,  I 
should  have  no  fear  of  the  bees  collecting  it. 

From  the  middle  to  the  last  of  June,  the  eggs  begin 
to  hatch,  though  hatching  is  not  completed  for  some 
weeks  after  it  begins,  so  we  may  expect  young  lice  to 
hatch  out  from  late  in  June  till  August. 

The  young  lice  are  yellow,  half  as  broad  as  long, 
tapering  slightly  toward  the  posterior.  The  seven 
abdominal  segments  appear  very  distinctly.  The  legs 
and  antennae  are  seen  from  the  other  side.  As  in  the 
young  of  all  such  bark-lice,  the  beak,  or  sucking-tube, 
is  long  and  thread-like,  and  is  bent  under  the  body  till 
the  young  louse  is  ready  to  settle  down  to  earnest 
work  as  a  sapper.  Two  hair-like  appendages,  or  setae, 
terminate  the  body,  which  soon  disappear. 

The  same  waiter,  in  the  Amv  rican  Bee  Jour- 
nal for  January,  J899,  gi\es  his  reasons  for 
doubt  ng  the  plant  origin  of  honey-dew.  He 
says : 

1.  I  now  have  carefully  examined  this  secretion  for 
years,  whenever  seen,  and  have  always  found  either 
aphides  — pant-lice  ;  coccids  — scale  insects;  other 
hemipterous— bugs  ;  or  else  larvae  of  insects  (these  are 
reported  to  me)  often  working  in  scores— to  be  the 
source  of  this  nectar.  This  gives  strong  presumption 
that  such  is  always  the  source  of  honey-dew. 

2.  We  have  reason  to  believe,  in  the  economy  of 
Nature,  that  energy  is  never  expended  by  plant  or 
animal  that  does  not  in  some  way  benefit  b5^  such  out- 
go. We  are  easily  able  to  see  how  the  insects  profit 
by  the  secretion  of  this  nectar.  They  thus  lure  bees, 
ants,  wasps,  etc..  to  their  immediate  presence,  and 
these  in  turn  repel  the  birds  which  else  would  feed  on 
and  destroy  the  insects. 

I  once  noticed  an  exhibit  of  this  function  in  Michi- 
igan,  so  palpably  displayed  that  to  doubt  it  was  im- 
possible. The  Lecanium  HHce  —  a  large  bark  louse- 
was  thick  on  a  linden-tree  close  beside  my  study  win- 


HONEY-DEW. 


207 


HONEY  AS  FOOD. 


dow.  In  early  spring  the  beautiful  song  sparrow 
commenced  to  feed  on  the  young  scale  insects  which 
thickly  doited  the  leaves.  Suddenly  the  bees  and 
other  sweet-loving  insects  commenced  to  visit  the 
same  leaves  for  the  honej'-dew  which  dropped  from  the 
coccids,  and  the  birds  at  once  ceased  to  come.  In  a  few 
da3'S  cold,  or,  preferabh-,  nectar  in  other  places,  kept 
the  bees  and  their  companions  from  the  place,  and 
the  birds  again  commenced  their  good  work.  This 
alternation  of  bird  and  bee  visits  occurred  several 
times.  Such  obser^-ations  make  the  value  of  the  ex- 
pensive secretion  to  the  insects  clearly  evident. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  hone^'-dew  alwaj's  becomes 
foul  with  the  black  smut  or  fungus  that  attacks  sweet 
substances  on  tree  or  bush.  We  can  hardlj'  doubt 
that  it  is  a  serious  evil  to  the  plants,  and  are  unable  to 
see  any  good  that  comes  to  the  plant  from  it.  I  full}' 
believe  it  is  ahva^-s  harmful  to  vegetation,  and  I  feel 
certain  that  plauts  do  not  originate  it  to  their  own 
hurt. 

I  referred  above  to  certain  acorn-infesting  lar^'se 
that  secrete  nectar.  I  have  never  seen  them,  but 
have  often  heard  of  such — principally  from  Missouri — 
so  often  that  I  think  they  may  be  more  than  a  myth. 
Yet  I  am  free  to  say  that  I  should  feel  more  certain  if 
I  actually  saw  them.  I  can  see  how  oak-tree  plant- 
lice,  which  are  by  no  means  rare,  might  lead  to  an 
erroneous  conclusion. 

Ergot — a  fungus  which  attacks  rye  and  other  plants 
— is  also  said  to  secrete  honey-dew.  If  this  be  true, 
then  I  feel  sure  that  the  sweet  in  some  way  benefits 
the  fungus.  If  it  does  the  fungus  no  good,  then  I  be- 
lieve it,  too,  has  other  origin. 

In  California,  where  scale  insects  and  aphids  are  so 
common,  it  is  very  easy  to  study  the  honey-dew,  and 
the  black  repulsive  fungus,  which  our  orchardists  de- 
nominate "'smut."  The  walnut-tree,  this  season,  has 
been  infested  generally  with  an  aphid,  and  the  honey- 
dew  and  smut  have  always  attended  it. 

It  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  this  honey-dew  is  un- 
wholesome. It  is  a  secretion,  and  not  an  excretion. 
It  has  a  similar  origin  to  honey,  and  may  be  as  deli- 
cious. Much  aphid  honey-dew  is  deliciously  whole- 
some, and  the  honey  from  it  is  superior.  Most  if  not 
all  of  the  coccid  honey-dew,  on  the  other  hand,  is  dark 
and  of  ill  flavor,  and  its  presence  in  honey,  or  as  hon- 
ey, is  greatly  injurious,  and  can  never  be  sold  for  the 
table.  I  have  sold  it  by  the  barrel  for  manufacturing. 
This  was  used  to  make  cookies,  and  was  said  to  be  all 
right  by  the  manufacturer.  I  explained  all  to  him, 
yet  he  gave  the  ruling  price. 

Often  this  honej'-dew  is  produced  in  exceeding 
quantities,  and  I  have  known  it  to  cr^-stallize  on  the 
plants,  especialh'  on  pine  and  larch  trees,  so  as  to 
encrust  them  with  white,  and  become  very  conspicu- 
ous. 

Our  conclusions,  then,  which  we  reach  tentatively, 
are  these  :  Honey-dew  is  always  a  secretion  from  in- 
sects.*®' It  is  alwa3-s  wholesome,  and  often  delicious. 
It  may  be  produced  in  exceeding  quantities,  and  be- 
come the  source  of  much  honey.  In  such  cases,  coc- 
cid honej'-dew  honej'  will  often  be  rank  and  ill  fla- 
vored, and  should  be  kept  as  much  as  possible  hy  it- 
self, and  sold  for  other  purpose  than  table  use.  Hone\-- 
dew  is  secreted  by  insects  to  serve  them  in  attracting 
bees,  etc.,  which  shall  repel  the  bird  enemies  of  the 
nectar-secreting  insects. 

Prof.  Cook  says  '"much  aphid  lioney-dew is 
deliciously  wholesome,  and  the  honey  from  it 
is  supeiior."iM  That  which  is  secreted  on  the 
leaves  of  hickory  is  especially  fine  flavored, 


I  and  often  large  quantities  of  it  are  gathered 
I  and  stored  by  the  bees.  That  which  we  have 
j  in  Ohio,  and  that  which  I  have  seen  in  other 
;  localities,  is  usually  of  a  dark  color  and  rank 
flavor,  to  me  very  sickening-  and  unpleasant, 
and,  as  Prof.  Cook  says,  it  should  be  sold  to 
bakers  and  others  desiring  an  inferior  or 
;  strung-flavored  honey.  A  good  many  of  the 
I  severe  winter  losses  in  the  past  have  been 
j  attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  bees  gathered 
honey-dew  late  in  the  summer  or  early  in 
I  the  fall,  and  that  the  same,  proving  to  be  an 
I  unwholesome  food,  caused  dysentery  and 
I  tlie  final  death  of  the  bees.   That  poor  hon- 
ey-dew has  been  responsible  for  winter  losses 
in  souie  cases  can  scarcely  be  doubted.  We 
occasionally  have  it  scattered  in  little  patch- 
es in  our  combs  ;  but  in  late  years  we  have 
let  our  bees  have  all  such  combs,  and  no  bad 
I  results  have  followed  ;  but  if  there  is  very 
I  much  honey-dew  in  the  combs  we  extract  it 
I  and  put  in  its  place  granuL-.ted-sugar  syrup. 
I  A  little  mixed  ^ith  clover  or  bass  wood  vnll 
do  no  harm. 
HONEY  ON  COMMISSION.    See  Comb 

HOXEY. 

j  KOKTZSV  AS  FOOD.  About  60  lbs.  of 
'  sugar  on  the  average  is  annually  consumed 
by  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  Unit- 
ed States.  Of  course,  many  use  less  than 
the  average,  but  to  make  up  for  it  some  con- 
sume several  times  as  much.  It  is  only 
within  the  last  few  centuries  that  sugar  has 
become  known,  and  only  within  the  last 
generation  that  refined  sugars  have  become 
so  low  in  price  that  they  may  be  commonly 
used  in  the  poorest  families.  Formerly  hon- 
ey was  the  principal  sweet,  and  it  was  one 
of  the  items  sent  as  a  propitiatory  offering 
by  Jacob  to  his  unrecognized  son,  the  chief 
j  ruler  of  Egypt,  three  thousand  years  before 
the  first  sugar-refinery  was  built. 

It  would  be  greatly  for  the  health  of  the 
present  generation  if  honey  could  be  at  least 
partially  restored  to  its  former  place  as  a 
common  article  of  diet.   The  almost  uni- 
versal craving  for  sweets  of  some  kind 
shows  a  real  need  of  the  system  in  that  di- 
I  rection ;  but  the  excessive  use  of  sugar 
j  brings  in  its  train  a  long  list  of  ills.  Besides 
I  the  various  disorders  of  the  alimentary  ca- 
J  nal,  that  dread  scourge.  Bright "s  disease  of 
I  the  kidneys,  is  credited  with  being  one  of 
the  results  of  sugar-eating.   When  cane  su- 
gar is  taken  into  the  stomach,  it  can  not  be 
assimilated  until  first  changed  by  digestion 
into  grape  sugar.   Only  too  often  the  over- 
taxed stomach  fails  to  perform  this  diges- 
tion properly,  then  comes  sour  stomach  and 


HONEY  AS  FOOD. 


208 


HONEY  AS  FOOD. 


various  dyspeptic  phases.  Prof.  A.  J.  Cook 
says:  "If  cane  sugar  is  absorbed  without 
change,  it  will  be  removed  by  the  kidneys, 
and  may  result  in  their  break-down ;  and 
physicians  may  he  correct  in  asserting  that 
the  large  consumption  of  cane  sugar  by  the 
19th-century  man  is  harmful  to  the  great 
eliminators — the  kidneys — and  so  a  menace 
to  health  and  long  life."  See  Honey. 

Now,  in  the  wonderful  laboratory  of  the 
hive  there  is  found  a  sweet  that  needs  no 
further  digestion,  having  been  prepared  ful- 
ly by  those  wonderful  chemists,  the  bees,  for 
prompt  assimilation  without  taxing  stomach 
or  kidneys.  As  Prof.  Cook  says :  There 
can  be  no  doubt  but  that  in  eating  honey 
our  digestive  machinery  is  saved  work  that 
it  would  have  to  perform  if  we  ate  cane  su- 
gar;  and  in  case  it  is  overworked  and  feeble, 
this  may  be  just  the  respite  that  will  save 
from  a  breakdown."  A.  I.  Root  says  :  "Many 
people  who  can  not  eat  sugar  without  hav- 
ing unpleasant  symptoms  follow  will  find  by 
careful  test  that  they  can  eat  good  well-rip- 
ened honey  without  any  difficulty  at  all." 

Not  only  is  honey  the  most  wholesome  of 
all  sweets,  but  it  is  the  most  delicious.  For 
the  further  consideration  of  this  subject  see 
Honey. 

Indeed,  in  many  cases  it  may  be  a  matter 
of  real  economy  to  lessen  the  butter-bill  by 
letting  honey  in  part  take  its  place.  One 
pound  of  honey  will  go  as  far  as  one  pound 
of  butter ;  and  if  both  articles  be  of  the  best 
quality  the  honey  will  cost  the  less  of  the 
two.  Often  a  prime  article  of  extracted  hon- 
ey, equal  to  comb  honey  in  every  respect  ex- 
cept appearance,  can  be  obtained  for  half 
the  price  of  butter,  or  less.  Butter  is  at  its 
best,  only  when  "  fresh  ;  "  while  honey  prop- 
erly kept  remains  indefinitely  good — no  need 
to  hurry  it  out  of  the  way  for  fear  it  may  be- 
come rancid. 

Prof.  Cook  says  :  "  We  all  know  how  chil- 
dren long  for  candy.  This  longing  voices  a 
need,  and  is  another  evidence  of  the  neces- 
sity of  sugar  in  our  diet.  .  .  .  Children 
should  be  given  all  the  honey  at  each  meal- 
time that  they  will  eat.  It  is  safer  ;  will 
largely  do  away  with  the  inordinate  longing 
for  candy  and  other  sweets  ;  and  in  lessen- 
ing the  desire  will  doubtless  diminish  the 
amount  of  cane  sugar  eaten.  Then  if  cane 
sugar  does  work  mischief  with  health,  the 
harm  may  be  prevented." 

Ask  the  average  child  whether  he  will 
have  honey  alone  on  his  bread,  or  butter 
alone,  and  almost  invariably  he  will  prompt- 
ly answer,  "  Honey."   Yet  seldom  are  the 


needs  or  the  tastes  of  the  child  properly  con- 
sulted. The  old  man  craves  fat  meat ;  the 
child  loathes  it.  He  wants  sweet,  not  fat. 
He  de'ights  to  eat  honey  ;  it  is  a  wholesome 
food  for  him,  and  is  not  expensive.  Why 
should  he  not  have  it  ? 

Sugar  is  much  used  in  hot  drinks,  as  in 
coffee  and  tea.  The  substitution  of  a  mild- 
flavored  honey  in  such  uses  may  be  a  very 
profitable  thing  for  the  health.  Indeed,  it 
would  be  better  for  the  health  if  the  only  hot 
drink  were  what  is  called  in  Germany  honey- 
tea — a  cup  of  hot  water  with  one  or  two  ta- 
blespoonf  uls  of  extracted  honey.  The  attain- 
ment of  great  age  has  in  some  cases  been  at- 
tributed largely  lo  the  life-long  use  of  honey- 
tea. 

Aside  from  its  use  in  an  unchanged  state 
as  a  direct  accompaniment  of  bread  or  bis- 
cuit, honey  is  used  by  bakers  in  manufac- 
turing some  of  their  choicest  wares.  Car- 
load after  carload  of  cheap  extracted  honey 
is  used  by  many  of  the  large  bakers  in  the 
making  of  honey-cakes,  chief  among  which 
is  the  honey-jumble,  a  circular  cake  with 
a  hole  in  the  center.  This  will  keep  for 
months,  and  even  years.  There  is  some- 
thing about  honey  that  keeps  all  baked 
goods  made  with  it  soft  and  moist.*  Bakers 
use  honey  (and  they  demand  that  it  shall  be 
strictly  pure)  because  for  a  certain  class  of 
their  goods  there  is  nothing  to  take  its 
place.  Honey,  they  say,  requires  no  glycer- 
ine like  other  sweets,  and  is  therefore  cheap- 
er. They  prefer  also  the  darker,  stronger- 
flavored  honeys,  as  the  milder-flavored  arti- 
cle loses  its  identity  or  taste  in  the  cake. 

Honey  is  used  in  medicines,  and  is  the  base 
of  many  of  the  cough  cures  and  salves.  For 
candy,  honey  is  far  more  wholesome  than 
canf^  sugar. 

Very  many  of  the  so-called  honey  cooking- 
recipes  are  apt  to  be  worse  than  nothing ;  for 
when  the  ingredients  are  put  together  and 
made  into  a  cake,  the  result  is  simply  vile. 
The  recipes  given  below  have  been  tested, 
and  every  one  is  guaranteed  to  be  good.  The 
honey-jumble  recipe,  for  instance,  is  espe- 
cially good,  as  is  the  honey-cake  recipe  by 
Maria  Eraser. 

HONEY  COOKING-RECIPES. 
Honey-gems.— 2  qts.  flour,  3  tablespoonf uls  melted 
lard,  %  pint  honey,  Vz  pt.  molasses,  4  heaping-  table- 
spoonfuls  brown  sugar,  IV2  level  tablespoonfuls 
soda,  1  level  teaspoonful  salt,  ]4  pint  water,  V2  tea- 
spoonful  extract  vanilla. 


*  Even  if  the  cake  should  become  dry,  close  it  up 
in  a  bread-can  for  a  time,  and  its  freshness  will  re- 
turn. 


HOKEY  AS  FOOD. 


209 


HONEY  AS  POOD. 


HOKEY-jTTMBiiES.— 2  Quarts  flour,  3  taWespoonfuls 
melted  lard.  1  pt.  honey,  }i  pt.  molasses,  1^2  level 
taWespoonf uls  soda.  1  level  teaspoonful  salt.  M,  pt. 
water,  ^2  teaspoonful  vanilla. 

These  jumbles  and  the  g-ems  immediately  preced- 
ing- ai'e  from  recipes  used  by  bakeries  and  confec- 
tioneries on  a  larg-e  scale,  one  tirm  in  Wisconsin 
alone  using  ten  tons  of  honey  annually  in  their 
manufacture. 

Honey-cake  or  Cookies  without  sugar  or  mo- 
lasses.—2  cups  honey :  one  cup  butter:  four  eggs 
(mix  well)  ;  one  cup  buttermilk  i  mixi :  one  good 
quart  flour :  one  level  teaspoonful  soda  or  saleratus. 
If  it  is  too  thin,  stir  in  a  little  more  flour.  If  too 
thin  it  will  fall.  It  does  not  want  to  be  as  thin  as 
sug-ar-cake.  I  use  very  thick  honey.  Be  sure  to 
use  the  same  cup  for  measure.  Be  sure  to  mix  the 
honey,  butter,  and  eggs  well  together.  Tou  can 
make  it  richer  if  you  wish  by  using  clabbered  cream 
instead  of  buttermilk.  Bake  in  a  rather  slow  oven, 
as  it  burns  very  easily.  To  make  the  cookies,  use 
a  little  more  flour,  so  that  they  will  roll  out  well 
without  sticking  to  the  board.  Any  kind  of  flavor- 
ing will  do.  I  use  ground  orange-peel  mixed  soft. 
It  makes  a  very  nice  ginger-bread.   Maria  Fraser. 

Howell  HoxET-CAKE.— It  is  a  hard  cake.)  Take 
6  lbs.  flour.  3  lbs.  honey.  14  lbs.  sugar,  1-;  lbs.  bur- 
ter,  6  eggs,  ^2  oz.  saleratus  ;  ginger  to  your  taste. 
Directions  for  mixing. —  Have  the  flour  in  a  pan 
or  ti-ay.  Pack  a  cavity  in  the  center.  Beat  the 
honey  and  yolks  of  eggs  together  well.  Beat  the 
butter  and  sugar  to  cream,  and  put  into  the  cavity 
in  the  flour  ;  then  add  the  honey  and  yolks  of  the 
eggs.  Mix  well  with  the  hand,  adding  a  little  at  a 
time,  during  the  mixing,  the  H  oz.  saleratus  dis- 
solved in  boiling  water  until  it  is  all  in.  Add  the 
ginger,  and  finally  add  the  whites  of  the  6  eggs,  well 
beaten.  Mix  well  with  the  hand  to  a  smooth  dough. 
Di-sade  the  dough  into  7  equal  parts,  and  roll  out 
like  gingerbread.  Bake  in  ordinary  square  pans 
made  for  pies,  fi-om  lOxlitin.  After  putting  into 
the  pans,  mark  off  the  top  in  ^  ;-inch  strips  with 
something  sharp.  Bake  an  hour  in  a  moderate 
oven.  Be  careful  not  to  burn,  but  bake  well.  Dis- 
solve sugar  to  glaze  over  top  of  cake.  To  keep  the 
cake,  stand  on  end  in  an  oak  tub,  tin  can,  or  stone 
crock  — crock  is  best.  Stand  the  cards  up  so  the 
flat  sides  will  not  touch  each  other.  Cover  tight. 
Keep  in  a  cool  dry  place.  Don't  use  until  thi-ee 
months  old  at  least.  The  cake  improves  ^vith  age. 
and  will  keep  good  as  long  as  you  will  let  it.  I  find 
any  cake  sweetened  with  honey  does  not  dry  out 
like  sugar  or  molasses  cake,  and  age  improves  or 
develops  the  honey  flavor.  E.  D.  Howdl. 

AiKiN's  Hoxey-cookies.— 1  teacupful  extracted 
honey.  1  pint  smir  cream,  scant  teaspoonful  soda, 
flavoring  if  desired,  flour  to  make  a  soft  dough. 

Soft  Honey-cake.— 1  cup  butter.  2  cups  honey.  2 
eggs,  1  cup  sour  milk,  2  teaspooufuls  soda.  1  tea- 
spoonful ginger,  1  teaspoonful  cinnamon,  -t  cups 
flour.  Chalon  Fowls. 

Ginger  Honey-cake.— l  cup  honey.  H  cup  butter, 
or  di-ippings,  1  tablespoonful  boiled  cider,  in  half  a 
cup  of  hot  water  tor  Y2  cup  sour  milk  will  do  in- 
stead). "Warm  these  ingredients  together,  and  then 
add  1  tablespoonful  ginger  and  1  teaspoonful  soda 
sifted  in  with  flour  enotigh  to  make  a  soft  batter. 
Bake  in  a  flat  pan.  Chalon  Fowls. 

Fowls"  Honey  Fruit-cake.— -2  cup  butter.  ?i 
cup  honey.  ^3  cup  apple  jelly  or  boiled  cider.  2  eggs 


well  beaten,  1  teaspoonful  soda,  1  teaspoonful  each 
of  cinnamon,  cloves,  and  nutmeg.  1  teacupful  each 
of  raisins  and  dried  currants,  "\Varm  the  butter, 
honey,  and  apple  jelly  slightly,  add  the  beaten  eggs, 
then  the  soda  dissolved  in  a  little  warm  water  :  add 
spices  and  flour  enough  to  make  a  stiff  batter,  then 
stir  in  the  fruit  and  bake  in  a  slow  oven.  Keep  in 
a  covered  jar  several  weeks  before  using. 

Mrxn  s  HDNEV-CAKts.— 1  gallon  honey  idark  hon- 
ey i>  "i  .e-t  .  15  c-ggs.  3  lbs.  sugar  ta  little  more  honey 
in  its  place  may  be  better  .  IH  oz.  baking-soda.  2  oz. 
ammonia.  2  lbs.  almonds  chopped  up.  2  lbs.  citron.  4 
oz.  cinnamon.  2  oz.  cloves.  2  oz.  mace.  ll>s.  flour. 
Let  the  honey  come  almost  to  a  boil:  then  let  it  cool 
oft',  and  add  the  other  ingredients.  Cut  out  and 
bake.  The  cakes  are  to  be  frosted  afterward  with 
sugar  and  white  of  eggs. 

Fowls"  Honey  L.a.yer-cakc:.— =3  cup  butter,  l  cup 
honey,  3  eggs  beaten.  ^2  cup  milk,  l  ream  the  honey 
and  butter  together,  then  add  the  eggs  and  milk. 
Then  add  2  cups  flour  containing  l';  teaspooufuls 
baking-powder  previously  stirred  in.  Then  stir  in 
flour  to  make  a  stitt'  batter.  Bake  in  jelly-tins. 
"When  the  cakes  are  cold,  take  finely  flavored  can- 
died honey,  and  after  creaming  it  spread  between 
layers. 

Fowls'  Honey-cookies.  — 3  teaspooufuls  soda 
dissolved  in  2  cups  warm  honey.  1  cup  shortening- 
containing  salt,  2  teaspooufuls  ginger.  1  cup  hot 
water,  flour  suflacient  to  roll. 

Honey  Nut-cakes.— 8  cups  sugar.  2  cups  honey, 
i  cups  milk  or  water.  I  lb.  almonds.  1  lb.  English 
walnuts,  3  cents'  worth  each  of  candied  lemon  and 
orange  peel.  5  cents'  worth  citron  the  last  three  cut 
fine',  2  large  tablespoonf uls  soda.  2  teaspooufuls 
cinnamon.  2  teaspooufuls  ground  clo\ es.  Put  the 
milk,  sugar,  and  honey  on  the  stove,  to  boil  15  min- 
utes ;  skim  off  the  scum,  and  take  from  the  stove. 
Put  in  the  nuts,  spices,  and  candied  fruit.  Stir  in 
as  much  flour  as  can  be  done  with  a  spoon.  Set 
away  to  cool,  then  mix  in  the  soda  1  don't  make  the 
dough  too  stiff).  Cover  up  and  let  stand  over  night 
then  work  in  flour  enough  to  make  a  stiff  do.  gh. 
Bake  when  you  get  ready.  It  is  well  to  let  it  stand 
a  few  days,  as  it  will  not  stick  so  badly.  Koll  out  a 
little  thicker  than  a  common  cooky,  cut  in  any 
shape  you  like. 

This  recipe  originated  in  Germany,  is  old  and 
tried,  and  the  cake  will  teep  a  year  or  more. 

Mrs.  E.  Smith. 

Honey  Drof-cakes.— 1  cup  honey.  ^  cup  sugar, 
^■2  cup  butter  or  lard,  h  cup  sour  milk.  1  egg,  >4 
tablespoonful  soda.  4  cups  sifted  flour. 

HoNEv  Sh.  )RT-cake.— 8  cups  flour.  2  teaspooufuls 
baking-powder.  1  tea^poouiul  salt.  cup  shorten- 
ing, 1-2  cups  sweet  milk.  Koll  quickly,  and  bake  in 
a  hot  oven.  When  done,  si  lit  the  cake  and  spread 
the  lower  half  thinly  with  butter,  and  the  upper 
half  wirh  ^2  pound  of  the  best-flavored  honey. 
iLandied  honey  is  preferred.  If  too  hard  to  spread 
well  it  should  be  slightly  warmed  or  creamed  with 
a  knife.)  Let  it  stand  a  few  minutes,  and  the  honey 
will  melt  gradu-Jly  and  the  flavor  will  permeate  all 
through  the  cake.   To  be  eaten  with  milk. 

Honey  Tea-cake. —1  cup   honey,  ^2  cup  sour 
creiim,  2  eggs,  V2  cup  butter.  2  cups  tiom-,  scant 
teaspoonful  soJa.  1  tablespoonful  cream  of  tartar. 
Bake  thirty  minutes  in  a  moderate  oven. 

Miss  M.  Candler. 


HONE  Y-PEDDLING. 


210  HONEY-PEDDLING. 


Honey  Ginger-snaps.— 1  pint  honey,  M  lb-  butter,  | 
2  teaspoonfuls  ginger.  Boil  togetlier  a  few  min-  i 
utes,  and  when  nearlj'  cold  put  in  flour  until  it  is  | 
stiff.   Roll  out  thin,  and  bake  quickly.  | 

Honey  Fruit-cake.— 1%  cups  honey,  %  cup  but-  j 
ter,  H  cup  sweet  milk,  2  eggs  well  beaten,  3  cups 
flour,  2  teaspoonfuls  baking-powder,  2  cups  raisins,  ; 
1  teaspoonful  each  of  cloves  and  cinnamon.  i 

H  >NEY  Popcorn  Balls.— Take  1  pint  extracted  \ 
honey,  put  it  into  an  iron  frying-pan,  and  boil  until 
very  thick  ;  then  stir  in  freshly  popped  corn,  and  ; 
when  cold  mold  into  balls.   These  will  specially 
delight  the  children.  i 

Honey  CAR,'»Mh;r.s.— 1  cup  extracted  honey  of  best  | 
flavor,  1  cup  granulated   sugar,  3  tablespOonfuls 
sweet  cream  or  milk.   Boil  to  "soft  crack,"  or  until  ' 
it  hardens  when  dropped  into  colJ  water,  but  not  : 
too  brittle  -  just  so  it  will  form  into  a  soft  ball  when 
taken  in  the  fingers.    Pour  into  a  greased  dish, 
stirring  in  a  teaspoonful  extract  of  vanilla  just  be- 
fore taking  off.   Let  it  be  V%  or  %  inch  (  eep  in  the  , 
dish;  and  as  it  cools  cut  in  squares  and  wrap  each 
square  in  paraffine  paper,  such  as  grocers  wrap  but- 
ter in.  To  make  chocolate  caramels,  a  id  to  the  fore- 
going 1  tablespoonful  melted  chccolate,  juSt  before 
taking  off  the  stove,  stirring  it  in  well.   For  choco- 
late caramels  it  is  not  so  important  that  the  honey  ! 
be  of  best  quality.  C.  C.  Miller. 

Honey  Applt-butter.— 1  gallon  good  cookings 
apples,  1  quart  honey,  1  quart  honey  vinegar,  1  heap- 
ing teaspoonful  ground  cinnamon.   Cook  several 
hours,  stirring  often  to  prevent  burning.   If  the  j 
vinegar  is  very  strong,  use  pait  water.  | 

Mrs.  R.  a  Aikin. 

Honey  and  Tar  Cough-cure.— Put  1  tablespoon- 
ful liquid  tar  into  a  shallow  tin  dish  and  place  It  in 
boiling  water  until  the  tar  is  hot.  To  this  add  a  pint 
of  extracted  honey  and  stir  well  for  half  an  hour, 
adding  to  it  a  level  teaspoonful  pulverized  borax. 
Keep  well  corked  in  a  bottle.  Dose,  teasnoonful 
everj'  one,  two,  or  three  hours,  according  to  severi- 
ty of  cough. 

Summer  Honey-drink. —  1  spoonful  fruit  juice 
and  1  spoonful  honey  in  1^  glass  water  ;  stir  in  as 
much  soda  as  will  lie  on  a  silv^er  dime,  and  then  stir 
in  half  as  much  tartaric  acid,  and  drink  at  once. 

HONEY-BOABDS.    See  Co3IB  Honey, 
and  Hives. 
HONEY  EXHIBITS.   See  Faiks. 
HOUSE- APIARY.   See  AriARY. 

HONE-ST  -  FZSDDIima.  Under  Ex 
TKACTED  Honey,  which  see,  I  have  already 
told  something  about  selling  direct  to  con- 
sumers. But  there  are  many  who  say  they 
"  haven't  the  gall  or  cheek  to  go  around  and 
ask  folks  to  buy,"  and  prefer  to  be  excused 
from  any  such  disagreeable  experience.  But 
there  are  ways  in  which  one  does  not  need 
to  lose  either  his  dignity  or  self-respect.  A 
peddler  may,  it  is  true,  call  at  unseasonable 
hours,  or  steal  valuable  time  from  a  pros- 
pective customer  in  trying  to  force  a  sale. 
In  such  ways  one  may  make  himself  very 
obnoxious,  and  render  a  second  visit  utterly 


useless.  My  friend  Dan  White,  of  New  Lon- 
don, Ohio,  a  progressive  and  practical  bee- 
keeper, has  hit  upon  a  novel  plan  that  en- 
tirely eliminates  all  objectionable  features. 
As  he  has  succeeded  so  well  I  will  let  him 
tell  his  plan  in  his  own  way : 

PEDDLING  MADE  EASY. 

I  packed  my  grip  and  took  two  12-pound  cans  of 
honey  and  started  out.  About  all  I  had  in  my  grip 
was  a  good  supply  of  those  leaflets  published  by 
The  A.  I.  Eoot  Co.;  then  50  postals  addressed  to 
myself. 

I  got  into  the  town  just  before  dinner  time  ;  and 
after  eating  a  good  meal  at  a  boarding-house  1  filled 
my  pockets  with  leaflets  and  took  one  honey-can 
and  commenced  business.  I  started  down  a  street 
and  did  not  miss  calling  at  every  house.  .After 
ringing  the  bell,  or  rapping,  a  lady  would  open  the 
door  and  look  at  me  with  more  or  less  suspicion.  I 
would  say,  "  I  made  the  call  to  ask  you  if  your  fam- 
ily were  fond  of  honey." 

They  generally  answered  yes,  but  believed  they 
would  not  buy  any. 

"Well,"  I  would  answer,  "but  I  am  not  selling 
honey  to-day.  I  am  giving  it  away,  and  should  be 
glad  to  give  you  some  in  a  sauce-dish." 

Some  would  look  astonished,  others  would  smile, 
and  say,  "  That's  funny,"  but  in  every  instance  1  was 
invited  in.  I  would  pour  out  the  honey,  then  hand 
out  a  leaflet,  telling  them  to  read  every  word  of  it. 
"  Vou  will  find  it  very  interesting  ;  it  will  tell  you 
all  about  honey  —  how  and  why  we  extract  it,  etc. 
Then  here  is  a  postal  addressed  to  me  ;  and  should 
you  decide  to  want  a  13-pound  can,  put  your  name, 
street,  and  number,  on  the  card;  drop  it  in  the  office; 
and  when  I  deliver  in  about  ten  days  you  will  get  a 
can  of  honey." 

Well,  there  were  enough  cards  put  in  the  mail 
within  five  days  to  take  thirty  cans  of  honey.  I 
promptly  made  the  delivery  on  time,  taking  along 
twenty  extra  cans  that  sold  about  as  fast  as  I  could 
hand  them  out ;  and  since  then  I  have  received 
orders  for  50  more  cans  from  the  same  town.  I  tell 
you,  it  has  got  all  over  town  that  a  honey-man  had 
been  there  selling  real  honey,  IS  pounds  for  one 
dollar.  I  am  certain  that  this  one  place  will  take 
over  2000  pounds,  all  in  one-gallon  cans.  Now,  then, 
18  pounds  of  honey  given  away  from  house  to  house, 
50  postal  cards,  200  leaflets  left  at  houses  and  handed 
to  people  on  the  street,  and  one  day  walking  over  a 
very  small  portion  of  the  town,  has  found  a  place 
for  at  least  2000  pounds  of  honey.  Then  think  what 
I  can  do  next  season  should  I  secure  a  good  crop. 
All  I  shall  have  to  do  is  to  take  a  big  load  and  go  up 
there  and  hand  it  out.  By  the  way,  the  honey  sold 
there  was  thrown  out  of  clean  white  combs,  over 
every  inch  of  whose  surface  the  uncapping-knife 
had  to  go.  It  weighed  strong  12  pounds  to  the  gal- 
lon—just as  good  as  the  best  comb  honey,  oyily  it  was 
out  of  the  combs.  Of  course,  I  can  go  back  just  as 
often  as  1  choose  ;  yes,  and  the  people  will  be  glad 
to  see  me.  Dan  White. 

New  London,  Ohio. 

It  would  appear  that  one  of  the  prime  req- 
uisites is  a  first-class  article  of  well-ripened 
extracted  honey.   Yery  many  make  a  mis- 
take right  here,  and,  of  course,  if  the  honey 
I  is  poor,  one  is  not  likely  to  make  a  second 


HONEY-PEDDLING. 


212  HONEY-PEDDLING. 


sale.  Mr.  White's  scheme  is  to  have  the 
honey  taste  so  good  that,  when  it  is  gone,  the 
good  people  will  drop  that  postal  for  more, 
and  will  not  haggle  over  the  price,  even  if 
the    store  stuff ''  does  cost  less. 

In  a  similar  way  Mr.  Herman  F.  Moore, 
then  of  Cleveland,  O.,  now  of  Chicago,  re- 
tailed large  amounts  of  honey.  His  plan, 
like  that  of  friend  White,  was  to  go  around 
and  solicit  orders.  In  the  cities  of  Cleve- 
land and  Toledo,  or  even  those  of  smaller 
size,  he  would  start  out  on  foot,  exhibiting 
a  sample  of  his  honey  in  a  quart  Mason 
fruit-jar.  His  reason  for  using  this  pack- 
age was  that  almost  any  family  would  be 
willing  to  take  a  household  article  of  this 
kind,  for  tlie  simple  reason  that  it  would 
not  have  to  be  thrown  away  when  it  had 
served  the  purpose  of  holding  the  honey. 

With  this  jar  of  honey  Mr.  Moore  would 
call  at  private  houses,  one  after  another, 
and  ask  for  a  dish  and  spoon,  saying  that  he 
had  some  very  nice  honey,  and  that  he 
would  like  to  give  t  he  women-folks  a  sam- 
ple to  taste.  He  then  held  up  the  beautiful 
transparent  goods  to  the  light,  told  them  he 
was  a  bee-keeper,  and  dealt  only  in  pure 
honey  ;  explained  how  it  was  produced,  and 
finally  named  the  price.  If  the  lady  of  the 
house  eared  to  take  any  he  would  take  her 
order  and  deliver  the  next  day.  As  a  rule 
he  took  an  order. 

In  this  way  he  would  make  the  rounds  of 
a  certain  section  of  the  city.  When  he  first 
began  he  would  take  the  orders  one  day  and 
deliver  the  next ;  bat  his  business  grew  so 
rapidly  that  he  was  finally  obliged  to  take 
on  a  helper,  his  brother,  and,  a  little  later 
on,  two  more  men  and  a  man  and  his  wife. 
The  two  last  named  would  wash  the  jars 
and  fill  them.  Two  of  the  men  would  deliv- 
er while  he  and  his  brother  took  orders.  In 
this  way  they  sold  enormous  quantities  of 
honey;  and  as  it  was  always  of  the  finest 
quality,  and  guaranteed  to  be  pure,  they 
built  up  a  large  trade.  Mr.  Mdore  has  since 
removed  frc  m  Cleveland  ;  and  although  now 
a  practicing  attorney  he  does  considerable 
at  selling  honey,  either  direct  to  consumers 
or  to  the  grocers. 

Here  is  another  plan,  providing  one  can 
trade  honey  for  other  useful  articles  too  nu- 
merous to  mention.  Even  if  one  did  not 
sell  much  he  would  get  a  day  of  royal  sport. 
Well,  here  is  the  Vinal  plan  : 

TRADING  HONEY  FOB  DUCKS,  PIGS,  PUPS,  ETC. 

In  all  the  literature  on  bees  and  lioney,  we  are 
urged  to  develop  the  home  market.  Acting  on  the 
advice,  after  I  had  traveled  over  my  regular  route 


th  is  fall  I  went  into  an  entirely  new  locality.  After 
enjoying  the  scenery  and  the  sunlight  for  about  a 
five-mile  drive  I  called  at  a  farmhouse  and  inquired 
of  the  good  lady  if  she  would  like  some  honey. 

"  Well,  yes.  I  should  like  some,  but  I  have  no 
money.". 

Seeing  some  ducks,  T  offered  to  trade  honey  for 
ducks;  and  for  a  pair  I  gave  four  pint  jars  of  honey. 

Calling  at  another  house,  I  sold  $3.00  worth  for 
cash;  and  while  I  was  talking  with  the  man  one  of 
the  ducks  gave  a  quack,  which  led  to  an  inquiry  as 
to  what  I  had.  I  told  them  I  had  traded  honey  for 
ducks. 

"  Well,  now,  look  here  ;  can't  I  trade  you  some 
hens  for  some  honey  ?  " 

I  traded  for  half  a  dozen,  and  made  the  children, 
1  hope,  happy  (I  was).  In  this  way  I  passed  the  day, 
and  on  my  drive  home  I  was  trying  to  figure  out  my 
profits.  Iliad  disposed  of  two  gross  of  pint  jars, 
and  120  pounds  of  comb  honey.  For  the  pint  jars  I 
received  35  cents;  also  35  cents  each  for  the  sections 
of  comb.  I  had  had  a  royal  day's  sport ;  and  as  1 
listened  to  the  quack  of  the  ducks  and  geese,  the 
cackle  of  the  hens,  and  squeal  of  the  pigs,  and  look- 
ed at  the  large  box  of  eggs  that  I  had  in  the  wagon, 
1  thought  I  would  have  to  send  for  some  of  Dr. 
Mason's  egg-preservative.  After  getting  home  I 
took  account  of  stock.  I  had  $54.40  cash,  108  dozen 
I  eggs,  8  ducks,  1  goose,  3  pigs,  34  hens,  and  1  buUpup. 
(The  pup  is  for  sale.)  Geo.  L.  Vinal,. 

Charlton  City,  Mass. 

PEDDLING    HONEY    AT    GROCERIES  AND 
OTHER  RETAIL  STORES. 

Mr.  W.  A.  Selser,  of  10  Vine  St.,  Philadel- 
,  phia,  is  not  only  a  practical  bee-keeper,  but 
he  is  also  a  large  buyer  of  honey.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  amount  he  produces  in  his  own 
apiaries,  he  buys  up  every  year  the  product 
of  several  large  yards.  All  of  this,  mostly 
extracted,  he  peddles  out  from  a  honey- 
wagon  to  the  retail  trade. 

The  secret  of  his  success  in  selling  and  in 
getting  good  prices  is  in  putting  up  always 
a  first-class  article  in  a  neat  and  attractive 
form.  He  advertises  liberally,  and  every 
one  knows  him  about  Philadelphia  as  "the 
honey-man."  In  connection  with  his  apiary 
he  has  a  bottling-shop  shown  in  the  top  view 
of  the  engraving.  In  a  room  in  this  build- 
ing (see  view  at  the  right)  he  puts  up  all  of 
his  extracted  honey  in  Muth  jars.  See  Ex- 
tracted Honey.  In  this  room  is  a  large 
steam-caldron  that  will  hold  perhaps  two  or 
three  barrels  of  honey  at  a  time.  Into  this 
he  pours  several  choice  grades  of  extracted, 
whether  candied  or  not.  A  gentle  heat  is 
applied  until  it  is  all  brought  to  a  liquid 
condition.  It  is  then  heated  to  about  150  or 
180  degrees  Eahr.,  after  which  it  is  bottled 
and  sealed  while  hot.  This,  as  is  well 
known,  will  prevent  the  honey  from  candy- 
ing for  a  considerable  length  of  time.  The 
corks,  before  being  put  into  the  bottles,  are 
dipped  into  a  mixture  of  beeswax  and  resin 


HOKEY-PLANTS. 


213 


HONEY-PLANTS. 


and  inserted,  making  a  perfect  hermetic 
sealing. 

After  several  gross,  perhaps,  are  put  up, 
Mr.  Selser  loads  all  he  can  carry  in  a  special 
wagon  shown  in  the  left,  and  in  the  central 
view  at  the  bottom.  He  then  visits  the  city 
stores  and  replenishes  their  stock.  After  he 
has  supplied  all  the  city  retail  places  he  then 
goes  into  the  country,  visits  the  suburban 
towns,  and  even  drives  as  far  as  the  city  of 
New  York,  supplying  some  stores  in  that 
metropolis. 

HOETBY-PIiAWTS.— Not  every  flow- 
•er  that  blooms  helps  to  fill  up  our  hives. 
The  beautiful  flowers  of  the  garden,  made 
double  by  cultivating  them,  yield  no  nec- 
tar at  all.  They  produce  no  seed,  so  there 
is  no  nectar  to  invite  the  bees  to  come  and 
fertilize  them.  If  you  will  read  the  article 
about  pollen  you  will  understand  this  better. 
Some  yield  plenty  of  pollen  with  little 
or  no  nectar.  Some  yield  immense  quan- 
tities of  honey,  but  the  plants  are  so  few 
in  number  that  they  are  not.  worth  con- 
sidering. The  poinsettia  is  an  example.  I 
iave  seen  large  drops  of  nectar  on  one  of 
these  plants,  which  had  evaporated  to  the 
consistency  of  honey ;  but  what  does  it  mat- 
ter huw  much  honey  can  be  obtained  from  a 
■s'ngle  plant,  if  there  are  no  plants  except  a 
single  one  here  and  there  in  a  greenhouse  ? 
Some  yield  nectar,  but  the  flowers  are  so 
constructed  that  the  honey-bee  can  not  ob- 
tain it,  although  some  other  insect  can. 

In  spite  of  all  this,  the  list  of  flowers  that 
iire  of  more  or  less  value  to  us  is  a  very 
large  one — so  large  that  it  is  not  desirable  to 
^ive  a  full  list.  Throughout  the  book,  ia 
iheir  proper  alphabetical  places,  will  be 
tound  some  account  of  the  principal  plants 
that  specially  interest  bee-keepers.  It  may 
be  desirable,  however,  to  be  able  to  tell  at  a 
glance  what  they  are,  so  a  list  is  here  given. 

Included  in  the  list  are  the  names  of  some 
that  are  sometimes  spoken  of  as  honey- 
plants,  but  are  hardly  of  suflicient  conse- 
quence to  receive  much  attention,  and 
hence  are  not  mentioned  elsewhere  in  the 
book.' 

Abutilon,  or  flowering  maple.  An  im- 
mense yielder,  but  of  no  consequence,  be- 
cause so  scarce. 

Acacia.  South. 

Actinomeris  Squarrosa,  or  golden  honey- 
plant. 

Alfalfa,  or  Lucerne  [Medicago  sativa),  see 
xVlfalfa. 

Alsike,  or  Swedish  clover  ( Trifolium  hybri- 
dnm],  see  Alsike. 
Apple  (see  Eruit-blossoms). 
Apricot. 


Asparagus. 

Aster  [iSoUdago],  see  Aster. 

Banana. 

Barberry. 

Basil,  or  mountain  mint  [Pycnanthemum 
laiiceolatum). 

Basswood,  or  American  linden  [Tilia 
Americana),  see  Basswood. 

Bean. 

Bee-balm  {Melissa  officinalis). 

Beggar- ticks  (burr  marigold). 

Bergamot  {Monarda  fistulosa). 

Blackberry. 

Black  gum.  South. 

Blackheart. 

Black  mangrove  [Avicennia  tomentosa).  A 
leading  honey-plant  in  Florida. 

Black  mustard  {Sinapis  nigra),  see  Mus- 
tard. 

Black  sage. 

Bladder-nut. 

Blood-root  [Sanguinaria  Canadensis). 
Blue-bottle. 

Blue  gum  {Eucalyptus  globulus).  Califor- 
nia. 

Blue  thistle  {Echium  vulgare). 

Boneset,  or  thoroughwort  {Eupatorium 
perfotiatum).  A  honey-plant  of  considerable 
importance. 

Borage  [Borago  officinalis). 

Box-elder,  or  ash-leaved  maple  {Negundo 
acerodes).   Where  plentful,  quite  important. 

Buckbush  {ISynqj/ioricarpus  vulgaris),  see 

BUCKBUSH. 

Buckeye. 

liuckthorn.  South. 

Buckwheat  {Polygonum  fagopyrum),  see 
Buckwheat. 

Burdock  {Lappa  major).  Has  white  pol- 
len. 

Burr  marigold  {Bidens  frondosa).   A  near 
relative  of  the  Spanish  needle. 
Bush  honeysuckle. 

Button-bush  {Cephalanthus  occidentalis). 
Important  on  the  overflowed  lands  of  the 
Mississippi  River. 

Butterweed. 

Cabbage. 

Cabbage  palmetto  {Chamoerops  palmetto). 
One  of  the  main  sources  of  honey  in  the 
South. 

Cardinal  flower  {Lobelia  cardinalis). 
Carpenter"s-square,  see  Figwort. 
Catalpa. 

Catnip  {Nepeta  cataria). 
Chamomile. 

Chapman  honey-plant  {Echinops  spheroce- 
phalus),  see  Chapman  honey-plant. 
Cherry,  see  Eruit-blossoms. 
Chic<  ry. 

Chinese  wistaria. 
Chinquapin. 

Clover,  alsike,  see  Alsike  Clover. 
Clover,  red  {Trifolium  pratense),  see  Clo- 
ver. 

Clover,  white  {Trifolium  repens),  see-  Clo- 
ver. 

Clover,  crimson,  see  Clover. 
Coboea  scandens. 
Coffee-berry.  California. 
Coreopsis,  see  Spanish  Needle. 
'  Corn,  Indian. 

Cotton    {Gossypium    herbaceum).  South. 
Some  say  it  compares  with  clover. 
Cow-pea.  South. 


HONEY-PLANTS. 


214 


HONEY-PLANTS. 


Crab -apple. 

Crocus.   Coming  so  early,  it  would  be  an 
impoitant  plant  but  for  its  scarcity. 
Crowfoot. 

Cucumber  [Cucumis  sativus).  In  the  vi- 
cinity of  pickle-factories  this  plant  yields 
quite  a  harvestof  honey  after  clover  is  over. 

Culver's-root. 

Currant. 

Dandelion  {Taraxacum). 

Elm  (  Ulmns).  The  elms,  where  plentiful, 
are  of  considerable  importance,  on  account 
of  their  aid  in  early  brood-rearing. 

Esparcette.  or  sainfoin  (see  Clover). 

False  indigo. 

Figwort  {Scrofularia  nodosa),  see  Fig- 
wort. 

Fireweed,  or  willow-herb  [Epilohium  an- 
gi/stifoHum).  In  newly  cleared  lands,  es- 
pecially in  Northern  Michigan,  much  honey 
is  sometimes  obtained  from  this  plant.  See 

WlLLOW^-HERB. 

Fog-fruit  [Lippia  nodiflora).   Valued  in 
California  and  Texas. 
Fruit-blossoms. 
Gallberry.  South. 

Gaura  coccinea.  Well  reported  in  Ark- 
ansas. 

Germander,  or  wood-sage. 
Giant  hyssop. 

Giant  mignonnette  [Reseda  grandiflora), 

see  MlG^^ONNETTE. 

Gill-over-the-ground,  or  ground-ivy  [Nep- 
eta  gledvmia),  see  Gill-over-the-ground. 

Golden  honey-plant  [Actinomeris  squar- 
rosa). 

Goldenrod  [SoUdago). 

Gooseberry. 

Grape. 

Ground-ivy,  see  Gill-over-the-ground. 

Gumbo,  or  okra. 

Hawthorn. 

Hazelnut. 

Heal-all,  see  Figwort. 

Heart's-ease,  large  smartweed  [Persicaria 
mite).  On  the  overflowed  lands  of  the  Missis- 
sippi this  is  a  valuable  fall  flower.  The  honey 
is  quite  light  colored,  and  of  good  flavor.  A 
peculiarity  is,  that  heating  injures  it  so  that 
it  is  ruined  by  the  temperature  of  boiling 
water.   See  Heartsease. 

Heather  [Erica  vulgaris),  a  prolific  source 
of  honey  in  Europe  and  British  Isles. 

Hemp. 

Ilercules'-club  [Aralia  spinosa). 

Honey-locust  [Gleditschia  triacanthos). 

Hoarhound  [Marruhium  vulgare).  Good 
yields  have  been  reported  from  this  plant, 
but  so  bitter  as  to  be  worthless  except  as  a 
medicine 

1 1  orsemint  ( Mo narda punctata) ,  see  Horse- 
mint. 

Indian    currant,  coral-berry,  duckbush 
[Symplinricarpus  vulgaris),  see  Buckbush. 
iron  weed. 
Japan  clover.     "  . 

Japanese  buckwheat,  see  Buckwheat. 
Japan  plum.  South. 
Japan  privet. 

Judas-tree,  red-bud  [Cercis  Car,adensis). 
June  -  berry,  service  -  berry,  shad  -  berry 
[Amelanchier  Ga^iadensis). 
Knotweed,  see  Heartsease. 
Lentils. 

Linden,  see  Basswood. 


Locust  [Bohinia  pseudacacia),  see  Locust. 

Loosestrife  [Lythrum  salacaria).  A  good 
honey  plant,  but' not  plentiful  enough  to  be 
of  much  consequence. 

Lucerne,  see  Alfalfa. 

Lupine  [Lupinus  perennis). 

Madron  a. 

Magnolia.  South. 

Malva. 

Mammoth  red  or  peavine  clover,  see  Clo- 
ver. 

Mangrove.  Florida.  A  valuable  honey- 
plant. 

Manzanita.  California. 
Maple.   The  different  maples  are  of  much 
value,  yielding  well  for  early  brood-rearing. 
Marjoram. 
Marsh  sunflower. 
Matrimony  vine  [Lyciiim  vulgare). 
Meadow  sweet. 

Melilot  [Melilotus  alba),  see  Sweet  Clo- 
ver. 
Melissa. 
Melon. 

Mesquite-tree.  Texas. 
Mignonnette  [Reseda  odorata). 
Milkweed  [Asclepias  cornuti). 
Milk-vetch. 

Motherwort  [Leonurus  cardiaca). 

Mountain  laurel  (JTnta'a  latifolia).  This 
plant  is  famed  for  yielding  poisonous  honey 
that  produces  severe  sickness.  See  Poison- 
ous Honey-plants. 

Mustard  iShmpis  arvensis). 

Okra,  or  gumbo. 

Onion  ( Allium  cepa).  There  are  reports  of 
yields  of  honey  from  fields  of  onions  culti- 
vated for  seed,  having  very  strongly  the  pe- 
culiar onion  odor,  which,  however,  disap- 
pears after  a  time. 

Orange  [Citrus  aurayitium).  Considered 
valuable  in  some  places. 

Ox  eye  daisy. 

Palmetto.  South. 

Parsnip. 

Partridge-pea  [Cassia  chamcecrista). 
Peach. 

Peavine,  or  mammoth  red   clover,  see 
Clover. 
Pepper-tree.  California. 
Persimmon. 

Phacelia.   A  beautiful  cultivated  flower. 

Plantain,  rib-grass  [Flantago  major).  Has 
white  pollen. 

Pleurisy-root  [Asclepias  tuherosa).  This 
plant  is  very  highly  praised  by  J  ames  Hed- 
don. 

Plum. 

Poinsettia. 

Poplar,  see  White  wood. 
Prairie  clover.   Good  in  Texas. 
Pumpkin. 
Radish. 

Ragweed,  see  Pollen. 
Rape  [Brassica  campestris). 
Ratan. 

Rattlesnake-root,  or  tall  white  lettuce 
[N<ibalus  altissimus). 
Rattleweed,  see  Figwort. 
Raspberry. 

Red-bud,  Judas  tree  [Cercis  Canadensis). 
Red  gum  [Enculuptus  rostrata.  California. 
Rocky  Mountain  bee-plant  (OZeome  hdegri- 
folia),  see  Rocky  Mountain  Bee-plant. 
Sage  [Salvia). 


HONEY-PLANTS. 


215 


HORSEMINT. 


Saw-palmetto.  South. 

Shad-bush. 

Sida  spinosa. 

Simpson  honey-plant,  see  Figwort. 
Snap-dragon. 

Sneeze  weed  {Helenium  autnmnale). 
Snowdrop  {Symphoricarpus  racemosus),  see  i 

EUCKBUSH.  I 

Spanish  needle,  see  Spanish  Needle. 
Spider-flower  [Ckome  punyens),  see  Spi- 
der-plant. 
Squarestalk,  see  Figwort. 
Squash. 

St.  John's-wort  [Hypericum). 

Stone  crop  [Sedum  pulckellum).  South. 

Strawberry. 

Sumac  [lilius). 

Sunflower  [Helianthus). 

Smartweed,  see  Heart's-ease. 

Sorrel. 

Sorrel  tree,  or  sorrel- wood. 

Sourwood  [Oxydeiidrum  arboreum). 

Sweet  clover  [Melilotus  alba),  see  Clover. 

Teasel  [Dipsacus). 

Thyme. 

Tick.  seed. 

Touch-me-not,  or   swamp    balsam,  see 
Pollen. 
Trefoil,  see  Clover. 
Tulip -tree,  see  Whitewood. 
Turnip  [Brassica  depressa). 
Valerian. 

Yarnish-tree.  South. 
Yervain  [Verbeyia). 
Vetches. 

Viper's  bugloss    [Echium    vulgare),  see 
Blue  Thistle. 
Virginia  creeper. 
Vitis  bipinnata.  South. 
White  mustard  [Sinapis  alba),  see  VVhite- 

^VOOD. 

Whitewood  [Liriodendroyi  tulipifera). 

White  sage,  see  Sage. 

Wild  cherry. 

Wild  rose. 

Wild  senna. 

Wild  sunflower. 

Wild  touch-me-not. 

Willow  [Salix).  The  willows  form  a  very 
important  class,  coming,  as  they  do,  early  in 
th-^  season,  and  yielding  both  honey  and 
pollen 

Willow  herb,  see  Willow-herb. 

Wistaria 

Yellow- wood. 

HONEY  VINEGAR.   See  Vinegar. 

HORSZilVEIlNrT  (  Monarda  punctata  ) . 
This  plant  was  first  brought  to  notice  several 
years  ago,  and  at  that  time  the  seeds  were 
sold  quite  extensively  as  a  honey -bearing 
plant.  It  was  dropped  and  almost  forgotten, 
until  reports  of  large  crops  of  honey,  said  to 
be  from  this  source  alone,  began  to  come  in. 
It  first  attracted  attention  on  the  alluvial 
lowlands  bordering  on  the  Mississippi  Eiver ; 
afterward,  wonderful  reports  came  from  it, 
from  different  parts  of  Texas  —  one  man  re- 
porting as  high  as  700  lbs.  gathered  by  a  sin- 
gle colony  in  a  single  season.  The  bees  that 
did  this  wonderful  feat  were  Cyprians,  or,  at 


least,  crossed  with  Cyprian  blood.  The  hive 
in  which  they  stored  it  was  the  common  Sim- 
plicity hive,  tiered  up  four  stories  high.  This 
great  yield  of  honey  was  reported  during  the 
season  of  1882.  As  the  crop  seemed  almost  a 
total  failure  in  the  year  1883,  it  would 
seem  that  the  yield  is  a  little  uncertain,  as 


H0RSE3IINT  OF  TEXAS. 

with  a  great  many  other  honey  -  bearing 
plants.  Considerable  talk  has  been  made 
about  raising  the  plants  for  honey.  As  it 
grows  spontaneously  in  parts  of  the  South  in 
vast  beds,  acres  in  extent,  it  would  seem  bet- 
ter at  the  present  time  for  the  bee-keei^er  to 
move  to  these  localities  rather  than  attempt 
to  raise  it  further  north  for  honey  alone. 

HVBRIDS.   Everybody  who  has  had 
Italians  very  long,  probably  knows  what 
hybrids  are,  especially  if  they  have  kept 
bees  when  the  honey-crop  was  suddenly  cut 
short  during  a  drought  in  the  fall  of  the  year. 
The  term  hybrid  has  been  applied  to  bees 
that  are  a  cross  between  the  Italians  and  the 
common  bee.*  If  one  buys  an  Italian  queen 
that  is  pure,  he  can  at  once  set  about  rear- 
ing queens  if  he  chooses,  and  it  matters  not 
how  many  common  bees  there  are  around  him; 
if  he  rears  all  his  queens  as  I  have  directed 
under    Nuclei    and  Queen-rearing, 
he    may   have  the  full   benefit  of  the 
i  Italians  so  far  as  honey-gathering  is  con- 
j  cerned,  just  as  well  as  if  there  were  no  other 
!  bees  within  miles  of  him.    This  seems  a 
I  paradox  to  most  beginners,  for  we  have  let- 
!  ters  almost  daily,  asking  if  it  will  be  of  any 
!  use  to  pm'chase  Italians,  when  other  bees 
i  are  kept  all  around  them.   If  you  are  keep- 
ing bees  for  the  honey  they  produce,  and  for 
:  nothing  else,  I  do  not  know  but  that  you  are 
better  off  with  other  bees  in  the  neighbor- 
I  hood.   The  queens  that  you  rear  will  be  f ull- 
I  bloods  like  their  mother;  but  after  meeting 
the  common  drones,  their  worker  progeny 
will  of  course  be  half  common  and  half  Ital- 
I  ian,  generally  speaking.   These  are  what  we 
call  hybrid  bees.    In  looks  they  are  much 
like  the  Italians,  only  a  little  darker.  Some- 

*For  test  as  to  what  constitutes  a  hybrid,  see 

ITAI.IAN  BEEti. 


HYBRIDS. 


216 


HYBRIDS. 


times  a  queen  will  produce  bees  all  about 
alike  ;  that  is,  they  will  have  one  or  two  of 
the  yellow  bands,  the  second  and  broadest  us 
being  about  as  plain  and  distinct  as  in  the 
full-bloods.  Other  queens  will  produce  bees 
variously  striped,  from  a  pure  black  bee  to 
the  finest  three-banded  Italians.  I  have  had 
black  queens  fertilized  by  Italian  drones, 
and  these  seem  to  be  hybrids  just  the  same 
as  the  others;  I  have  not  been  able  to  distin- 
guish any  particular  difference. 

As  honey-gatherers,  these  bees  that  have 
the  blood  of  the  two  races  are,  I  believe,  tak- 
ing all  things  into  consideration,  fully  equal 
to  the  pure  Italians.  There  are  times, 
it  is  true,  when  the  full-bloods  seem  to  be 
ahead;  but  I  think  there  are  other  times  and 
circumstances  when  the  taint  of  black  blood 
gives  an  advantage  in  respect  to  the  amount 
of  honey  gathered,  that  will  fully  make  up 
the  difference;  and  I  would  therefore  say,  if 
honey  is  your  object,  and  nothing  else,  you 
are  just  as  well  off  to  let  your  queens  meet 
just  such  drones  as  they  happen  to  find. 
Why,  then,  do  hybrid  queens  find  slow  sale, 
at  about  one-fourth  of  the  price  of  pure  Ital- 
ians? Just  because  of  their  excitability  and 
vindictive  temper.^* 

Italians,  as  they  generally  run,  are  dis- 
posed to  be  quiet  and  still  when  their  hive  is 
opened,  and  to  remain  quietly  on  their  combs 
while  they  are  being  handled,  showing  neith- 
er vindictiveness  nor  alarm.  Black  or  com- 
mon bees,  on  the  contrary,  are  disposed  to 
be  frightened,  and  either  make  a  general 
stampede,  or  buzz  about  one's  head  and  eyes 
in  a  way  quite  unlike  the  Italians.  The  Ital- 
ians do  not  stand  still  because  they  are  afraid 
to  make  an  attack,  for,  let  a  robber  approach, 
and  they  will  sting  him  to  death  in  a  way  so 
cool  as  to  astonish  one  who  has  seen  only 
common  bees  under  similar  circumstances. 
A  race  of  bees  so  prompt  to  repel  intruders 
of  their  own  kind,  it  would  seem,  would  also 
be  prompt  to  repel  interference  from  man; 
but  such  is  not  the  case.  They  do  not  seem 
to  be  at  all  suspicious  when  their  hive  is 
opened,  and  a  frame  lifted  out.  Well,  these 
half-bloods  inherit  the  boldness  of  the  Ital- 
ians, and,  at  the  same  time,  the  vindic- 
tiveness of  the  blacks.  And  to  raise  the  cov- 
er to  a  hive  of  hybrids,  without  smoke,  dur- 
ing a  scarcity  of  honey,  would  be  a  bold  op- 
eration for  even  a  veteran.  Without  any 
buzz  or  note  of  alarm,  one  of  these  sons  of 
war  will  quietly  dart  forth  and  inflict  his 
sting  before  you  hardly  know  where  it  comes 
from;  then  another,  and  another,  until,  al- 
most crazed  with  pain,  you  drop  the  cover. 


!  and  find  that  they  are  bound  to  stick  to  you, 
I  not  only  out  into  the  street,  but  into  the 
I  house  or  wherever  you  may  go,  in  a  way 
I  very  unlike  either  pure  race  of  bees.  Some- 
\  times,  when  a  hive  is  opened,  they  will  fix  on 
;  the  leg  of  one's  trousers  so  quietly  that  you 
:  hardly  dream  they  are  there,  until  you  see 
I  them  stinging  with  a  vehemence  that  indi- 
cates a  willingness  to  throw  away  a  score  of 
lives  if  they  had  so  many.   This  bad  temper 
and  stinging  is  not  all;  if  you  should  desire 
I  to  introduce  a  queen  or  queen-cell  to  these 
j  bees,  they  would  be  very  likely  to  destroy 
I  all  you  could  bring;  while  a  stock  of  either 
I  pure  race  would  accept  them  without  trouble. 
During  extracting  time,  or  taking  off  sur- 
plus honey,  you  will  find  little  trouble,  pro- 
viding you  work  while  honey  is  still  coming; 
but  woe  betide  you  if  you  leave  it  on  the 
hives  until  the  yield  is  passed. i^e 

In  preparing  hybrid  stocks  for  wintering, 
I  have  seen  them  so  cross  that  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  get  in  sight  of  the  hive,  after 
they  had  once  got  roused  up;  and  when  I 
charged  on  them  suddenly  with  smoker  in 
excellent  trim,  they  charged  on  me  as  sud- 
denly, took  possession  of  the  smoker,  buzzed 
down  into  the  tube  in  their  frantic  madness, 
and  made  me  glad  to  beat  a  retreat,  leaving 
them  in  full  possession  not  only  of  the  ''field," 
but  the  "artillery"  as  well.  This  was  a  very 
powerful  colony,  and  they  had  been  unusu- 
ally roused  up.  Although  it  was  quite  cool 
weather,  they  hung  on  the  outside  of  the 
hive,  watching  for  me,  I  suppose,  until  next 
morning.  I  then  came  up  behind  them  with 
a  great  volley  of  smoke,  and  got  them  under 
and  kept  them  so,  until  I  could  give  them 
chaff  cushions,  and  put  them  in  proper  win- 
tering trim. The  queen  was  extremely  pro- 
lific, and  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  had  one 
single  queen  that  was  the  mother  of  a  larger 
family  of  bees.  Many  of  these  hybrid  queens 
are  extraordinarily  prolific. 

I  believe  the  hybrids  are  more  disposed  to 
rob  than  the  Italians,  but  not  as  much  so  as 
the  common  bees.  I  decide  thus,  because, 
when  at  work  among  them,  the  bees  that 
buzz  about  the  hives,  trying  to  grab  a  load 
of  plunder  if  a  chance  offers,  are  almost  in- 
variably full-blood  blacks.  They  may  have 
a  dash  of  hybrid  blood,  but  I  judge  not,  be- 
cause the  hybrids  and  Italians  will  often  be 
at  work  when  the  blacks  are  lounging  about 
trying  to  rob,  or  doing  nothing.  I  have 
known  a  strong  hybrid  stock  to  be  slowly 
accumulating  stores  in  the  fall,  when  full- 
bloods,  in  the  same  apiary,  were  losing  day 
by  day.   See  Itat.ian  Bees. 


I. 


ISTTRODUCZIUa.  Most  of  the  cages 
sent  out  by  queen-breeders  are  accompanied 
with  directions  how  to  perform  this  opera- 
tion ;  and  it  is  usually  safer  for  the  beginner 
to  follow  these  directions  implicitly.  I 

The  mailing  and  introducing  cage  that  is  | 
ordinarily  used  over  the  country  is  called  j 
the  Benton,  and  is  shown  in  the  accompany-  | 
ing  illustration.   This  consists  of  an  oblong 
block  of  wood  with  three  holes  bored  nearly 
through,  one  of  the  end  holes  being  filled  with 


Good  candy  (see  Caxdy),  and  the  other  two 
being  left  for  the  occupancy  of  the  bees  and 
queen.  On  the  back  of  the  cover  are  printed 
the  directions  for  introducing,  and  at  each 
end  of  the  cage  is  a  small  hole  bored  through 
the  end  of  the  grain  of  the  wood.  One  hole 
(next  to  the  bees)  is  covered  with  a  piece  of 
perforated  wire  cloth,  secured  in  place  by 
two  small  wire  nails  driven  through  the  per- 
forations. The  other  hole  (that  is,  the  can- 
dy end)  is  covered  over  with  a  piece  of 
pasteboard  perforated  by  a  line  of  holes  run- 
ning through  the  center.  The  object  of 
these  perforations  is  to  give  the  bees  an  op- 
portunity to  taste  the  candy  through  the 
holes  of  the  pasteboard:  and  once  having 
gotten  a  sip  they  will  gnaw  the  holes  larg- 
er, and  finally  eat  aw^ay  the  pasteboard  en- 
tirely. 

Yery  often,  after  the  cage  has  been  through 
the  mails,  and  been  on  the  journey  for  sev- 
eral days,  the  bees  in  the  cage  will  have 
consumed  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  of  the 
candy.  If  those  in  the  hive  to  which  the 
queen  is  to  be  introduced  had  access  to  the 
candy  direct  they  would  eat  out  what  little 


there  was  of  it  in  five  or  six  hours,  liberate 
the  queen,  and  probably  kill  her.  In  order 
to  accomplish  introduction  safely  the  cage 
should  be  on  the  frames  (where  the  bees  can 
get  acquainted  with  the  queen)  for  at  least 
24  hours,  and  longer  wherever  practicable. 
As  it  takes  anywhere  from  12  to  24  hours  for 
the  bees  to  gnaw  away  the  pasteboard  before 
they  can  get  at  the  candy,  and  from  6  to  24 
hours  to  eat  out  the  candy,  we  are  assured 
of  at  least  18  hom^s  before  the  bees  can  re- 
lease their  new  mother  :  and  generally  the 
time  is  longer  — anywhere  from  24  to  48 
hours.  The  pasteboard  has  another  advan- 
tage, in  that  it  makes  the  introduction  en- 
tirely automatic.  The  one  who  receives  the 
queen  pries  off  the  cover  protecting  the  wire 
cloth,  and  then  by  the  directions  which  he 
reads  on  the  reverse  side  of  this  cover  he 
learns  that  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  lay  the  cnge 
wire  cloth  down  over  tlie  space  between  two 
brood-frames  of  the  queenless  colony,  and 
the  &ee.s  do  the  rest.  It  is  not  even  necessary 
for  him  to  open  the  hive  to  release  the 
queen:  ijideed,  he  had  better  let  the  queen 
entirely  alone  for  three  or  four  days,  for 
opening  the  hives  disturbs  the  bees  and  an- 
noys them  to  such  an  extent  that  very  often 
they  will  ball  the  queen,  seeming  to  lay  to 
her  door  what  must  be  to  them  a  very  great 
disturbance  in  having  their  home  torn  to 
pieces. 

There  are  several  sizes  of  these  Benton 
cages — the  larger  ones  being  used  for  the 
longer  distances.  The  one  herewith  shown 
is  good  for  lOCO  miles  through  the  mails,  al- 
though it  is  very  often  used  for  twice  that 
distance. 

The  cage  above  shown  is  what  may  be 
called  a  combination  mailing  and  introduc- 
ing cage.   Ordinarily,  if  we  have  much  in- 
i  troducing  to  do  we  prefer  something  espe- 
I  cially  adapted  to  the  latter  purpose  alone ; 
I  we  have,  therefore,  used  with  a  great  deal  of 
satisfaction  the  cage  next  shown. 

As  many  of  the  readers  of  this  work  may 
possib'y  do  something  at  mailing  queens,  it 
may  be  well  to  add  a  word  about  making 
the  candy  for  the  Benton  cages.  This  siiould 
be  prepared  as  directed  imder  Caxdy,  which 
see.   It  should  be  made  several  days  in  ad- 


HYBRIDS. 


218 


HYBKIDS. 


vance  of  the  time  it  is  expected  to  be  used  ; 
for  after  it  has  been  made  it  will  soften 
down  and  become  quite  sticky.  If  put  in 
cages  in  this  condition  it  will  result  in  the 
death  of  the  bees  and  queen  before  accom- 
plishing half  their  journey.  After  the  can- 
dy has  stood  several  days  it  is  likely  to  be- 
come soft  again, when  more  sugar  should  be 
kneaded  in.  It  would  be  better  then  to  let 
it  stand  two  or  three  days,  and  then,  if  neces- 
sary, knead  in  more  sugar  until  it  holds  its 
consistency  so  that  the  dough  is  stiff,  moist, 
and  mealy.  This  is  important.  It  should 
then  be  crowded  into  the  candy  hole  or  can- 
dy end,  as  we  call  it,  and  then  the  hole  in 
the  end  over  which  the  pasteboard  is  to  be 
tacked  should  be  plugged  full  of  candy,  after 
which  the  pasteboard  may  be  nailed  on. 

The  manner  of  filling  the  cages  for  mail- 
ing is  to  pick  the  cage  up  in  the  left  hand  in 
such  a  way  that  the  thumb  can  cover  the 
hole  over  which  the  wire  cloth  has  been 
nailed,  but  which,  before  the  time  of  filling, 
should  be  revolved  around  to  one  side  or  ta- 
ken off  entirely.  The  queen  is  first  to  be 
picked  up  by  the  wings,  when  her  head  is 
then  to  be  pushed  into  the  hole  as  far  as 
possible.  She  will  run  in,  when  the  thumb 
is  to  be  put  over  the  hole.  A  worker-bee  is 
next  to  be  picked  up  in  a  similar  manner, 
and  poked  in.  Workers  are  put  in  in  this 
way,  selecting  those  that  are  filling  with 
honey  from  some  empty  cells  until  there  are 
a  dozen  bees.  If  the  cage  is  larger,  two  doz- 
en may  be  used  ;  and  if  it  is  extra  large,  four 
or  five  dozen.  If  the  cages  are  mailed  dur- 
ing cold  weather  there  should  be  more  bees 
put  in, to  help  keep  up  the  animal  heat:  but 
during  hot  weather  there  should  be  no  more 
than  a  dozen  bees  in  the  smallest  Benton 
cage,  which  is  ordinarily  mailed  for  a  cent. 

MII^LER'S  INTRODUCING-CAGE. 

It  is  very  convenient  to  have  in  the  apia- 
ry small  cages  for  introducing,  as  well  as 
for  caging  and  holding  queens  that  come 
out  with  swarms  until  they  can  be  intro- 


duced or  disposed  of.  The  one  above  illus- 
trated is  the  best  of  any.  It  is  especially 
handy  for  introducing  young  virgins. The 
cage  is  so  flat  it  can  be  slid  in  at  the  en- 
trance, without  even  removing  the  cover 
of  the  hives,  and  the  bees  will  release  the 
queen  by  the  candy  method.  But  when  in- 
troducing fertile  or  valuable  queens  I  would 


recommend  inserting  it  between  two  combs. 
Draw  them  together  until  they  hold  the 
cage.  The  queen  thus  acquires  the  scent  of 
the  combs,  brood,  and  of  the  cluster,  and 
hence  when  released  will  be  more  likely  to 
be  accepted. 

This  cage,  like  the  Benton,  will  give  very 
much  better  results  if  a  piece  of  pasteboard 
be  nailed  over  the  end.  This  the  bees  will 
gnaw  away,  gaining  access  to  the  candy, 
which  they  eat  out.  We  have  found  that, 
since  we  have  discovered  the  value  of  the 
pasteboard  used  in  the  manner  stated,  with 
either  the  Benton  or  the  Miller  cage  we  are 
able  to  introduce  99  per  cent  of  all  the 
queens,  providing,  of  course,  the  colony  has 
not  been  queenless  more  than  four  or  five 
days.  One  that  has  been  without  a  mother 
longer  may  get  to  depending  on  cells ;  and 
when  the  work  has  so  far  progressed  they  are 
liable  to  destroy  the  introduced  queen  and 
await  the  hatching  of  one  of  the  virgins. 

I  copy  its  manner  of  construction  from 
Dr.  Miller's  own  words: 

Take  a  block  3  inches  long-,  134  wide,  and  %  tlilck; 
two  blocks  1  inch  by  tqX^;  two  pieces  of  tin  about 
an  inch  square ;  a  piece  of  wire  cloth  4^^x314:  two 
pieces  of  fine  wire  about  9  inches  long,  and  four 
small  wire  nails  )^  or  ^  long.  That's  the  bill  of  ma- 
terial. Lay  down  the  two  small  blocks  parallel,  % 
of  an  inch  apart,  one  piece  of  tin  under,  and  one 
over  them.  Nail  together  and  clinch.  These  two 
blocks,  being  %  inch  apart,  make  the  hole  to  fill  with 
Good  candy,  throug-h  which  the  queen  is  liberated. 

Eor  an  introducing-cage  this  is  ahead  of 
any  thing  else  I  know  of.  In  our  apiaries  we 
use  it  exclusively.  Another  feature  of  im- 
portance to  beginners  is  as  a  queen-catcher. 
It  can  be  set  down  over  the  queen  after  the 
wooden  slide  is  removed,  and  when  she 
crawls  upward  the  plug  is  replaced. 

M'mTYRE'S  CAGE. 

Another  excellent  introducing-cage  is 
the  one  devised  by  J.  F.  Mclntyre.  As  to 
how  it  is  managed,  I  copy  from  Mr.  Mc- 


1 


Intyre's  article  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture., 
page  880, 1890  : 

I  take  a  piece  of  wire  cloth  5X  inches  square,  cut 
little  pieces     of  an  inch  square  out  of  each  corner. 


INTRO  DUCmG  QUEENS.  219 


NTRODUCING  QUEENS. 


and  bend  the  four  sides  at  rig-ht  angles,  making  a 
box  4  inclies  square  and  %,  inch  deep.  In  one  corner 
I  fasten  a  tube  of  wood  or  tin  X  inch  in  diameter, 
and  two  inches  long-,  which  is  filled  with  Good  candy, 
for  the  bees  to  eat  out  and  liberate  the  queen. 

I  use  this  cage  altogether  in  my  apiary,  for  chang- 
ing laying  queens  from  one  hive  to  another.  I  kill 
my  old  queens  when  they  are  two  years  old,  and  in- 
troduce young  laying  queens  in  their  places.  My 
practice  is  to  go  to  the  nucleus  with  the  young  lay- 
ing queen;  lift  out  the  comb  with  the  queen  on,  and 
press  one  of  these  cages  into  the  comb  over  the 
queen,  and  what  bees  may  be  around  her.^**®  Carry 
this  comb  to  the  hive  with  the  old  queen ;  find  and 
till  the  old  queen,  and  place  the  comb  with  the 
young  qiieen  caged  on  it  in  the  center  oT  the  hive, 
taking  one  comb  from  the  hive  back  to  the  nucleus. 
In  a  week  I  go  and  take  the  cage  out  and  find  the 
young  queen  laying.  When  I  receive  a  valuable 
queen  from  a  distance  I  liberate  her  at  once  on  a 
comb  of  hatching  brood,  with  some  young  bees;  and 
when  she  commences  to  lay  I  introduce  her  as  above. 

Fillmore,  Cal.,  Oct.  21.  J.  P.  McIntyre. 

A  cage  that  is  very  popular  with  many 
bee-keepers,  and  somewhat  similar  to  the 
foregoing,  is  shown  in  the  two  illustrations 
next  following.   From  a  piece  of  wire  cloth 


perhaps  6  inches  square  a  piece  li  inches 
is  cut  out  of  each  corner,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
2.  Several  strands  of  wire  are  then  raveled 
out,  and  it  is  then  folded  as  shown  in  Fig.  3. 
To  introduce,  the  queen  is  placed  on  a  patch 
of  hatching  brood  with  a  few  cells  of  honey. 
When  she  is  at  the  right  point  the  cage  is 
clapped  over  her,  and  the  strands  are  forced 
clear  up  to  the  cross-wires.  The  young  bees, 
as  they  hatch ,  will  treat 
her  kindly,  and  in  the 
mean  time  she  will  be- 
gin laying  in  the  cells 
vacated  by  the  bees.  If 
the  outside  bees  seem 
to  be  favorably  dispos- 
ed, in  two  days  the 
cage  may  be  pulled  off; 
and  if  the  bees  still 
treat  her  kindly,  the 
comb  can  be  put  back 


into  the  hive,  and  the  hive  closed  up.  If 
the  bees  show  any  disposition  to  ball  her, 
she  should  be  caged  again  as  before,  but  this 
time  all  unsealed  larvae  should  be  removed, 
and  care  should  be  taken  that  there  are  no 
queen-cells  of  any  kind.  In  from  three  to 
five  days  more  she  may  be  released  again. 
By  this  time  the  bees  will  be  almost  sure  to 
accept  her. 

The  difference  between  this  and  the  Mc- 
Intyre cage  is  that  the  apiarist  has  to  release 
the  queen  himself,  whereas  by  the  McIntyre 
plan  the  bees  eat  out  the  candy  and  liberate 
her  automatically.  The  latter  plan  is  to  be 
preferred,  because  sometimes  opening  the 
hive  will  so  disturb  the  bees  as  to  cause 
them  to  attack  the  queen. 

HOW  TO  TELL  AVHETHER  A  COLONY  IS 
QUEENLESS  OK  XOT. 

Having  discussed  mailing  and  introduc- 
ing cages,  it  may  be  pertinent  at  this  point 
to  give  one  of  the  prime  essentials  to  suc- 
cessful introducing.  The  very  first  thing 
to  be  determined  before  you  attempt  to  in- 
troduce at  all,  is  that  your  colony  is  certainly 
queenless.  The  fact  that  there  may  be  no 
eggs  nor  larvae  in  the  hive,  and  that  you 
can  not  find  the  queen,  is  not  suflicient  evi- 
dence that  she  is  absent,  although  this  state 
of  affairs  points  that  way.  But  during  the 
earlier  part  of  the  summer  there  should  be 
either  brood  or  eggs  of  some  kind  if  a  queen 
is  present.  Yes,  there  should  be  eggs  or 
brood  clear  up  until  the  latter  part  of  sum- 
mer. In  the  early  fall,  queens  very  often 
stop  laying,  and  shrivel  up  in  size  so  that  a 
beginner  might  conclude  that  the  colony  is 
queenless,  and  therefore  he  must  buy  an- 
other. In  attempting  to  introduce  the  new 
queen,  of  course  he  meets  with  failure, 
j  and  the  new  arrival  is  stung  to  death,  in  all 
i  probability,  and  carried  out  at  the  hive-en- 
trance. If  you  can  not  find  either  eggs  or 
larvae  at  that  season  of  the  year  when  other 
stocks  are  breeding,  and  the  supposedly 
!  queenless  colony  build  cells  on  a  frame  of 
unsealed  larvae  that  you  give  them,  you 
may  decide  that  your  colony  is  surely 
queenless,  and  it  will  be  safe  then  to  intro- 
duce a  new  queen.  If  you  find  eggs,  larvae, 
and  sealed  worker  brood,  the  presence  of 
queen-cells  simply  indicates  that  the  bees 
are  either  preparing  to  supersede  their 
queen,  or  making  ready  to  swarm.  See 
Swarming. 

how  long  shall  a  colony  be  queen- 
less before  attempting  to  intro- 
DUCE? 

The  worst  colony  to  introduce  a  laying 


INTRODUCING  QUEENS.  220  INTRODUCING  QUEENS/ 


queen  to  is  one  that  has  been  queenless  long 
enough  so  that  there  is  a  possibility  of  one 
or  more  virgin  queens  being  in  the  hive.  It 
is  hard  to  decide  definitely  in  all  cases  when 
such  colonies  are  queenless.  The  young 
virgins,  after  they  are  three  or  four  days 
old,  are  very  apt  to  be  mistaken  for  work- 
ers, especially  by  a  beginner.  It  is  not  al- 
ways practicable  to  wait  until  they  will 
build  queen-cells,  especially  if  you  happen 
to  have  a  nice  surplus  of  laying  queens 
which  you  wish  to  find  room  for.  We  pre- 
fer colonies  that  have  not  been  queenless 
more  than  a  couple  of  days  —  just  long 
enough  to  see  cells  start,  and  just  long 
enough  so  the  bees  begin  to  recognize  their 
loss,  but  not  long  enough  for  them  to  get 
cells  under  way.  Cells  nicely  started  or 
capped  over  are  quite  apt  to  make  the  colo- 
ny feel  as  if  it  wanted  something  of  its  own ; 
and  when  a  laying  queen  is  introduced  to 
them  they  take  a  notion  sometimes  that 
they  won't  have  a  strange  mother. 

WHAT  TO  DO  IP    BEES  BALL  THE  QUEEN, 

When  we  introduced  queens  in  the  old- 
fashioned  way — that  is,  before  cages  were 
constructed  so  as  to  release  queens  auto- 
matically —  we  used  to  experience  much 
trouble  by  bees  baJling  queens.  If  the  bees 
were  not  ready  to  accept  her  when  she 
was  released  by  the  apiarist,  they  were  pret- 
ty sure  to  ball  her.  But  here  is  a  point 
that  it  is  well  to  observe  :  When  the  bees 
let  the  queen  out  they  will  rarely  ball  her. 
But  when  it  is  necessary  for  the  apiarist  to 
perform  the  work,  the  opening  of  the  hive, 
accompanied  by  the  general  disturbance,  is 
apt  to  cause  the  bees  to  ball  her  as  soon  as 
she  is  rele  ised.  Well,  suppose  they  do  ball 
her.  Lift  the  ball  out  of  the  hive  and  blow 
smoke  on  it  until  the  bees  come  off  one  by 
one.  When  you  can  see  the  queen,  get  hold 
of  her  wings  and  pull  the  rest  of  the  bees 
off  from  her  by  their  wings.  Do  not  be  nerv- 
ous about  it,  and  you  can  get  her  loose  and 
cage  her  again.  Put  more  candy  in  the 
opening,  and  give  her  another  trial.  Some 
one  —  I  do  not  remember  who  —  advised 
dropping  the  queen,  when  she  is  balled,  into 
a  vessel  of  water.  The  angry  bees  will  im- 
mediately desert  her,  when  the  queen  can 
be  easily  taken  out  of  the  water,  and  re- 
caged.  We  have  never  tried  it,  but  I  be- 
lieve we  should  prefer  the  method  we  first 
described.  503 

WHAT  TO  DO  WHEN  THE  QUEEN  FLIES 
AWAY. 

Sometimes  a  beginner  is  very  nervous, 
and  by  a  few  bungling  motions  may  manage  ' 


to  let  the  queen  escape  from  the  hive  where 
he  expects  to  introduce  her.  Or  this  may 
happen:  The  queen  may  take  wing  right 
off  from  the  frame — become  a  little  alarmed 
because  there  are  no  bees  about  her,  and 
fly.  In  either  case,  step  back  immediately 
after  opening  the  hive,  and  in  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes  she  is  quite  likely  to  return 
to  the  same  spot,  and  you  must  not  be  sur- 
prised if  you  find  her  again  in  the  hive.  If 
you  do  not  discover  her  iu  the  hive  near 
where  you  are  standing,  in  about  half  an 
hour  look  in  other  hives  near  by.  If  you 
see  a  ball  of  bees  somewhere  down  among 
the  frames,  you  may  be  quite  sure  that  she 
is  the  queen  that  flew  away,  and  that  she 
has  made  a  mistake,  and  entered  the  wrong 
hive. 

A  SURE  WAY  OF  INTRODUCING. 

There  is  one  perfectly  sure  way  of  intro- 
ducing a  very  valuable  queen,  such  as  an 
imported  one,  if  we  only  observe  the  cond  - 
tions  carefully.  Remove  frames  of  hatch- 
ing brood  from  several  hives,  and  shake  otf 
every  bee ;  put  these  into  an  empty  hive, 
closing  it  down  to  a  small  space  ;  and  if  the 
weather  is  not  very  warm,  place  the  whole 
in  a  warm  room.  Let  the  queen  and  her  at- 
tendants loose  in  this  hive,  and  the  youn^ 
bees,  as  they  hatch  out,  will  soon  make  a 
swarm.  As  several  who  have  tried  this, 
plan  have  been  so  careless  as  to  leave  tlie 
entrance  open  and  let  the  queen  get  out,  I 
would  warn  you  especially  to  have  your 
hive  so  close  that  no  bee  can  by  any  possi- 
bility get  out.*  If  the  frames  you  have 
selected  contain  no  unsealed  brood,  then 
you  will  have  but  very  little  loss  ;  but  other- 
wise, the  larvae,  having  no  bees  to  feed  them, 
will  mostly  starve.  As  soon  as  a  few  hun- 
dred bees  are  hatched,  the  queen  will  be 
found  with  them,  and  they  will  soon  make 
a  cluster;  if  the  combs  have  been  taken 
from  strong  colonies,  where  the  queen  is 
laying  hundreds  of  eggs  in  a  day,  in  a  week 
or  two  the  swarm  will  be  a  very  fair  one. 
Three  frames  will  do  very  well  at  first,  and 
one  or  two  more  may  be  added  in  the  course 
of  a  week  or  more.  Remember,  no  live  bee  is- 
to  be  given  to  the  queen.  A  queen  is  sel- 
dom lost  by  the  first  plan  given,  if  you  ^re 
careful,  and  watch  them  until  they  are 
safely  received. 

There  is  another  way  that  I  think  has  a  lit- 
tle the  preference.  In  order  to  describe  it  I 
can  do  no  better  than  to  make  an  extract. 


*  They  can  be  set  out  and  allowed  to  fly  in  two  or 
three  days. 


ITALIAiq^  BEES. 


221 


ITALIAN  BEES. 


from  an  editorial  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture, 
page  539,  Vol.  XXI. : 

We  have  just  received  a  consignment  of  30  im 
ported  Italian  queens,  direct  from  Italy,  by  ex- 
press. Every  queen  came  throug-h  alive  and  in 
g-ood  order,  and  they  are  now  introduced  into  the 
apiary  without  the  loss  of  one.  Our  method  of  in- 
troducing- with  this  lot  was  something-  we  had  not 
tried  before  on  so  large  a  number  of  queens.  We 
took  four  or  five  strong-  colonies,  and  divided  them 
up  into  30  one-frame  nuclei.  This  was  done  in  the 
forenoon.  In  the  afternoon  we  transferred  the  im- 
ported queens,  without  any  attendants,  to  the  Miller 
introducing-cag-e.  We  then  placed  one  of  each  in 
each  one  of  the  nuclei  above  mentioned;  they  weie 
then  left  for  two  days.  Most  of  the  queens  were 
out  at  the  expiration  of  that  time,  in  g-ood  order, 
and  they  are  now  all  out. 

You  see,  the  point  is  here:  These  newly  divided 
nuclei  will  have  old  and  young  bees,  and  more  or 
less  hatching  brood.  Before  the  imported  queen  is 
released,  the  old  bees  will  have  returned  to  the  old 
stand,  and  it  is  these  old  fellows  that  always  make 
trouble  in  introducing-.  By  the  time  the  queen  is 
released,  there  is  nothing-  but  young  bees,  including- 
those  that  were  brought  to  the  nuclei-stand  and 
those  that  are  hatched  out  in  the  interim.  These, 
of  course,  all  being  young,  will  accept  their  new 
mother,  without  any  trouble.  The  plan  has  proved 
to  be  so  satisfactory  that  we  shall  employ  it  here- 
after on  all  valuable  queens. 

HOW  SOON  SHOULD  AN  INTRODUCED  QUEEN 
BEGIN  TO  LAY  V 

As  a  general  thing,  we  may  expect  her  to 
begin  laying  next  day;  but  sometimes,  es- 
pecially if  the  queen  has  been  a  long  time 
prevented  from  laying,  as  in  the  case  of  an 
imported  queen,  she  may  not  lay  for  three 
or  four  days,  or  even  a  week.  If  introduced 
in  the  fall  of  the  year,  she  may  not  com- 
mence laying  at  all  until  spring,  unless  the 
colony  is  fed  regularly  every  day  for  a  week 
or  more.  This  will  always  start  a  queen 
that  is  good  for  any  thing. 

irrmdRTirfG-.   see  reversing. 

ITALIArr  BEZSS.  At  present  the 
Italians  are  by  far  the  most  profit  ib  e  bees 
we  have  ;  and  even  the  hybrids  have  shown 
themselves  so  far  ahead  of  the  common  bee 
that  I  think  we  may  safely  consider  all  dis- 
cussions in  the  matter  at  an  end.  Many 
times  we  find  colonies  of  hybrids  that  go 
ahead  of  the  pure  stock;  but  as  a  gene  ral  thing 
(taking  one  season  with  another),  the  pure 
Italians,  where  they  have  not  been  enfeebled 
by  choosing  the  light-colored  bees  to  breed 
from,  are  ahead  of  any  admixture.  There 
has  been  a  great  tendency  with  bees,  as  well 
as  other  stock,  to  pay  more  attention  to 
looks  than  to  real  intrin§j.c  worth,  such  as 
honey-gathering,  prolificness  of  the  queens, 
hardiness,  etc. ;  and  I  think  this  may  have  had 


much  to  do  with  the  severe  losses  we  have 
sustained  in  winters  past. 

Even  if  it  were  true,  that  hybrids  produce 
as  much  honey  as  pure  Italians,  each  bee- 
keeper would  want  at  least  one  queen  of  ab- 
solute and  known  purity;  for  although  a 
first  cross  might  do  very  well,  unless  he  had 
this  one  pure  queen  to  furnish  queen-cells 
he  would  soon  have  bees  of  all  possible 
grades,  from  the  faintest  trace  of  Italian 
blood,  all  the  way  up.  The  objection  to  th's 
course  is,  that  these  blacks,  with  about  one 
band  to  show  trace  of  Italian  blood,  are  the 
wickedest  bees  to  sting  that  can  well  be  im- 
agined, being  very  much  more  vindictive 
than  either  race  in  its  purity;  they  also  have 
a  very  disagreeable  way  of  tumbling  off  the 
combs  in  a  perfectly  demoralized  state  when- 
ever the  hive  is  opened,  except  in  the 
height  of  the  honey-season,  and  of  making  a 
general  uproar  when  they  are  compelled,  by 
smoke,  to  be  decent. 

Our  pure  Italian  stocks  can  be  opened 
at  any  time  and  their  queens  removed, 
scarcely  disturbing  the  cluster,  and,  as  a 
general  thing,  without  the  use  of  any  smoke 
at  all,  by  one  who  is  fully  conversant  with 
the  habits  of  bees.  A  good  many  hybrids 
will  not  repel  the  moth,  as  do  the  half-bloods 
and  the  pure  Italians.  For  these  reasons  and 
several  others,  I  would  rear  all  queens  from 
one  of  known  purity.  If  we  do  this,  we  may 
have  almost  if  not  quite  the  full  benefit  of 
the  Italians  as  honey-gatherers,  even  though 
there  are  black  bees  all  about  us. 

The  queens,  and  drones  from  queens  ob- 
tained direct  from  Italy,  vary  greatly  in  their 
markings,  but  the  worker  bee  has  one  pecul- 
iarity that  I  have  never  found  wanting ; 
that  are  the  three  yellow  bands  we  have  all 
heard  so  much  about.  Unfortunately,  there 
has  been  a  great  amount  of  controversy 
about  these  yellow  bands;  and  to  help  restore 
harmony,  I  have  been  to  some  expense  for 
engravings. 

Every  worker  -  bee,  whether  common  or 
Italian,  has  a  body  composed  of  six  scales, 
or  segments,  one  sliding  into  the  other,  tele- 
scope fashion.  When  the  bee  is  full  of  honey 
these  segments  slide  out,  and  the  abdomen 
is  elongated  considerably  beyond  the  tips  of 
the  wings,  which  are  ordinarily  about  the 
length  of  the  body.  Sometimes  we  see  bees 
swollen  with  dysentery,  so  much  that  the 
rings  are  spread  to  their  fullest  extent, 
and  in  that  condition  they  sometimes  would 
be  called  queens,  by  an  inexperienced  person. 

On  the  contrary,  in  the  fall  of  the  year 
when  the  bee  is  preparing  for  its  winter  nap, 


ITALIAN  BEES. 


222 


ITALIAN  BEES. 


its  abdomen  is  so  much  drawn  up  that  it 
scarcely  seems  like  the  same  insect.  The  en- 
graving on  the  right  shows  the  body  of  the 
bee  detached  from  the  abdomen,  that  we  may 
get  a  full  view  of  the  bands  or  markings 
that  distinguish  the  Italians  from  the  com- 
mon bees.  Now  I  wish  you  to  observe  par- 
ticularly, that  all  honey  -  bees,  common  as 
well  as  Italian,  have  four  bands  of  bright- 
colored  down,  J,  K,  L,  M,  one  on  each  of  the 
four  middle  rings  of  the  body,  but  none  on 
the  first,  and  none  on  the  last.  These  bands 
of  down  are  very  bright  on  young  bees,  but 
may  be  so  worn  off  as  to  be  almost  or  entire- 
ly wanting  on  an  old  bee,  especially  on 
those  that  have  been  in  the  habit  of  robbing 
very  much.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the 
glossy  blackness  of  robbers  often  seen  dodg- 


bees  you  ever  saw ;  but  a  few  months  after, 
they  would  be  no  better  looking  than  the 
rest  of  your  bees.  This  is  simply  because 
they  had  worn  off  their  handsome  plumage, 
in  the  "  stern  realities  "  of  hard  work  in  the 
fields.  Occasionally  you  will  find  a  queen 
whose  bees  have  bands  nearly  white  in- 
stead of  yellow,  and  this  is  what  has  led  to 
the  so-called  albino  bees.  When  the  plum- 
age is  gone,  they  are  just  like  other  Ital- 
ians. Now,  these  bands  of  down  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  yellow  bands  that  are 
characteristic  of  the  Italians  ;  for,  after  this 
has  worn  off,  the  yellow  bands  are  much 
plainer  than  before.  A,  B,  C,  are  the  yellow 
bands  of  which  we  have  heard  so  much, 
and  they  are  neither  down,  plumage,  nor 
anything  of  that  sort,  as  you  will  see  by  tak- 


HOW  TO  TELL  HYBRIDS  FROM  PURE  ITALIANS. 


ing  about  the  hives.  Perhaps  squeezing 
through  small  crevices  has  thus  worn  olf 
the  down,  or  it  may  be  that  pushing  through 
dense  masses  of  bees  has  something  to  do 
with  it ;  for  we  often  see  such  shiny  black 
bees  in  great  numbers,  in  stocks  that  have 
been  nearly  suffocated  by  being  confined  to 
their  hives,  in  shipping,  or  at  other  times. 
These  bands  of  down  differ  in  shades  of 
color,  many  times,  and  this  is  the  case  with 
the  common  bee,  as  well  as  with  the  Italian. 

Under  a  common  lens,  the  bands  are  sim- 
ply fine  soft  hair,  or  fur,  and  it  is  this  prin- 
cipally which  gives  the  light  -  colored  Ital- 
ians their  handsome  appearance.  You  have, 
perhaps,  all  noticed  the  progeny  of  some  par- 
ticular queen  when  they  first  came  out  to 
play,  and  pronounced  them  the  handsomest 


ing  a  careful  look  at  an  Italian  on  the  win- 
dow. The  scale,  or  horiTy  substance  of  which 
the  body  is  composed,  is  yellow,  and  almost 
transparent,  not  black  and  opaque,  as  are 
the  rings  of  the  common  bee,  or  the  lower 
rings  of  the  same  insect. 
The  first  yellow  band.  A,  is  right  down  next 
the  waist;  now  look  carefully.  It  is  very 
plain,  when  you  once  know  what  to  look  for, 
and  no  child  need  ever  be  mistaken  about  it. 

At  the  lower  edge  is  the  first  black  band ; 
this  is  of  ten  only  a  thin  sharp  streak  of  black. 

The  second,  B,  is  the  plainest  of  all  the 
yellow  bands,  and  can  usually  be  seen  in  even 
the  very  poorest  hybrids.  The  first  band  of 
down  is  seen  where  the  black  and  yellow 
join,  but  it  is  so  faint  you  will  hardly  notice 
it  in  some  specimens. 


ITALIAN  BEES. 


223 


ITALIAX  BEES. 


We  have  at  the  lower  edge  of  the  scale,  as 
before,  a  narrow  line  of  black;  when  the 
down  wears  off.  this  shows  nearly  as  broad 
as  the  yellow  band. 

When  we  come  to  hybrids,  we  shall  find  a 
greater  diversity,  for  while  the  bees  from 
one  queen  are  all  pretty  uniformly  marked 
with  two  bands,  another's  will  be  of  all  sorts: 
some  beautifully  marked  Italians,  some  pure 
black,  others  one  or  two  banded.  Some 
will  sting  with  great  venom,  while  others 
with  only  one  or  two  bands  will  be  as  peace- 
able as  yom'  best  Italians.  "Without  a 
doubt,  many  queens  have  been  sent  out  as 
pure,  that  produced  only  hylirids  :  but  since 
my  recent  studies  in  the  matter.  I  am  pretty 
well  satisfied  that  I  have  sold  several  queens 
as  hybrids  that  were  really  full-bloods.  A 
very  slight  admixtm-e  of  black  blood  will 
cause  the  band  C  to  disappear  on  some  of 
the  bees, but  we  should  be  very  careful  in 
such  matters  to  be  siu'e  that  the  bees  in 
question  were  really  hatched  in  the  hive : 
for  bees  of  adjoining  hives  often  mix  to  a 
considerable  extent.  If  you  examine  a  col- 
ony of  blacks  and  one  of  hybrids  that  stand 
side  by  side,  you  will  find  many  Italians 
among  the  blacks,  and  many  blacks  among 
the  Italians.  Take  yoimg  bees  that  you  are 
sure  have  hatched  in  the  hive,  and  you  will 
be  pretty  safe,  but  you  can  not  readily  distin- 
guish the  third  band  until  they  are  several 
days  old. 

FOTJR  AXD  FIVE  BAXDED  ITALIANS. 

In  1890  and  the  following  year  there  was 
quite  a  rage  for  four  and  five  banded  Ital- 
ians. These  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
Italians  bred  for  hands  by  selection.  Eor 
instance,  you  may  take  a  lot  of  black  fowls, 
and  from  one  having  a  few  white  feathers 
you  may,  by  selection,  breed  fowls  that  are 
entirely  white,  at  each  generation  selecting 
the  whitest  fowls  to  breed  from.  Some  Ital- 
ians show  a  tendency  toward  the  fom-th 
band.  Perhaps  some  of  the  daughters  of 
the  mother  of  these  bees  will  show  in  their 
bees  a  greater  tendency  toward  the  fouith 
band.  Again,  you  breed  from  the  last- 
named  queen,  and  select  from  her  another 
breeding  queen  whose  bees  show  quite 
clearly  the  fourth  band  with  a  glimmering 
of  the  fifth.  By  continued  selection  you 
may  be  able  to  get  the  fifth.  But  after  all. 
when  you  have  bees  with  four  and  five  yel- 
low bands,  you  are  liable  to  have  bees  for 
color  and  not  for  business.i^s  It  is  possible 
to  develop  any  trait  that  you  may  wish  to 
have  characteristic  in  your  bees.  In  the 
same  way  it  is  possible  to  breed  bees  that ' 


,  are  very  energetic.  But  as  a  general  ride 
you  will  have  to  lose  sight  of  fancy  colors.^o* 

HOLY-LAXD  AND  CYPEIAX  BEES. 

In  1SS2  considerable  excitement  arose  over 
two  new  races  of  bees  brought  over  from  the 
Old  World  by  our  most  enterprising  and 
philanthropic  friend  D.  A.  Jones,  of  Beeton. 
Ontario.  Canada.  They  were  called  Cyprian 
and  Holy-Land  bees,  from  the  places  where 
he  foimd  them.  The  former,  from  the  Isle 
of  Cyprus,  seem  to  have  been  for  many 
years  isolated,  and  are  a  very  distinct  and 
uniform  race.  I  at  first  glance  called  them 
very  nice  Italians  :  and  after  seeing  them 
the  third  season.  I  was  strongly  tempted  to 
call  them  very  nice  Italians  still.  They  have 
a  few  distinctive  marks  that  enable  an  ex- 
pert to  distinguish  them,  however,  and  their 
traits  of  temper  are  also  different.  I  believe 
they  have  been  mostly  objected  to  on  ac- 
coimt  of  the  vindictive  temper  displayed  by 
the  progeny  of  some  of  the  queens.  We  had 
handled  them  in  our  apiary  several  months 
before  I  discovered  any  difference :  but  on 
opening  the  hive  one  day  toward  dusk,  and 
being  a  little  careless  in  handling  the  frames. 
I  found  I  had  a  job  on  my  hands  >  or,  rath^^r, 
in  my  face  and  hair) — a  lot  of  enraged  bees 
that  even  smoke  did  not  bring  into  subjec- 
tion. The  Holy-Lands  seem  quiet  enough, 
and  the  queens  are  enormously  prolific  i  but 
for  some  reason  or  other,  at  the  present  writ- 
ing both  Cyprians  and  Holy  Lands  have  been 
almost  entirely  abandoned  for  the  more  qui?t 
Italians.  The  queens  of  the  Holy-Land  stcck 
are  very  prolific,  generally  filling  one  frame, 
complete  with  eggs  before  beginning  on  an- 
other, giving,  when  sealed,  a  solid  mass  of 
brood.  If  in  any  case  a  Holy-Land  colony 
becomes  queenless  they  will  build  a  number 
of  cells,  exceeding  by  far  that  of  any  other 
known  race.  The  queens  that  hatch  from 
these  are  strong  and  robust:  we  have  had 
them  flyisiimmediately  on  emerging  from  the 
cells. 5*^9  One  of  their  peculiar  characteristics 
is.  that  the  cells  all  hatch  at  or  about  the 
same  time.  Several  years  ago  we  had  twen- 
tv-five  queens  hatch  within  thirty  minutes 
from  one  frame.  Other  cases  of  like  nature 
have  been  reported.  Xow.  the  fact  that  the 
Holy-Lands  will  raise  such  an  abundance  of 
cells  is  of  great  value  to  queen-breeders. 
Eor  instance,  if  we  desire  a  great  quantity 
from  some  choice  Italian  stock,  we  can 
exchange  their  unsealed  larvae  for  that  of  a 
queenless  Holy-Land  colony.  The  stock,  if 
left  to  itself,  would  probably  not  raise  over 
six  or.  eight  cells^n :  whereas  the  Holy-Lands 
would  very  likely  raise  five  or  possibly  ten 


ITALIANIZING. 


224 


ITALIANIZING. 


times  that  number.  Thus  we  greatly  reduce 
the  number  of  cell-raising  colonies  required, 
at  the  same  time  allowing  the  rest  to  go  on 
with  their  regular  work. 132  in  fact,  we  can 
use  them  much  as  poultry-breeders  use  a 
few  select  sitting  hens  for  raising  the  young 
chicks  from  non-sitters. 

ITALIASJZZIIffCr.  Few  questions  are 
asked  of tener  than,  "How  shall  I  Italianize? 
and  when  shall  I  do  it?"  There  is  always  a 
loss  in  removing  a  queen  and  substituting 
another,  even  where  we  have  laying  queens 
on  hand ;  and  where  we  are  to  use  the  same 
colony  for  rearing  a  queen,  there  is  a  still 
greater  loss.  Under  the  heads  of  Nuclei 
and  QuEEisr  -  rearing,  these  points  will 
be  found  fully  discussed.  Where  one  has 
an  apiary  of  black  bees,  his  cheapest  way, 
especially  if  he  has  plenty  of  time  to  devote 
to  the  subject,  is  to  purchase  a  choice  tested 
queen,  and  rear  his  owm  queens  from  her. 
If  he  has  as  many  as  a  dozen  colonies,  and 
proposes  to  continue  to  increase  the  number, 
it  may  be  his  best  and  surest  way,  to  pur- 
chase an  imported  queen.  If  the  choice 
queen  is  purchased  in  the  spring  or  summer 
months,  I  would  not  remove  the  old  queens 
until  the  summer  crop  of  honey  is  over;  but, 
instead  of  allowing  natural  swarming,  take 
two  or  three  frames  from  each  old  stock 
about  swarming  time,  and  make  nuclei, 
giving  them  queen  -  cells  from  the  Italian 
brood.  When  these  queens  are  hatclied  and 
laying,  build  the  nuclei  up,  with  frames  of 
brood  given  one  at  a  time,  until  they  are  full 
stocks.  By  such  a  comse  you  have  the  full 
benefit  of  your  old  queens  during  the  honey- 
season,  until  the  new  ones  are  ready  to  take 
their  places.  After  the  honey-yield  has  be- 
gun to  cease  you  can  remove  the  old  queens, 
and  give  the  now  small  colonies  queen-cells, 
as  you  did  the  nuclei  at  first.  This  does  the 
swarming  for  the  season,  and  the  Italian- 
izing, at  one  and  the  same  time. 

If  you  have  more  money  than  time  to 
spare,  and  wish  to  have  the  work  done  up 
quickly,  purchase  as  many  queens  as  you 
have  colonies,  and  introduce  them  at  any 
season  of  the  year,  as  directed  in  Intro- 
ducing Queens.  You  can  purchase  all 
tested  queens  if  you  wish,  but  I  w^ould  ad- 


j  vise  taking  the  untested  Italian  queens  dur- 
I  jng  the  months  of  July  and  August  when 
I  they  are  the  cheapest,  and  this  is  also  the 
;  best  time  of  the  year  to  Italianize.   If  done 
I  in  the  spring  it  is  liable  through  change  of 
:  queens  to  cut  off  brood-rearing,  and,  hence, 
I  worker-bees  w^hen  the  harvest  comes  on. 
!  Some  find  it  more  convenient  to  change 
I  queens  during  the  swarming  season,  first  for 
,  the  purpose  of  stopping  swarming,  and  sec- 
ond because  then  there  are  plenty  of  cells 
usually  at  this  time  from  choice  stocks.  See 
West's  queen-cell  protector  under  Queen- 
rearing. 

After  your  stocks  have  all  been  provided 
with  Italian  queens,  by  either  of  the  plans 
I  given  above,  if  you  wash  your  bees  to  be 
j  pure  Italians  you  are  to  commence  replac- 
ing all  queens  that  prove  to  be  hybrids,  as 
:  soon  as  the  young  bees  are  hatched  in  suffl- 
I  cient  numbers  to  enable  you  to  decide.  See 
i  Itauian  Bees.   Now,  if  honey  only  is  your 
object,  I  w^ould  not  replace  these  hybrids 
I  until  they  are  one  or  two  years  old ;  for  they 
I  will  average  nearly  as  well  as  honey-gather- 
ers, and  will  raise  just  as  pure  drones  as  full- 
!  blood  Italians.   If  you  should  find  the  bees 
I  of  any  particular  queen  too  cross  to  be  en- 
I  durable,  replace  her  with  another,  at  any 
;  time.    Be  careful,  however,  that  these  hy- 
brid colonies  are  not  allowed  to  swarm 
naturally,  for  if  they  raise  a  queen  she  will 
I  produce  hybrid  drones*;  and  this  is  some- 
I  thing  we  wish  most  scrupulously  to  guard 
i  against.   It  will  be  better  to  raise  all  the 
I  queens   yourself,  and  make  nuclei  while 
you  are   seeking  to  Italianize,  and  more 
!  especially  if  you  are  surrounded  with  com- 
j  mon  bees.   If  you  practice  in  the  manner 
i  given  above,  you  can  reap  the  full  benefit  of 
I  the  Italian  blood,  even  though  there  are 
I  hundreds  of  stocks  of  the  common  bees 
[  within  the  range  of  your  apiary.   But  if  you 
are  going  to  raise  queens  for  the  market, 
you  should  buy  up  or  Italianize  all  the  com- 
mon bees  within  two  or  three  miles  of  you, 
!  in  every  direction.   The  more  faithfully  you 
j  do  this,  the  better  satisfaction  will  you  give 
j  your  customers. 

i  

j  *To  get  rid  of  black  and  hybrid  drones,  see 
I  Drones. 


L 


IiAVma  WORKERS.  These  queer 
inmates,  or  rather  occasional  inmates,  of  the 
hive,  are  worker  -  bees  that  lay  eggs.  Aye. 
and  the  eggs  they  lay  hatch  too:  bnt  they 
hatch  only  drones,  and  never  worker-bees. 
The  drones  are  rather  smaller  than  the  drones 
produced  by  a  queen,  but  they  are  neverthe- 
less drones,  in  every  respect,  so  far  as  we 
can  discover.  It  may  be  well  to  remark, 
that  ordinary  worker-bees  are  not  neuters, 
as  they  are  sometimes  called:  they  are  con- 
sidered undeveloped  females.  Microscopic 
examination  shows  the  undeveloped  form 
of  nearly  every  organ  found  in  the  queen, 
and  these  organs  mav  become,  at  any  time, 
sufficiently  developed  to  allow  the  bee  to  lay 
eggs,  but  never  to  allow  of  fertilization  by 
meeting  the  drone  as  the  queen  does. 

CAUSE  OF  L  AYING  AVOKKEKS. 

It  has  been  over  and  over  again  suggested, 
that  bees  capable  of  this  egg-laying  duty 
are  those  reared  in  the  vicinity  of  queen 
cells,  and  that  by  some  means  they  have  re- 
ceived a  small  portion  of  the  royal  jelly, 
necessary  to  their  development  as  bee-moth- 
ers. This  theory  has.  I  believe,  been  entire- 
ly disproven  by  many  experiments:  and  it  is 
now  pretty  generally  conceded  that  laying 
workers  may  make  their  appearance  in  any 
colony  or  nucleus  that  has  been  for  some 
days  queenless.  and  without  the  means  of 
rearing  a  queen.  Xot  only  may  one  bee  take 
upon  herself  these  duties,  but  there  may  be 
many  of  them  :  and  wherever  the  bee-keep- 
er has  been  so  careless  as  to  leave  his  bees 
destitute  of  either  brood  or  queen  for  ten 
days  or  two  weeks,  he  is  liable  to  find 
evidences  of  their  presence,  in  the  shape  of 
eggs  scattered  about  promiscuously:  some- 
times one.  but  oftener  half  a  dozen  in  a  sin- 
gle cell.  If  the  matter  has  been  going  on 
for  some  time,  he  ^111  see  now  and  then  a 
drone  larva,  and  sometimes  two  or  three 
crowding  each  other  in  their  single  cell;  some- 
times they  start  queen-cells  over  this  drone 
larva:  the  poor  motherless  orphans,  seeming 


to  feel  that  something  is  wrong,  are  disposed, 
like  a  drowning  man.  to  catch  at  any  straw. 

HOW   TO   GET  KID    OF  LAYIXG  WORKERS. 

I  feel  very  much  like  saying  again,  that 
prevention  is  better  than  cure.  If  a  colony, 
from  any  cause,  becomes  queenless.  be  sure 
it  has  unsealed  brood  of  the  proper  age  to 
raise  a  queen  :  and  when  this  one  is  raised, 
be  sure  that  sh^  becomes  fertile.  It  can  nev- 
er do  any  harm  to  give  a  queenless  colony 
eggs  and  brood,  and  it  may  be  the  saving  of 
it.  But  suppose  you  have  been  so  careless 
as  to  allow  a  colony  to  l)ecome  queenless, 
and  get  weak,  what  are  you  to  doV  If  you 
attempt  to  give  them  a  queen,  and  a  fertile 
worker  is  present,  she  will  be  pretty  sure  to 
get  stung:  it  is.  in  fact,  often  almost  impossi- 
ble to  get  them  to  accept  even  a  queen-cell. 
The  poor  fellows  get  into  a  habit  of  accept- 
ing one  of  the  egg-laying  workers  as  a  queen, 
and  they  will  have  none  other  until  she  is 
removed:  yet  you  can  not  find  her.  for  she  is 
just  like  any  other  bee:  you  may  get  hold  of 
her.  possibly,  by  carefully  noticing  the  way 
in  which  the  other  bees  deport  themselves 
toward  her.  or  you  may  catch  her  in  the  act 
of  egg  -  laying :  but  even  this  often  fails, 
for  there  may  be  several  such  in  the  hive  at 
once.  You  may  give  them  a  small  strip  of 
comb  containing  eggs  and  brood,  but  they 
will  seldom  start  a  good  queen-cell,  if  they 
start  any  at  all :  for.  in  the  majority  of  cases, 
a  colony  having  fertile  workers  seems  per- 
fectly demoralized,  so  far  as  getting  them 
into  regular  work  is  concerned. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  introduce  a  lay- 
ing queen  to  such  colonies:  for  as  s:^on  as 
she  is  released  from  the  cnge  she  will  be 
stung  to  death.  Xo  better  result-  would 
follow  from  introducing  a  young  virgin ; 
but  the  giving  of  a  queen-cell,  if  the  colony 
has  not  been  too  long  harloring  laying 
workers,  will  very  often  bring  about  a 
change  for  the  better.  In  such  case  the 
cell  will  be  accepted,  and  in  due  course  of 
time  there  will  be  a  laying  queen  in  place 


LAYING  WORKERS. 


226 


LAYING  WORKERS. 


of  the  laying  worker  or  workers  :  but  often 
cells  will  be  destroyed  as  fast  as  they  are 
given.  The  only  thing  then  to  be  done  is  to 
scatter  brood  and  bees  among  several  other 
colonies,  perhaps  one  or  two  frames  in  each. 
Erom  each  of  these  same  colonies  take  a 
frame  or  two  of  brood  with  adhering  bees, 
;  id  put  them  into  the  aying-worker  hive. 
The  bees  of  this  hive,  which  have  been  scat- 
tered into  several  hives,  will  for  the  most 
part  return  :  but  the  laying  worker  or  work- 
ers will  remain  and  in  all  probability  be 
destroyed.  Of  com^se,  the  colonies  that 
have  been  robbed  of  good  brood  will  suffer 
somewhat ;  but  if  it  is  after  the  honey  sea- 
son, no  great  harm  will  have  been  done. 
They  will  proceed  to  clean  up  the  combs  : 
and  if  they  do  not  need  the  drones  as  they 
hatch  out  they  will  destroy  them. 

Sometimes  a  laying  worker  may  be  dis- 
posed of  by  movdng  the  combs  into  an  emp- 
ty hive,  placed  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
other ;  the  bees  will  nearly  all  go  into  their 
old  hive, but  the  queen,  as  she  thinks  herself 
to  be,  will  remain  on  the  combs.  The  re- 
turning bees  will  then  accept  a  queen  or 
queen-cell.  After  all  is  right  the  combs 
may  be  returned,  and  the  laying  worker  will 
be— well,  I  do  not  know  just  what  does  be- 
come of  her,  but  I  suspect  she  either  attends 
to  her  legitimate  business,  or  gets  killed. 

See  that  every  hive  contains,  at  all  times, 
during  the  spring  and  summer  months  at 
least,  brood  suitable  for  rearing  a  queen,  and 
you  will  never  see  a  laying  worker. 

HOAV  TO    DETECT  THE  PRESENCE  OF  LAY- 
ING WORKERS. 

If  you  do  not  find  any  queen,  and  see  eggs 
scattered  around  promiscuously,  some  in 
drone  and  some  in  worker  cells,  some  attach- 
ed to  the  side  of  the  cell,  instead  of  the  cen- 
ter of  the  bottom,  where  the  queen  lays 


them,  several  in  one  cell  and  none  in  the 
next,  you  may  be  pretty  sure  you  have  a 
laying  worker.  Still  later,  you  will  see  the 
worker-brood  capped  with  the  high  convex 
cappings,  indicating  clearly  that  the  brood 
will  never  hatch  out  worker-bees.  Finding 
two  or  more  eggs  in  a  cell  is  never  conclu- 
sive, for  the  queen  often  deposits  them  in  a 
feeble  colony  where  there  are  not  bees 
enough  to  cover  the  brood.  The  eggs  depos- 
ited by  a  fertile  queen  are  in  regular  order, 
as  one  would  plant  a  field  of  corn;  but  those 
from  laying  workers,  and  usually  from  drone- 
laying  queens,  are  irregularly  scattered 
about. 

IiOCUST.  This  tree  is  so  well  known  as 
scarcely  to  need  a  description.  It  grows 
very  rapidly,  and  bears  blossoms  at  a  very 
early  age;  and  could  we  be  assured  of  hav- 
ing every  year  the  crop  of  honey  that  the  lo- 
cust bears  (perhaps  one  year  in  five),  I  should 
at  once  plant  a  locust-grove  exclusively  for 
honey.  It  blossoms  profusely  almost  every 
season;  but  the  bees  often  pay  no  attention 
at  all  to  the  flowers. 

The  honey  comes  at  a  time  when  it  is  very 
much  needed,  as  it  is  a  little  later  than  the 
fruit-bloom,  and  a  little  earlier  than  white 
clover.  If  any  thing  could  be  done  by  a  se- 
lection of  different  varieties,  or  by  cultiva- 
tion, to  make  it  bear  honey  every  season, 
a  locust-grove  would  be  a  very  valuable  ad- 
dition to  the  honey-farm. 

The  leaf  of  the  locust  much  resembles  the 
leaf  of  the  clover,  only  it  has  a  great  number 
of  leaves  on  a  stem  instead  of  only  three ; 
the  blossom  is  much  like  that  of  the  common 
pea,  both  in  appearance  and  size.  It  is  an 
interesting  fact,  that  the  locust,  pea,  and 
clover,  all  belong  to  the  same  order,  Legumi- 
nosce. 

LUCERNE.   See  Alfalfa. 


MAHriFUIiATISra  frames,  see 

Fra^ies,  How  to  Manipulate;  also  Re- 
versing. 

MILKWEED  (AscZepios  Cornuti).  This 
plant  is  celebrated,  not  for  the  honey  it  pro- 
duces, although  it  doubtless  fimiishes  a 
good  supply,  but  for  its  queer,  winged  mass- 
es of  pollen  which  attach  themselves  to  the 
bee's  feet,  and  cause  it  to  become  a  crip- 
ple, if  not  to  lose  its  life.  Every  fall  we 
have  many  inquiries  from  new  subscribers 
in  regard  to  this  queer  phenomenon.  Some 
think  it  a  parasite,  others  a  protuberance 
growing  on  the  bee's  foot,  and  others  a 
winged  insect-enemy  of  the  bee.  "We  give 
below  an  engraving  of  the  curiosity,  magni- 
fied at  a ;  and  also  of  a  mass  of  them  attached 
to  the  foot  of  a  bee. 

It  is  the  same  that  Prof.  Riley  alluded  to 
when  he  recommended  that  the  milkweed 
be  planted  to  kill  off  the  bees  when  they  be- 
come troublesome  to  the  fruit-grower.  The 


POLLEN  OF  THE  MILKWEED,  ATTACHED  TO 
A  bee's  foot. 

folly  of  such  advice — think  of  the  labor  and 
expense  of  starting  a  plantation  of  useless 
weeds  just  to  entrap  honey-bees — becomes 
more  apparent  when  we  learn  that  it  is  per- 
haps only  the  old  and  enfeebled  bees  that 
are  rmable  to  free  themselves  from  these  ap- 
pendages, and  hence  the  milkweed  can 
scarcely  be  called  an  enemy.  The  append- 
age, it  will  be  observed,  looks  like  a  pair  of 
wings,  and  they  attach  themselves  to  the  bee 
by  a  glutinous  matter  which  quickly  hard- 
ens, so  that  it  is  quite  difficult  to  remove,  if 
not  done  when  it  is  first  attached. 


MOVmG  BEES.  Bees  fly  from 
their  hives  in  quest  of  stores,  perhaps  a  mile; 
sometimes  a  mile  and  a  half  or  two  miles; 
but  they  will  seldom  go  beyond  these  limits, 
unless  at  a  time  of  great  scarcity  of  pastm'- 
age.i"  Well,  after  a  bee  has  once  fixed  its  lo- 
cality, it  starts  out  in  the  morning  on  a  run, 
and  never  stops  to  take  the  points,  as  it 
does  the  first  time  it  sallies  out  from  a  new 
locality.  The  consequence  is,  if  we  have 
moved  its  hive,  either  in  the  night  or  day 
time,  and  have  not  moved  it  more  than  a 
mile,  it  will,  when  it  goes  back,  strike  di- 
rectly for  its  old  locality.  On  reaching  there 
and  finding  its  hive  gone,  it  is  lost  and 
helpless:  and  even  though  the  hive  may  be 
but  a  few  rods  away,  it  will  never  find  it  in 
the  world.  Xew  hands  frequently  move 
their  hives  close  together  at  the  approach  of 
winter,  that  they  may  better  protect  them 
with  cluilf  or  straw.  I  do  not  know  how 
many  times  mishaps  resulting  from  this  kind 
of  proceeding  have  been  related  to  me.  All 
goes  very  well,  perhaps,  until  we  have  a 
warm  day;  then  the  bees  start  out  for  a  fly, 
and  very  naturally  return  to  their  home  just 
as  they  have  been  doing  all  summer.  If  no 
one  is  near  to  restore  their  hive  to  its  former 
location,  they  fly  helplessly  around  for  a 
while,  and  then  alight  on  the  trees  and  fenc- 
es, scattered  about,  and  finally  perish.  If 
other  hives  are  near  they  will  get  into  the 
AATong  hives  and  get  stung :  or  if  their  num- 
bers are  great  enough  they  wiU  sting  the 
queen,  because  she  is  a  stranger  to  them. 
Sometimes  the  bees  of  the  whole  apiary  will 
become  so  mixed  up  that  they  have  a  gen- 
eral melee  and  fight,  resulting  in  great  dam- 
age, if  not  in  the  destruction,  of  many  of  the 
colonies.  Moving  hives  short  distances  dur- 
ing the  working  season  is  almost  always 
done  with  loss  of  more  or  less  bees,  and  con- 
sequently honey. 

It  is  true,  bees  may  sometimes  be  moved 
without  loss,  for  there  is  quite  a  difference 
in  the  disposition  of  colonies;  and  where  one 
may  be  moved  all  about  the  yard  without 


MOVmO  BEES. 


228 


MOVING  BEES. 


any  apparent  loss,  the  next  may  suifer  if 
moved  only  a  few  feet.  I  once  purchased  a 
very  strong  colony  of  blacks  of  a  neighbor, 
and,  to  be  on  the  safe  side,  moved  them  on 
a  cold  day  in  December.  I  think  it  was  a 
week  afterward  when  it  became  warm,  and 
the  bees  went  back  to  their  old  home  in  such 
numbers  that  the  first  cold  night  froze  out 
the  remaining  ones, 'and  I  lost  my  stock  en- 
tirely.143  At  another  time,  a  neighbor  wished 
me  to  take  a  swarm  from  a  very  strong  stock 
of  blacks.  As  I  had  but  little  time  I  set  an- 
other hive  in  its  place,  containing  a  frame 
of  brood  and  a  queen-cell,  and  moved  the 
old  one  several  rods  away.  He  told  me  next 
day  that  the  bees  had  all  found  their  old 
home,  and  deserted  the  brood-comb  entirely. 
I  directed  him  to  move  it  again,  and  place 
it  the  other  side  of  the  orchard;  but  it  seems 
these  wily  blacks  had  learned  the  trick,  for 
they  all  found  it  even  there.152  Italians,  as  a 
general  thing,  are  more  ready  to  take  up 
with  anew  location  than  the  blacks,  and  stick 
more  tenaciously  to  their  home  and  brood. 

Sometimes,  shaking  the  bees  all  in  front 
of  the  hive,  and  letting  them  run  in  ust 
like  a  natural  swarm,  will  answer  to  make 
them  stick  to  their  new  locality ;  at  other 
times,  moving  the  hive  away  for  an  hour  or 
two,  until  they  get  really  frightened  at  the 
loss  of  their  home,  will  have  the  same  effect, 
after  it  is  once  brought  back  to  them.  In 
this  case  they  seem  so  glad  to  get  their  dear 
old  home  again  that  they  will  adhere  to  it 
wherever  it  is  placed.  Neither  of  these  plans 
can  be  relied  on  implicitly,  and  I  really  do 
not  know  of  any  that  can.*  Sometimes  we 
succeed  by  leaving  a  comb  for  the  returning 
bees  to  cluster  on,  and  then  take  them  to  the 
new  stand  just  at  nightfall.  When  allowed 
to  run  in,  they  exhibit  their  joy  by  loud 
notes  of  approval,  but,  just  as  likely  as  not, 
they  will  be  back  at  the  old  spot  the  next 
day,  just  the  same.  With  patience,  we  can 
by  this  means  save  most  of  them.  As  a 
natural  swarm  will  stay  wherever  they  are 
put,  any  thing  that  reduces  a  colony  to  the 
condition  of  a  natural  swarm  will  accom- 
plish our  object.  Bees  depend  very  much 
on  the  surrounding  objects,  in  taking  their  : 
points ;  and  I  have  known  a  whole  apiary  to 
be  successfully  moved  a  short  distance,  by 
moving  all  the  hives  and  preserving  their 
respective  positions  with  reference  to  each 
other.  Carrying  bees  into  the  cellar  for  sev- 
eral days  or  a  week  will  usually  wean  them 


*  Placing  a  board,  oi^  other  object,  over  the  en- 
trance so  as  to  hinder  the  bees  a  little  as  they  come 
out,  is  sometimes  practiced  to  make  them  return. 


from  their  location,  so  that  they  may  then 
be  located  anywhere;  but  this  plan  is  objec- 
tionable on  account  of  the  labor  it  involves. 
Where  we  wish  to  divide  a  ( olony  the  matter 
is  very  easy,  for  we  can  carry  our  stock  where 
we  wish,  and  start  a  nucleus  of  the  return- 
ing bees.  The  usual  way,  and  by  far  the 
easiest  where  it  can  be  done,  is  to  wait  until 
winter,  and  move  them  after  they  have 
been  confined  to  the  hive  for  several  weeks 
by  cold  weather.  Bees  moved  in  the  spring 
seldom  go  back  to  their  old  quailers,  for 
they  generally  mark  their  location  when  they 
take  their  first  flight,  whether  they  have 
been  moved  or  not.  Bees  can  also  be  moved 
short  distances,  in  warm  weather,  by  taking 
them  a  mile  or  more,  leaving  them  a  couple 
of  weeks,  and  then  bringing  them  back  to 
the  spot  where  you  wish  them  to  remain. 
This  plan  would  be  too  much  trouble  and 
expense  to  be  practicable  generally. 

MOVING  BEES   SHORT   DISTANCES,  TO  AND 
FROM   OUT-APIARIES,  ETC. 

If  you  wish  to  move  bees  during  the  day- 
time, while  many  are  in  the  fields,  you  can 
get  them  nearly  all  in  by  smoking  them  at 
intervals  for  about  half  an  hour.  This  will 
give  those  that  are  out  time  to  come  in,  and 
the  smoking  will  prevent  any  more  going 
out.  If  the  colony  is  a  very  strong  one,  leave 
a  hive  with  a  comb  of  brood  011  the  old  stand, 
and  the  owner  can  start  a  nucleus  very  con- 
veniently with  the  returning  bees. 

In  very  hot  weather,  the  wire-cloth  screen 
before  illustrated  should  be  put  on  in  lieu  of 
the  cover,  and  the  entrance  should  be  like- 
wise closed  with  wire  cloth.  In  cooler  wea- 
ther, say  toward  fall,  it  will  not  be  necessa- 
ry to  remove  the  cover,  because  the  bees  will 
have  ventilation  enough  from  the  entrance, 
providing  it  is  not  closed  with  anything  but 
wire  cloth. 

Some  bee-keepers  have  the  bottoms  of  their 
hives  movable.  When  it  becomes  necessary 
to  move  the  bees  from  the  out-apiary  to  the 
home  apiary,  some  means  should  be  used 
whereby  the  cover  and  bottom  can  be  se- 
cured quickly  and  safely.  We  can  not  nail 
I  the  cover  down,  because  that  would  take  too 
long,  ai]d  mar  the  cover  besides.  Neither 
can  we  afford  to  lift  the  hive  up  while  an 
assistant  screws  the  bottom  fast  while  the 
bees  are  in.  About  as  satifcfactory  a  way  as 
any  we  have  found,  to  fasten  both  cover  and 
bottom  simultaneously,  is  to  cut  a  couple  of 
lengths  of  strong  twine,  ea-h  just  long 
enough  to  tie  around  the  body  of  the  hive 
transversely,  in  a  bow-knot.    Pass  one  of 


MOYING  BEES. 


2: 


129 


MOVING  BEES. 


these  lengths  around  under  the  bottom,  near 
the  front  end.  then  over  the  top  of  the  cov- 
er. Draw  it  as  tight  as  possible,  and  tie  it 
in  a  bow-knot.  In  like  manner  loop  the 
rear  end.  Draw  these  cords  as  tight  as  you 
can,  and  they  will  still  be  comparatively 
loose  —  enough  so,  so  that  the  cover  may  be 
able  to  slide  a  small  trifle.  To  draw  these 
cords  taut,  take  a  hammer  and  drive  the 
upper  part  of  the  loop,  which. passes  over 
the  cover,  toward  the  center  of  the  hive. 


FASTEXIXG  B0TT03I-B0AED  AXD  COVER. 

Do  likewise  with  the  other  cord.  The  result 
will  be,  that  the  strands  passing  over  the 
cover  will  be  closer  together  than  the  strands 
passing  around  the  bottom  of  the  hive  ;  and 
you  will  find  that  the  cover  is  fastened  al- 
most as  tight  as  if  it  were  nailed.  To  save 
time  and  labor,  get  out  just  enough  strands 
to  accommodate  as  many  hives  as  you  can 
carry  at  one  load.  With  the  strands  thrown 
over  your  shoulder,  after  you  have  hitched 
your  horses  at  a  safe  distance  from  the  api- 
ary, and  after  you  have  tacked  wire  cloth 
over  the  entrances,  lift  the  front  end  of  the 
hive  up ;  tie  the  front  strand  as  described, 
and  then  the  rear  one ;  stretch  them  taut, 
in  the  manner  described.  In  like  manner 
treat  the  rest  of  the  hives.  The  labor  of 
preparing  the  bees  for  moving  will  be  re- 
duced to  a  minimum. 

Another  very  ingenious  method  of  fasten- 
ing the  cover  and  bottom  is  to  take  a  very 
heavy  c-ord,  pass  it  transversely  around  the 
hive,  and  tie  it  loosely.  With  a  stick  about 
an  inch  square,  loop  it  under  the  string,  and 
then  twist  the  stick  until  the  cord  is  taut. 
This  is,  perhaps,  a  quicker  way  than  the 
other  one  ;  but  one  cord  is  surely  not  as  safe 
as  two.  A7e  have  secured  the  cover  and 
bottom  both  ways,  but  we  like  the  double- 
loop  plan  better. 

Our  wagon,  a  platform  spring,  will  hold 
4o  empty  hives ;  and  on  smooth  roads  we 
carry  that  number  of  hives  containing  colo- 
nies. Ordinarily  30  to  85  make  a  good  load, 
because  we  seldom  have  roads  in  such  per- 
fect condition  that  we  dare  risk  such  a 


weight.  The  box  of  the  wagon  will  take  12 
hives,  and  the  raised  platform  will  carry  the 
remainder.  The  hives  will  probably  stay  in 
their  place  ;  but  to  prevent  accident  they 


A  LOAD  OF  BEES  TO  CCK  OUT-APIARY. 


are  secured  with  ropes,  as  shown  in  the  cut. 
The  driver  sits  in  the  middle  of  the  load,  so 
that  he  can  watch  for  and  prevent  any  un- 
expected developments. 

SHIPPING  BEES   LONG  DISTANCES   BY  EX- 
PRESS. 

During  hot  weather  great  care  should  be 
exercised  that  the  bees  be  not  smothered, 
nor  their  combs  melted  down  by  the  intense 


THE    DOVETAILED    HIVE,   PREPARED  FOR 
SHIPPING  BEES. 

heat  that  is  generated  where  they  have  an 
insufficient  quantity  of  air  during  shipment. 
After  a  large  experience,  and  many  mishaps 
in  shipping  bees  in  the  summer  time,  we 
have  now  decided  on  covering  both  the  top 
and  bottom  of  the  hive  with  wire  cloth. 
For  short  distances,  and  more  moderate 
weather  in  summer,  a  piece  of  wire  cloth 
tacked  over  the  entrance,  and  a  single  wire- 
cloth  cover,  will  answer ;  but  the  entrance 
itself  should  not  be  closed,  for  it  affords  a 
draft  that  passes  up  through  the  cluster,  to 
the  wire  cloth  above.  The  preceding  cut 
illustrates  the  method  we  have  used  for 
shipping  bees  with  success  with  the  Dove- 
tailed hive,  described  elsewhere. 


MOVING  BEES. 


230 


MUSTAED. 


A  couple  of  screws,  B  B,  fasten  the  wire 
screen  to  the  hive.  The  bottom  is  similarly 
secured.  To  move  the  screen,  no  prying 
nor  pounding  is  necessary.  Simply  loosen 
the  screws,  and  the  screen  will  lift  off  with- 
out a  jar. 

To  secure  the  frames  so  that  they  will  not 
shuck  about,  we  use  a  notched  stick,  as 
shown  in  A  A,  of  the  accompanying  cut,  the 
notches  passing  down  between  the  frames 
just  over  the  rabbet  in  the  hive. 

f   I 


liii 

X  1^ 

X  1 

1  1 

II 

A  couple  of  wire  nails  hold  it  secure.  A 
similar  notched  stick  is  nailed  to  the  bot- 
tom-board, notches  upward,  transversely 
through  the  center.  This  keeps  the  bottoms 
of  the  frames  from  jarring  against  each  oth- 
er. After  the  wire  cloth  has  been  tacked  to 
the  entrance,  the  combs  put  in  the  hive,  and 
secured  by  the  notched  sticks,  the  wire 
screen  screwed  down,  the  whole  arrange- 
ment is  ready  for  shipment. 

Of  course,  if  your  bees  are  on  fixed  frames 
— that  is,  either  the  Hoffman  or  the  closed- 
end,  referred  to  and  described  under 
Frames,  Manipulating  ;  Fixed  Frances, 
and  under  Hive-making,  no  notched  spac- 
ing-strips will  be  necessary.  The  frames 
are  already  fastened  for  moving  or  ship- 
ping ;  and  the  beauty  of  it  is,  no  time  need 
be  lost  in  preparing  them  for  that  purpose. 

It  is  almost  absolutely  necessary  that  the 
combs  themselves  be  wired,  or  at  least  that 
they  be  old  and  tough,  and  securely  attached 
to  the  bottom -bar  if  not  wired.  It  is  always 
risky,  however,  to  ship  in  combs  Avlien  not 
wired.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  what  sort  of 
rough  usage  they  will  receive  at  the  hands 
of  careless  or  indifferent  express  agents ; 
and  while  we  should  not  be  too  hasty  in 
condemning  railroad  officials  for  careless 
handling,  we  should  take  every  precaution. 
The  bees  buzzing  around  the  wire  cloth  is 
usually  enough  to  guarantee  safe  handling ; 
but  as  many  do  not  know  how  to  handle  and 
take  care  of  bees,  we  are  in  the  habit  of 
printing  in  large  letters,  in  red,  on  a  piece 
of  cardboard,  as  follows  : 

KILLED! 

This  Hive  contains  Live  Bees,  and  they  will 
be  "Killed"  if  roughly  handled,  or  left  in  the 
Sun,  or  not  kept  This  Side  Up.  Will  you 
please  be  careful  of  the  little  fellows? 


This  card  is  tacked  on  one  corner  of  the 
wire  -  cloth  screen.  Of  course,  the  word 
"killed"  is  to  command  attention;  and 
there  are  very  few  railroad  ofiicials  who  will 
not  heed  the  instructions.  Bees  should  al- 
ways be  sent  by  express.  Although  I  have 
sent  them  safely  by  freight  as  far  as  Massa- 
chusetts, I  would  by  no  means  recommend  it. 

If  bees  are  to  be  sent  long  distances,  be 
sure  that  they  have  plenty  of  stores,  for  the 
excitement  attendant  upon  confinement  and 
jolting  about  sometimes  causes  them  to  con- 
sume honey  enormously. 

HOW  TO  prepare  A  CARLOAD  OF  .  BEES. 

If  you  use  loose,  hauging  frames,  fix  them 
with  the  spacing-strips  illustrated  on  a  pre- 
vious page.  If  your  frames  are  of  the  fixed 
type,  of  course  no  spacing  device  will  be 
necessary.  Eemove  the  cover,  and  cover  the 
top  of  the  hive  with  wire  cloth.  The  best 
way  will  be  to  make  a  two-inch  rim  and 
nail  the  wire  cloth  on  top  of  this,  as  explain- 
ed on  a  previous  page.  There  should  be 
about  two  inches  between  the  brood-frames 
and  the  wire  cloth.  Before  loading  them  in 
the  car,  strew  about  four  or  five  inches  of 
loose  straw  on  the  car  floor  and  then  place 
your  colonies  upon  this,  four  or  five  inches 
apart.  After  the  car  bottom  is  covered  put 
some  2x4  pieces  across  the  tops  of  the 
hives,  and  then  your  next  tier  of  hives  on 
top  of  these.  For  convenience  in  loading, 
leave  a  passageway  through  the  center  of 
the  car,  and  then,  if  you  accompany  your 
bees,  you  can  easily  get  aX  any  of  the  colo- 
nies. The  purpose  of  the  straw  is  to  give  a 
spring  to  soften  the  heavy  "concussions. 
One  thing  more  that  is  important :  Be  sure 
to  load  the  hives  so  that  the  frames  are  par- 
allel with  the  rails  ;  and,  don't  pile  them  up 
more  than  two  or  three  tiers  high.  In  load- 
ing on  the  wagon,  put  the  frames  so  that 
they  are  parallel  with  the  axletree. 

caution. 

Before  closing,  let  me  add  a  caution.  In 
moving  bees,  be  sure  that  you  have  fixed  all 
the  entrances  so  that  not  a  bee  can  by  any 
possibility  escape.  Do  not  have  your  wire 
cloth  too  short,  and  then  splice  it  out  with 
leaves.  Be  sure  to  have  it  cut  exactly  the 
right  length.  For  further  particulars,  see 
Out- API  ARIES, 

ZMEUSTARD  {Sinapis  arvensis).  This 
belongs  to  the  same  family  as  the  turnip, 
cabbage,  rape,  etc.,  all  of  which,  I  believe, 
almost  invariably  furnish  honey  while  they 
are  in  bloom.  We  have  a  good  opportunity 
of  testing  these  plants,  because  acres  of 
them  are  raised  for  other  pm^poses  besides 


MUSTARD 


231 


MUSTARD. 


the  honey.  It  will  be  a  hard  matter  to  de- 
termine which  is  best  for  yonr  locality,  with- 
out trying  some  of  each.  Find  out  what 
kind  of  a  market  you  have  for  your  seed,  and 
then  proceed  to  raise  it,  as  if  you  were  going 
to  depend  on  the  seed  alone  to  pay  expenses. 
Should  you  secure  a  good  crop  of  honey  from 
it,  you  will  then  be  so  much  ahead,  and 
there  is  little  chance  of  any  great  loss. 

The  honey  from  these  plants  is  said  to  be 
very  light,  equal  to  any  in  flavor,  and  to 
command  the  highest  price  in  the  market. 
The  seed  should  be  sown  very  early  in  the 
spring,  either  in  shallow  drills  so  far  apart 
that  the  cultivator  can  be  used  between 
them,  or  broadcast.  The  former  plan  is,  of 
course,  the  better  one  for  nearly  all  honey- 
plants,  but  is  more  trouble.  From  6  to  10 
lbs.  per  acre  will  be  needed,  if  sown  in  drills, 
and  from  15  to  20  if  sown  broadcast.  If 
you  wish  to  save  the  seed,  it  should  be  sown 


not  later  than  July  1st.  When  the  greater 
part  of  the  pods  are  ripe,  the  stalks  are  to  be 
cut  and  carefully  dried.  A  cloth  should  be 
spread  in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon,  when 
gathering,  for  the  seed  will  shell  out  consid- 
erably, if  it  is  in  proper  condition  to  thrash. 
I  presume  we  have  machines  especially 
adapted  for  cleaning  and  thrashing  the  seed, 
but  I  have  always  seen  a  flail  and  fanning- 
mill  used.  Of  course,  it  should  be  thrashed 
on  a  tight  floor,  or  on  a  floor  made  tight  by 
a  lai'ge  piece  of  canvas.  The  seed  of  the 
common  kinds  of  mustard  brings  SI. 15  per 
hundred  pounds.  I  do  not  know  how  many 
bushels  are  raised  per  acre.  The  Chinese 
variety  has  been  highly  extolled  for  bees ; 
but  we  have  found  the  common  black  mus- 
tard that  grows  almost  of  itself  to  thrive 
better,  and  be  more  visited  by  the  bees. 
Who  will  give  us  the  results  of  some  practi- 
cal experiments? 


MENDI^ESON'S  MOVING-RACK  FOR  HAUIvING  A  WHOI.E  APIARY.  (CAI.IFORNIA.) 

Floor  space,  7x19^  feet.;  slats  i  ft.  high;  carries  each  tier  50  colonies,  or  100  double-story  colonies.  There 
have  been  150  single-storv  colonies  on  it  at  one  time.  Capacity  of  springs,  5  tons.  Estimated  weight  of  the 
rack,  1000  lbs.  The  rack  will  fit  any  44-inch  bolster  of  lumber  wagon.  A  set  of  broad  steps  slide  in  under  for 
loading.  Bed-pieces,  3x8x20;  cross-pieces.  3x4;  side-pieces  for  stake-irons,  3x4x20;  stakes.  2x3x4^^;  slats,  1x2,  all 
riveted  seat  standards.  2x(j,  thoroughly  bolted,  and  very  firm;  made  at  the  apiary,  spring  of  1895. 


N. 


IDJUCZiZiUS.  This  word,  applied  to  bee 
culture,  signifies  a  small  swarm  of  bees,  per- 
haps from  one-fourth  to  one-tenth  of  a  full 
colony.  The  plural  of  the  word  is  nuclei;  it 
were  well  to  bear  this  in  mind,  for  there  is 
much  confusion  in  the  use  of  the  terms,  even 
in  printed  circulars.  If  you  remove  a  dozen 
bees  from  the  hive,  take  them  so  far  away 
that  they  are  homeless,  and  then  let  them 
fly,  they  will  after  a  time  come  pretty  nearly 
back  to  the  place  from  which  you  released 
them;  but  unless  they  have  a  queen  with 
them  they  will  soon  wander  away  and  be 
lost.  If  you  give  them  a  queen  they  will 
come  back  to  where  they  left  her,  and  will 
probably  remain  if  she  does  not  stray  away. 
She,  like  the  rest,  must  fulfill  her  destiny,  or 
she  will  wander  away;  we  shall  therefore 
have  to  provide  her  a  comb  wherein  to  lay 
eggs.  The  bees  would  build  the  comb  them- 
selves, if  there  were  enough  of  them,  and 
they  had  plenty  of  food.  A  dozen  would 
never  build  any  comb;  neither  would  they 
make  any  attempt  to  rear  and  hatch  her 
eggs,  if  the  comb  were  given  them.  Per- 
haps a  hundred  bees  put  in  a  suitably  small 
box,  with  a  fertile  queen,  might  start  a  col- 
ony, and  this  is  what  we  call  a  nucleus. It 
is  the  center,  about  which  a  colony  of  bees 
may  in  time  be  formed.  If  they  should  be 
built  up  to  a  full  colony,  the  building  -  up 
would  be  done  by  the  queen's  filling  her 
combs  with  eggs ,  which ,  when  cared  for  by  the 
nursing  bees  (see  Bees),  would  be  converted 
into  larvae,  and  in  21  days  would  be  hatched 
into  perfect  bees.  These  bees  would  then 
help  the  original  hundred,  and  the  queen 
would  fill  a  still  larger  area  with  eggs,  which 
would  be  hatched  in  the  same  way,  and  so 
on.  The  difficulty  in  the  way  of  building  up 
from  such  small  beginnings  seems  to  be  that 
the  queen  will  lay  all  the  eggs  a  hundred 
bees  can  care  for,  perhaps  in  an  hour  or  two, 
and  then  she  has  to  sit  or  loaf  around  for  the 
whole  21  days,  until  she  can  have  another 
"  job."  Before  the  21  days  are  up,  she  will 
be  very  likely  to  get  disgusted  with  such 


small  proceedings,  and  swarm  out,  or  at 
least  induce  the  bees  with  her  to  do  so. 
See  Absconding  Swarms.  If  we  should 
increase  the  number  of  bees  to  500  or 
1000,  we  should  get  along  very  much 
better,  and  there  should  be  little  danger  of 
swarming  out,  unless  the  hive  given  them 
were  too  small.  A  very  spry  and  ambitious 
queen  might  fill  all  the  cells  the  bees  had 
prepared  for  her,  then  set  about  filling  them 
the  second  time,  as  they  sometimes  do,  and 
then  swarm  out ;  but  with  a  quart  of  bees — 
about  3200,  if  I  have  figured  rightly— things 
will  generally  go  along  pretty  well. 

If  we  are  to  have  this  quart  of  bees  work 
to  the  best  advantage,  something  depends 
upon  the  sort  of  hive  they  are  domiciled  in. 
A  single  comb,  long  and  narrow,  so  as  to 
string  the  bees  out  in  one  thin  cluster,  is 
very  bad  economy.  Two  combs  would  do 
very  much  better,  but  three  would  be  a  great 
deal  better  still.  It  is  like  scattering  the 
firebrands  widely  apart;  one  alone  will  soon 
go  out ;  two  placed  side  by  side  will  burn 
very  well ;  and  three  will  make  quite  a  fire. 
It  is  on  this  account  that  I  would  have  a 
nucleus  of  three,  instead  of  one  or  two 
frames.  The  bees  seem  to  seek  naturally  a 
space  between  two  combs  ;  and  the  queen 
seldom  goes  to  the  outside  comb  of  a  hive, 
unless  she  is  obliged  to  for  want  of  room. 

FORMING    NUCLEI   FOR    INCREASE  ;  HOW 
TO  DO  IT. 

Dividing  colonies  into  nuclei  for  the  sake 
of  increasing  the  number  of  hives  with  bees 
in,  is  usually  very  bad  practice,  especially  in 
the  hands  of  beginners.  When  one  is  run- 
ning for  honey,  colonies  can  not  be  much  too 
strong.  But  there  are  times,  especially  after 
a  severe  winter,  and  many  of  the  colonies 
have  died,  when  some  form  of  artificial  in- 
crease is  desirable.  There  are  several  plans ; 
but  here  is  one  I  have  practiced  with  success. 
We  will  start  with  one  colony. 

As  soon  as  there  comes  settled  warm 
weather  I  would  divide  my  colony  up  into 
four  two-frame  nuclei.   To  each  I  would 


NUCLEUS. 


283 


NUCLEUS. 


introduce  an  untested  Italian  queen  at  the 
time  of  making  the  division ;  contract  tlie 
entrances  down  to  each  hive,  so  that  one  or 
two  bees  can  pass  at  a  time.  I  would  then 
feed  a  little  every  day.  If  I  could  just  as  well 
I  would  use  cushions  on  top  of  the  frames, 
and  on  each  side,  putting  the  nucleus  in  the 
center  of  the  hive,  as  it  is  very  important  to 
keep  the  little  cluster  of  bees  warm. 

TThen  the  queen  fills  the  frame  or  frames 
with  eggs,  and  there  are  bees  enough  to  cov- 
er, I  would  put  m  another  frame  on  the  out- 
side. As  the  weatlier  warms  up  it  might  be 
advisable  to  put  in  still  another  frame,  put- 
ting this  one  in  the  center  of  the  cluster,  in 
the  mean  time  keeping  up  gentle  feeding 
daily.  A  very  good  feeder  for  this  purpose 
is  the  Boardman.  See  Feeders.  This  can 
be  slipped  into  the  entrance,  and  by  screw^- 
ing  the  can  tightly  or  loosely  into  the  cap  the 
flow"  of  feed  can  be  regulated  for  the  daily 
needs.  * 

I  would  make  the  syrup  by  mixing  to- 
gether sugar  and  water  in  equal  proportions 
by  measure.  Stir  thoroughly,  and  then  pour 
into  feeder-cans. 

As  soon  as  the  nuclei  have  two  or  three 
frames  of  sealed  brood,  larvae,  and  eggs,  take 
out  one  or  more  frames  from  each,  and  form 
another.  This  plan  can  be  continued  till  one 
has  15  and  possibly  20  little  colonies  ;  but  he 
should  stop  dividing  within  at  least  60  days 
before  the  setting  in  of  cold  frosty  nights. 

If  one  can  not  afford  to  buy  queens  he  will 
have  to  raise  them  and  then  the  increase  will 
be  cut  down  more  than  a  half,  probably. 

In  1892  I  myself,  without  any  special  ef- 
fort, reared  all  the  queens,  and  increased  an 
apiary  from  10  colonies,  some  of  which  were 
almost  nuclei,  to  some  85  good  colonies  that 
went  into  winter  quarters.  They  had  no 
empty  combs,  but  they  were  given  full  sheets 
of  foundation.  They  were  not  fed,  but  were 
made  to  depend  entirely  on  natural  sources 
for  their  supply.  Had  1  fed  after  the  honey 
season,  and'  given  empty  combs,  I  might 
have  made  double  the  increase. 

But  there  is  one  objection  to  the  plan 
above  named ;  and  that  is,  some  of  the  bees 
will  return  to  the  parent  colony.  To  partly 
remedy  this  I  have  put  most  of  the  bees  into 
the  hives  on  the  new  stands,  leaving  very 
few  in  the  old  stand.  This  will  soon  have 
more  bees  from  the  other  hives. 

THE  S03IERF0IID  3IETH0D. 

Another  method,  first  introduced  to  the 
bee-keeping  world  by  Mr.  W.  W.  Somerford, 
is  reported  to  give  such  good  results  that  I 


am  glad  to  place  the  plan  before  the  readers 
of  this  work. 

To  begin  with,  remove  the  queens  or  cage  them  in 
all  your  fancj'  stock.  After  getting  the  brood-nest 
well  filled  with  brood  (the  more  brood  the  better — 8  or 
10  frames  in  a  hive  if  possible)  wait  ten  days  after  re- 
moving the  queen,  when  the  bees  will  generally  have 
cells  on  each  and  every  comb,  and  be  in  a  broody  or 
listless  condition,  waiting  for  cells  to  hatch.  Divide 
and  remove  the  frames  quietl5^  giving  each  new  hive 
two  frames  of  brood  and  all  adhering  bees,  and  one 
good  frame  of  hone}-,  using  it  for  a  division-board 
(and,  by  the  way,  such  division-boards  are  to  my  no- 
tion the  best  in  the  world);  put  the  two  frames  of 
brood  and  bees  next  to  the  wall  of  the  hive,  and  let 
the  honey-frame  be  the  third  from  the  side  of  hive. 
Be  sure  to  see  that  yon  have  at  least  one  good  ripe- 
looking  cell  in  each  new  hive,  or  division,  and  don't 
forget  the  frame  of  honey.  As  soon  as  each  division  is 
made,  stop  the  entrance  of  the  hive  by  stuffing  it  full  of 
green  moss.  If  3-ou  haven't  any  green  moss,  use  green 
grass  or  leaves,  and  be  sure  to  stuff  them  ixi  tight— as 
tight  as  though  you  never  intended  the  bees  should 
gnaw  out,  and  be  sure  there  are  no  cracks  or  holes 
that  a  single  bee  could  get  out  at;  for  if  there  are,  5'our 
division  will  be  ruined  b}-^  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  bees 
that  can  fly  leaving  it.  Each  parent  colony  should 
make  four  or  five  good  divisions  that  will  make  boom- 
ing colonies  in  40  or  50  days,  and  I  have  had  them  the 
best  in  the  apiar^'  in  less  time.  I^eave  or  loose  the 
old  queen  on  the  old  stand  (if  not  too  old),  and  the 
bees  from  it  will  work  straight  ahead,  as  they  don't 
have  to  be  confined  to  make  them  staj'  at  home. 

Don't  be  uneasy  about  the  di\-isions  that  are  stopped 
up,  unless  you  failed  to  stuff  the  entrances  well,  for 
they  zc/ill  not  smother,  but  busy  themselves  with  gnaw, 
ing  at  the  moss  or  grass  for  two  or  three  daj^s.  possibly 
four  or  five,  if  you  have  done  an  extra  good  job  at  stuff- 
ing the  entrance.  At  the  end  of  that  time  you  will  find 
them  all  gnawed  out  so  as  to  have  egress  and  ingress. 
Then  you  can  move  enough  of  the  grass  or  moss  to  give 
them  a  clean  entrance,  IJ^  or  2  inches  wide;  and  by 
looking  into  them  you  will  be  astonished  at  the  quan- 
tity of  bees  you  have  in  each  hive  (and  they  too,  well 
satisfied),  having  consumed  so  much  time  in  gnaw- 
ing out  that  the  queen  had  time  to  hatch  and  kill  off 
her  rivals  and  be  ready  for  the  wedding-trip  by  the 
time  the  entrance  is  cleared.  So,  instead  of  in  a  week's 
time,  having  a  worthless  weak  division  with  a  chilled 
inierior  queen,  as  is  the  case  in  the  old-style  way  of 
dividing,  where  nine-tenths  of  the  bees  return  to  the 
old  hive,  you  have  a  strong  vigorous  queen  and  a  nice 
little  satisfied  swarm  of  bees,  ready  for  business  in 
the  way  of  pulling  foundation  before  they  are  three 
weeks  old. 

I  have  succeeded  with  nineteen  out  of  twenty  divi- 
sions made  in  the  above  way,  when  I  did  not  even  see 
them  until  the  third  week,  after  di^dding  them  as 
above.  And  for  the  average  bee-keeper  who  has  out- 
apiaries  I  think  there  is  no  better  waj^  in  the  world  to 
make  increase.  If  there  is  I'd  like  to  see  or  hear  of  it 
while  the  expansion  question  is  being  expanded. 

In  the  above  method  of  increasing,  you  have  no 
queens  to  buy,  no  robbers  to  bother  with,  and  but  little 
time  lost,  as  an  expert  can  make  20  divisions  an  hour. 

Navasota,  Tex. 

OUT-APIARIES.— Within  late  years 
this  term  has  been  used  to  apply  to  bee- 
'  yards  remote  or  distant  from  the  home  yard 


OUT-APIAKIES. 


234 


OUT-APIAKIES. 


by  some  two"  or  three  miles.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact,  that  only  a  limited  number  of 
colonies,  comparatively,  can  be  accommo- 
dated in  any  one  locality,  different  localities 
being  able  to  support  a  wide  difference  in 
the  number  of  colonies. 

NUMBER  OF  COLONIES  IN  AN  APIARY. 

The  number  of  colonies  of  bees  that  can 
be  profitably  kept  in  one'  locality  is  limited 
by  the  amount  of  pasturage.  Of  late  years 
quite  a  number  of  bee-keepers  have  estab- 
lished one  or  more  out-apiaries,  for  the  sake 
of  keeping  more  bees  than  the  home  pastur-- 
age  would  support.  Just  how  many  bees 
can  be  supported  in  a  single  locality  has 
probably  never  been  ascertained,  and  it  is 
just  as  probable  that  it  never  will.  One 
field  may  support  five  times  as  many  as  an- 
other, and  the  same  field  may  support  five 
times  as  many  this  year  as  last.  Most  bee- 
keepers, however,  think  it  not  advisable  to 
keep  more  than  75  to  100  in  one  apiary, 
whilst  a  few  think  their  locations  so  good 
that  200  or  more  can  be  profitably  kept  to- 
gether. The  man  who  has  only  a  few  more 
colonies  than  he  thinks  best  to  keep  in  one 
apiary  may  find  it  better  to  have  his  bees 
just  a  little  crowded  at  home  before  he  goes 
to  the  extra  expense  of  an  out-apiary.  In- 
deed, it  depends  somewhat  upon  the  man, 
whether,  having  been  successful  with  one 
apiary,  he  will  find  tiny  profit  in  the  second. 
But  having  gone  so  far  as  to  have  one  or 
more  apiaries  away  from  home,  it  is  not 
best  for  him  to  have  any  crowding  in  the 
least.  If  100  colonies  will  do  well  in  each 
apiary,  the  probability  is  that  75  will  do  bet- 
ter ;  and  while  there  is  unoccupied  territory 
all  about  him  he  would  better  keep  on  the 
safe  side  and  have  so  few  in  each  place  as  to 
feel  sure  of  no  overstocking.  His  own  con- 
venience would  have  much  to  do  in  decid- 
ing. For  instance,  if  he  has,  in  all,  800  col- 
onies, and  thinks  that  100  can  find  enough 
to  do  in  a  place,  but  can  get  through  the 
work  of  only  75  in  a  day,  then  he  will  keep 
the  800  in  4  apiaries  of  75  each,  rather  than 
in  8  apiaries  of  100  each.  For  it  will  make 
him  less  travel  to  have  in  each  apiary  just 
what  he  will  do  in  a  day's  work.  If  he  can 
do  50  in  a  day,  then  he  may  just  as  well 
have  100  in  two  apiaries  as  in  one,  for  in 
either  case  he  must  make  two  trips  to  get 
through  with  them. 

DISTANCE  BETWEEN  APIARIES,  AND  LOCA- 
TION THEREOF.  dJ 

c  A  location  for^^an  ^out-apiary  must,  of 
course,  be  far  enough  distant  from  the 


home  apiary  not  to  interfere  much ;  but 
just  how  far  is  best,  it  is  not  easy  to  decide. 
Perhaps,  all  things  considered,  a  good  dis- 
tance is  something  like  three  miles  apart. 
As  the  area  of  flight  is  a  circle,  the  ideal 
plan  of  locating  out-apiaries  so  as  to  fully 
occupy  all  adjoining  territory  is  to  put  them 
in  hexagonal  form,  in  which  case  a  circle  of 
six  will  surround  the  home  apiary. 


In  the  diagram,  A  represents  the  home 
apiary,  and  B,C,D,  E,F,G,  the  out-apia- 
ries, at  equal  distances  from  A  and  from 
each  other.  If  more  than  seven  are  needed 
then  a  second  series  may  be  started,  as  at 
K,  M,  L,  indicated  by  the  letters.  The  cir- 
cles representing  the  area  of  flight  from 
each  apiary  are  seen  to  overlap  each  other ; 
but  this  is  at  the  outer  parts,  where  the 
ground  is  more  sparsely  occupied,  and  the 
doubling  on  the  same  ground  is  compensat- 
ed by  the  convenience  of  the  shorter  dis- 
tance to  go  from  one  apiary  to  another.  But 
this  ideal  plan,  although  a  good  thing  to 
work  from  as  a  basis,  is  not  likely  ever  to  be 
fully  carried  out.  Many  reasons  will  make 
it  desirable  to  vary.  The  roads  may  run  in 
such  directions  as  to  make  a  difference  ;  no 
good  place  may  be  found  for  an  apiary  at 
some  of  the  points,  etc.  It  may  be  remark- 
ed, that  the  area  of  flight  is  not  always  a 
circle.  An  apiary  placed  in  a  valley  be- 
tween two  ranges  of  hills  might  have  an 
oblong  area,  the  bees  perhaps  flying  twice  as 
far  along  the  line  of  the  valley  as  in  the 
other  direction.  If  only  a  single  out-apiary 
is  to  be  planted,  it  is  probably  best  to  go  in 
the  direction  of  the  best  pasturage — a  thing 
not  always  easy  to  determine.  Sometimes 
one  location  proves  to  be  better  than  an- 
other, year  after  year,  although  no  apparent 
reason  for  it  can  be  seen ,  It  may  even  be 
worth  while  to  vary  a  location  a  mile  or 


OUT-APIARIES. 


235 


OUT-APIARIES. 


more  for  the  sake  of  having  it  where  pleas- 
ant people  live.  But  you  can  do  much  to- 
ward making  the  people  pleasant  by  being 
pleasant  yourself.  See  to  it  that  you  make 
as  little  trouble  as  possible,  and  be  still 
more  careful  than  at  home  to  avoid  every 
thing  that  may  incite  robbing,  for  robbing 
begets  cross  bees  on  the  place. 

REi^T  FOR  OTJT-APIARIES. 

The  agreement  between  the  bee-keeper 
and  his  landlord,  for  rent,  is  as  varied  as 
the  cases  that  occur.  Some  pay  a  fixed  sum, 
five  or  ten  dollars  per  year ;  some  agree  to 
pay  a  per  cent  of  the  crop  :  some  make  a 
bargain  to  pay  so  much  for  every  swarm 
hived  by  some  one  of  the  landlord's  family, 
and  so  ou,  while  some  can  not  get  the  land- 
lord to  agree  to  take  any  rent  whatever.  In 
this  latter  case  it  is  only  right  to  make  sure 
that  the  landlord  has  a  good  supply  of  honey 
for  his  family  to  use  during  the  coming 
year.  In  any  case,  make  sure  to  do  a  little 
better  than  is  expected  of  you. 

HAULING  BEES. 

Whenever  you  decide  to  start  a  second 
apiary,  you  must  give  some  attention  to  the 
matter  of  hauling.  If  you  winter  on  sum- 
mer stands,  there  will  be  less  hauling  than 
if  you  bring  all  your  bees  home  to  winter  in 
the  cellar  and  then  take  them  back  again  in 
the  spring.   If  you  use  chaff  hives  you  can 


but,  wait  and  see.  The  probabilities  are, 
that,  with  all  your  care,  one  of  your  first 
experiences  in  hauling  bees  will  be  to  get 
your  horse  stung  ;  and  you  may  be  thankful 
if  you  get  off  without  a  runaway  and  a  gen- 
eral smashup.  Some  little  leak  evaded  your 
notice,  from  which  the  bees  escaped,  or  you 
drove  your  horse  too  close  to  the  apiary,  or 
in  some  other  way  you  will  have  got  your- 
self into  such  a  scrape  that  you  will  wish 
you  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  bees.  A.  E. 
Manum  puts  on  his  horses  a  covering  of  cot- 
ton cloth  which  completely  covers  head  and 
body,  and  this  is  kept  on  until  some  half  a 
mile  distant  from  the  apiary. 

You  may  haul  bees  on  almost  any  kind  of 
yehicle.  Some  use  wagons  with  springs  ; 
some  use  a  hay-rack  with  two  or  three  feet 
of  hay  on  it,  while  others  use  a  common 
lumber- wagon,  or  a  hay-rack  with  neither 
hay  nor  springs,  leaving  the  frames  with 
no  other  fastening  than  the  propolis  and 
brace-combs.  With  smooth  roads  this  lat- 
ter plan  is  very  satisfactory.  AYith  good 
smooth  roads  it  may  be  best  to  have  the 
brood-combs  running  across  the  wagon,  as 
most  of  the  shaking  comes  from  the  wagon 
rocking  from  side  to  side,  while  a  road  very 
rough  may  make  it  best  to  have  the  combs 
running  parallel  to  the  line  of  travel.  If  the 
combs  are  secure  enough,  it  will  matter  lit- 
tle how  they  are  placed.   To  carry  colonies 


miller's  SECTIOISTAL  MOVING-RACK. 


have  light  cases  made  to  carry  merely  the  of  bees  to  advantage,  some  sort  of  rack  is 
brood-frames  with  the  bees.  The  first  thing  necessary.  As  I  am  not  a  farmer  I  had  to 
to  see  to  is  to  make  very  sure  that  no  bees  extemporize  a  rack  for  my  one-horse  wagon, 
can  get  out  to  sting  the  horse  or  horses.  Of  It  is  made  of  fence-boards  in  the  manner 
course,  you  think  you  are  careful,  and  that  I  shoA;\Ti.  The  hives  are  set  down  between 
there  is  no  need  of  anxiety  in  your  case;  I  the  cleats,  and  between  the  side  and  middle 


OUT-AFIARIES. 


236 


OUT-AriARIES. 


strips.  I  use  two  of  such  racks  for  the  ordi- 
nary two-horse  wagon,  placing  them  end 
to  end.  For  a  light  one-horse  wagon  one 
rack  is  sufficient,  and  for  a  two-horse  rig  it 
is  much  handier  to  have  the  rack  in  halves. 

Whatever  the  kind  of  hive  you  may  de- 
cide to  use,  some  plan  must  be  adopted,  in 
fastening  in  the  bees,  that  they  may  have 
abundance  of  ventilation  while  being  haul- 
ed. As,  however,  the  hauling  is  being  done 
in  spring  and  fall,  less  ventilation  is  needed 
than  in  hot  weather.  The  ordinary  en- 
trance, say  14  inches  by  f ,  covered  by  wire 
cloth,  will  answer,  as  that  gives  a  ventilat- 
ing surface  of  about  5  inches,  although  more 
will  be  better,  and  it  might  be  bad  to  have 


a  good  fly  before  going  into  winter  quarters. 
After  being  unloaded  from  the  wagon  the 
bees  may  be  liberated  at  once  by  blowing  in 
a  little  smoke  or  dashing  in  some  cold  wa- 
ter ;  or,  if  loaded  too  late  in  the  evening  to 
fly,  they  may  be  left  till  the  next  morning, 
when  they  will  be  quietly  settled  down ;  and 
if  carefully  opened,  no  smoke  need  be  used. 

TOOLS  FOR  OUT-AriARlES,  AND  WHERE  TO 
KEEL'  THEM. 

Whatever  tools  you  use  in  the  home  api- 
ary, you  are  likely  to  need  the  same  in  each 
out-apiary.  If  a  different  person  is  in  charge 
of  each  apiary,  then  each  one  mutt  have  his 
own  set  of  tools  ;  and  even  if  the  same  force 
go  in  succession  from  one  apiary  to  another. 


A.  E.  MANUM'S  rig  for  HAULHSTG  BEES  ANI>  HONEY  TO  AND  FROM  OUT-Al  lARIES. 


SO  little  if  the  day  should  be  w^arm.  Of 
course,  the  bees  must  be  shut  in  when  not 
flying,  and  in  spring  it  is  a  good  plan  to  shut 
up  in  the  evening  all  that  are  to  be  hauled 
the  next  day.  In  the  fall  the  weather  may 
be  such  that  bees  wall  not  fly  at  any  time  in 
the  day,  otherwise  you  must  get  to  the  out- 
apiary  early  enough  in  the  morning  to  shut 
in  all  the  bees  you  will  haul  that  day.  If 
you  are  to  take  bees  to  an  out-apiary  in  the 
spring,  the  sooner  it  is  done  the  better,  as 
pasturage  is  then  apt  to  be  rather  scarce  at 
best.  If  bees  are  to  be  brought  home  in  the 
fall  to  be  cellared,  they  may  as  well  be 
brought  just  as  soon  as  heavy  frost  occurs, 
or  as  soon  as  they  stop  gathering ;  at  least, 
they  should  be  brought  early  enough  to  have 


it  maybe  the  most  convenient  to  have  a  sep- 
arate outfit  kept  at  each  plnce.  I  do  not 
think  just  now  of  any  thing  in  the  line  of 
tools  needed  for  an  out-apiary,  different 
from  those  that  are  needed  at  home,  unless 
it  be  a  robber- cloth.  I  should  not  like  to  be 
without  one  of  these  in  the  home  apiary,  but 
they  are  specially  valuable  in  out-apiaries 
where,  sometimes,  notwithstanding  robbers 
are  troublesome,  your  plans  are  such  that 
you  want  to  force  through  a  certain  amount 
of  work.  By  having  two  or  three  robber- 
cloths  I  have  sometimes  been  able  to  go  on 
with  my  work  when,  without  them,  I  should 
have  been  obliged  to  desist.  I'll  tell  you 
how  to  make  one.  Take  about  a  square 
yard  of  stout  sheeting  or  cotton  cloth ;  if 


OUT-APIAEIES. 


237 


OUT-API  AKLES. 


your  hives  are  small,  less  will  do.  Lay  one 
of  the  cut  edges  on  a  piece  of  lath,  about  the 
length  of  your  hive.  Lay  a  similar  piece  of 
lath  on  top  of  it,  and  drive  wire  nails 
through  both,  at  a  distance  of  perhaps  three 
inches  apart.  Let  the  nails  be  long  enough 
to  reach  through  and  clinch.  Then  treat  the 
opposite  edge  the  same  way,  and  your  rob- 
ber-cloth is  complete. 

This  robber-cloth  is  exceedingly  conven- 
ient to  throw  quickly  over  any  hive  or  super 
that  you  want  to  cover  up  temporarily.  You 
can  grasp  the  lath  at  one  side  with  one  hand, 
and,  with  a  single  fling,  throw  it  over  a  hive 
and  it  is  instantly  bee-tight.  It  does  not 
kill  bees,  if  any  happen  to  get  under  it.  If 
you  have  one  hand  occupied  with  something 
else,  yon  can  very  quickly  uncover  and  cover 
with  the  other.  I  have  sometimes  worked 
with  a  colony  when  robbers  were  so  bad 
they  would  pounce  into  every  opening ;  but 
a  robber-cloth  covering  the  frames  at  each 
side  allowed  me  to  have  an  opening  at  the 
frame  I  wished  to  take  out.  As  a  general 
rule,  of  course,  I  would  try  to  manage  not 
to  work  at  bees  at  such  times. 

But,  to  return.  It  would  be  very  con- 
venient, if  you  go  about  from  one  apiary 
to  another,  to  have  a  little  tool-house  at 
each.  I  am  not  sure,  however,  that  it 
would  pay.  A  hive  or  box  covered  over 
with  a  water-tight  cover  (I  use  a  tin  hive- 
cover)  answers  very  well.  I  would  have  one 
or  more  of  these  at  each  apiary  in  any  case, 
for  there  are  some  things  you  want  to  be 
sure  of  having  on  hand,  as  smoker  fuel. 
Matches  should  also  be  kept  under  cover  in 
such  a  place,  in  a  tin  box.  A  baking-powder 
box  does  well.  Bee-hats,  smokers— in  fact, 
a  full  set  of  every  thing,  may  be  kept  in  the 
same  way. 

It  is  possible,  however,  to  get  on  very  well 
by  always  taking  yoiu'  tools  with  you,  pro- 
vided you  never  forget  them.  One  day  we  i 
went  to  the  Hastings  apiary,  without  any 
smoker,  and  we  realized  then  how  important 
a  smoker  is.  Don't  trust  to  memory.  In 
your  record-book  have  a  list  of  the  things 
you  generally  need  to  take ;  and  after  you 
are  all  in  the  wagon,  or  ready  to  get  in,  read 
aloud  the  list  and  be  sure  that  every  thing 
is  in  the  wagon,  as :  Hats,  smokers,  dinner 
(we  never  forgot  our  dinner),  chisel, etc.  My 
own  practice  has  been  a  sort  of  compromise 
between  having  a  full  kit  of  tools  at  each 
apiary  and  taking  every  thing  along.  If  a 
buggy  is  used,  it  is  not  convenient  to  have 
very  much  bulk.  By  the  way,  a  bad  season 
is  not  without  its  compensations.   I  have 


I  had  two  years  of  such  dead  failure  that  we 
I  could  make  almost  every  trip  the  entire  sea- 
i  son  in  a  buggy,  for  there  was  no  honey  to 
haul,  and  little  in  the  way  of  supplies.    *  ' 

GE^TERAL  MAJTAGEMENT  OF  OUT- APIARIES. 

The  ways  of  managing  out-apiaries  will 
;  be  just  as  many  as  the  men  who  manage 
!  tbem :  but  the  general  management  will 
'  be  about  the  same  as  at  the  home  apiary. 
;  There  will  always  be  the  advantage  of  mov- 
ing at  any  time  a  colony  or  part  of  a  colony 
from  one  apiary  to  another,  and  feeling  sure 
that  the  bees  will  stay  where  they  are  put. 
I  The  more  you  are  interested  in  out-apiaries 
the  more  you  are  apt  to  be  interested  in  the 
prevention  of  swarming  ;  and  if  you  have 
been  in  the  hab  t  of  wintering  in  the  cellar, 
an  out-apiary  will  make  you  debate  some- 
what the  question  whether  you  may  not 
I  find  some  way  of  safely  wintering  outdoors. 
I  Some  practice  having  a  competent  assistant 
in  charge  of  each  apiary,  remaining  there 
all  the  time  :  while  others  have  a  sufficient 
force  of  helpers  to  go  from  one  apiary  to  an- 
other, doing  the  work  of  each  apiary  as  often 
as  convenient,  perhaps  every  six  days  or 
oftener. 

In  Gkanings  in  Bee  Culture  appeared  an 
article  from  Mr.  E.  France,  of  Platte ville. 
Wis.  (see  Biographical  Sketches) ;  and  as  it 
contains  so  many  valuable  suggestions,  I 
reproduce  it  .here  entire,  with  the  diagram. 

I  have  taken  pains  to  make  a  correct  diagTam  of 
j  the  territory  that  we  occupy  with  our  bees;  and  I 
!  must  say  tliat  I  was  surprised  myself  wlien  I  saw  the 
exact  position  of  each  yard.  Thej'  are  clustered  to- 
g-ether more  than  I  had  supposed.  The  accompany- 
ing diagram  will  show  how  they  stand,  and  I  will 
give  some  facts  and  figures  that  will  make  quite  an 
interesting  study  about  setting  out  out-apiaries  and 
overstocking  our  pasture.  Of  course,  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  locate  a  set  of  out-apiaries  just  so  far  from 
the  home  apiary,  in  a  circle,  each  one  in  its  proper 
place,  just  as  nicely  as  we  could  make  it  on  paper. 
W^e  have  to  take  such  places  as  we  can  get,  and 
many  of  the  places  that  we  can  get  won't  do  at  all, 
for  some  reason  or  other;  and  when  you  have  six  or 
eight  yards  planted  you  will  be  likely  to  find,  as  in 
our  case,  some  of  them  badly  crowded— too  much  so 
for  profit. 

The  circles  in  the  diagram  are  three  miles  each,  or 
1)4  miles  from  center  to  the  outside,  which  is  a  very 
short  distance  for  a  bee  to  go  in  search  of  honey. 
If  the  bees  fly  three  or  four  miles,  as  I  think  they  do 
in  poor  seasons,  it  is  plain  to  see  how  it  works  in  a 
poor  season.  The  outside  apiaries  may  be  getting  a 
fair  living,  while  the  inside  yards  are  nearly  starv- 
ing. In.  first-class  seasons,  when  honey  is  plentiful 
everywhere,  and  very  few  bees  go  over  one  mile, 
there  is  enough  for  all.  I  here  give  the  number  of 
bees  in  each  yard  this  spring,  the  amount  of  honey 
taken,  and  the  amount  of  feeding  this  fall  to  put  the 
bees  in  trim  for  winter. 


OUT-APIARIES. 


238 


OUT-APIARIES. 


Atkinson  yard.   Colonies,  spring  count,  100 

Cravin        "  "  .    "  "  90 

Kliebenstein  yard.  "  »  gg 

Waters             "  "  "  "  88 

Jones              "  "  "  "  80 

Gunlauch         "  "  "  "  90 

Honae              "  "  "  "  105 

Total  649 

No  increase  to  speak  of 

Honey  extracted : 

Atkinson  yard  190 

Cravin         "   300 

Kliebenstein  "   740 

Waters         "   497 

Jones  "   600 

Gunlauch     "   350 

Home  "   540 

Total  3125 


honey,  no  feeding,  and  is  in  the  best  condition  of 
any  yard  for  winter  stores. 

We  will  now  notice  the  Atkinson  yard.  It  is  pretty 
well  hemmed  in  on  the  north  and  east  sides  by  the 
other  yards,  but  it  has  an  unlimited  field  on  the 
west,  of  good  pasture.  We  took  but  little  honey 
there,  but  it  is  in  good  condition  for  winter,  without 
feeding. 

Now,  away  over  on  the  east  side  we  have  the^Wa- 
ters  yard.   It  is  two  miles  from  basswood,  but 
splendid  white-clover  range  —  plenty  of  basswood 
two  miles  north  and  east.   This  yard  gave  some  hon- 
ey, and  required  no  feeding  for  winter. 

Then  there  are  the  Cravin  and  the  Gunlauch  yards, 
each  90  colonies  in  spring,  only  IH  miles  apart— too 
close,  with  very  little  basswood  north  of  them.  Both 
of|these  yards  were  fed  more  honey  than  we  took 
from  them.  There  were  a  few  acres  of  buckwheat 
near  them  that  helped  them  some.   The  Jones  yard 


E.  FRANCli  S  SYSTEM  OF  OUT-APIAKIES. 


Fed  back : 
Atkinson 
Cravin 
Kliebenstein 
Waters 
Jones 
Gunlauch 
Home 


yard. 


Total 

Surplus  after  feeding. 


000 
.336 
.COO 
.000 
.210 
.486 
.900 


1932 


1193 


Now,  notice  the  Kliebenstein  yard,  how  it  is  locat- 
ed, away  by  itself,  as  for  distance,  from  other  yards. 
It  has  a  great  advantage;  and  then  there  is  plenty 
of  basswood  all  around  it.  It  has  no  bees  belonging 
to  other  parties  on  its  territory.   It  gave  the  most 


did  fairly  well,  considering  its  surroundings.  It  had 
the  least  number  of  bees,  an  abundance  of  bass- 
wood  near,  and  then  had  eleven  acres  of  buckwheat 
just  over  the  fence. 

We  will  now  notice  the  home  yard.  There  were 
105  colonies.  The  Jones  yard  is  rather  too  close. 
Then  there  is  an  apiary  of  20  colonies  a  little  over 
half  a  mile  east,  at  a  point  marked  Beihls;  another 
apiary  1^  miles  east,  30  colonies,  marked  Nails;  an- 
other apiary  southeast,  marked  W,  about  40  colonies. 
Another  apiary  still  further  to  the  east,  and  a  little  to 
the  north,  marked  W,  about  40  colonies.  So  you  see 
the  home-yard  territory  is  overstocked  the  worst  of 
all,  and  had  to  be  fed  360  lbs.  more  than  was  taken 
from  them.  The  home  yard  has  the  best  clover  field 
of  any,  but  basswood  is  scarce  within  two  miles.  In 


OUT-APIARIES. 


239 


OUT-APIARIES. 


looking-  at  the  diagram,  one  not  acquainted  with  the 
ground  would  naturally  ask.  '*  Why  don"t  you  use 
that  open  space  southeast  of  the  home  yard  ?  "  Ir  is 
all  prairie  land.  Corn  and  oats  don't  yield  much 
honey. 

We  will  now  just  look  hack  to  the  record  of  a  year 
of  plenty.  1886,  and  see  how  the  yards  averaged  up 
then. 

COLONIES.  SPR1>-G  OF  1886. 

Atkinson  yard.  72  cols.;  averag-e  lbs.  per  col.,  1C6 
80  ' 
60   "  "        "  " 


Cravin 
Kliehensteiu 
Waters 
Gunlauch 
Home 


loeM 

109 
107 
100>^ 
117 


Jones  yard  not  planted  then. 

FOE  1885. 

Atkinson    yai-d,  56  cols. :  average  lbs.  per  col.,  90 


Cravin 

Kliebenstein 

Waters 

Gunlauch 

Home 


7i 
62 
57 
77K 
71  >^ 


FOR  188^. 

Atkinson    yai-d.  5l  cols. ;  average  lbs.  per  col..  107 


Cravin 

Kliebenstein ' 
Waters 
Gunlauch 
Home  ' 


4:1 

51 

il  " 

41  " 
61  " 


113 

1C9 

130 

106X 

113)4 


FOR  1883. 

Four  yards,  average  for  the  whole  lOo  lbs. 

Xumber  of  colonies.  35.  48,  33,  60. 

In  1887  we  kept  no  record.  It  was  a  very  poor  sea- 
son, and  we  g-ot  but  little  honey. 

The  year  18S4  was  a  very  poor  year  also. 

Cols,  in  spring-.      Average  per  col. 


Atkinson  yard, 

76  , 

 23 

Cravin 

75   

 20 

Kliebenstein  " 

 31 

Waters 

69  

  32 

Gunlauch 

 2l}4 

Home 

66  

  37>^ 

FOR  1889. 
Cols,  in  spring.      Average  per  col. 

Atkinson    yard,  72   40 

Waters  "      79  40 

KUebenstein  "      87   63 

Gunlauch  79  47 

Cravin        yard,   78   49 

Whig  52   40 

Home  "      84   52 

Xow,  friends,  you  have  the  figures  and  the  map  of 
the  ground  that  our  bees  are  on.  Study  it  for  your- 
selves. But  if  you  plant  out-apiaries,  don't  put 
them  less  than  five  miles  apart  if  you  can  lielp  it.  If 
you  are  going  to  keep  help  at  tlie  separate  yards,  to 
run  the  bees,  six  miles  apart  is  near  enough;  then,  if 
the  pasture  is  good,  you  can  keep  from  100  to  150  col- 
onies in  each  place.  If  you  go  from  home  with  your 
help  every  day.  then  you  want  to  gauge  the  number 
of  colonies  so  as  to  work  one  whole  yard  in  one  day; 
or  if  you  have  but  three  or  four  apiaries  in  all.  you 
Avill  have  time  to  work  two  days  in  each.  But  don't 
go  over  the  roads  for  less  than  a  full  day's  work 
when  you  get  there;  and  remember,  when  you  are 
locating  an  apiary,  that,  when  you  are  hitched  up 
and  on  the  road,  one  or  two  miles  f  ui-ther  travel  will 
pay  you  better  than  to  crowd  your  pasture.  Don't 
overstock  youi'  ground.  E.  Fraxce. 

PlatteviUe,  Wis, 


Soon  after  the  appearance  of  Mr.  France's 
diagram,  there  appeared  in  Gleanings  anoth- 
er valuable  article  from  the  pen  of  CP. 
Dadant.  of  the  firm  of  C.  Dadant  &  Son 
i  see  Biographical  Sketches  .  It  substanti- 
ates what  Mr.  France  has  said,  and  shows 
the  relation  that  apiaries  bear  to  each  other 
I  along  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

I  The  very  interesring  article  of  Mr.  France,  on  out- 
!  apiaries,  has  induced  us  to  give  you  our  experience 
■  in  this  matter,  not  because  we  can  throw  any  more 
I  light  on  the  question,  bur  because  our  practice. 
I  which  extends  back  to  1871.  in  the  matter  of  out- 
I  apiaries,  confirms  tlie  views  of  both  Mr.  France  and 
'  Dr.  Miller,  and  will  add  weight  to  their  statements. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  it  is  not  advisable 
;  to  place  apiaries  nearer  than  four  miles  apart:  but 
'  Dr.  Miller  is  undoubtedly  right  when  he  says  that 
I  the  configuration  of  the  land  has  a  great  deal  to  do 
;  with  the  greater  or  lesser  distance  that  the  bees  will 
I  travel  in  certain  directions. 

j     In  the  accompanying  diagram  you  will  perceive 
I  that  these  apiaries  are  all  located  on  land  sloping 
i  toward  the  Mississippi  River,  and  are  separated  from 
;  one  another  by  creeks,  and  groves  of  timber  land. 
[  The  Grubb  apiary  is  owned  by  D.  W.  McDaniel.  who 
I  has  had  charge  of  our  apiaries  also  for  a  few  years 
past.   Of  all  these  apiaries,  the  Sherwood  is  the  best 
in  the  product  of  both  spring  and  fall  crops,  although 
there  are  seasons  like  the  past  when  the  fall  crop 
I  fails  there  altogether. 

I  The  Villemain  apiary  has  the  poorest  location,  to 
'  all  appearances;  but  it  is  located  near  the  only  bass- 
wood  grove  tliere  is  in  the  country,  and  has  also 
quite  a  fall  pasture  from  blossoms  that  grow  on  the 
islands  near  it.  But  what  will  you  think  of  the  Sack 
apiary,  which  is  located  a  little  over  two  miles  south 
of  the  Lamet  apiaiw.  with  another  apiary  close  to 
the  latter,  and  not  shown  on  the  diagram,  and  only 
one  mile  and  a  quarter  north  of  another  apiary  of  60 
colonies,  owned  by  A.  Dougherty"?  Yet  this  Sack 
apiary  gives  us  the  best  average  of  honey  of  all.  ex- 
cepting the  Sherwood  apiarj'.  The  reason  of  it  is, 
that  the  pasturage  is  all  west  of  it  on  the  river  bot- 
toms, and  very  abundant.  It  is  piobable  that  the 
bees  in  this  apiary  go  as  far  west  as  the  river,  about 
three  miles,  while  they  perhaps  do  not  travel  over  a 
mile  east  on  the  bluffs.  Their  course  north  and 
south,  in  the  direction  of  those  other  apiaries,  is  over 
a  hilly  country  covered  more  or  less  -^-ith  timber, 
which  makes  their  flight  more  dilficult. 

The  two  small  circles  in  the  north  part  of  the  dia- 
gram show  spots  on  which  we  have  had  apiaries 
formerly,  and  which,  you  will  perceive,  were  further 
away  from  home  than  the  present.  At  that  time  the 
Sherwood  apiary  did  not  exist,  nor  did  the  Grubb 
apiary;  and  yet  we  must  say  that  we  can  see  no  dif- 
ference in  the  yield  of  the  home  apiary.  We  are 
satisfied  that  the  Grubb  bees  go  east,  the  Sherwood 
bees  and  the  liome  bees  northeast,  for  their  crop. 
When  we  say  the  bees  go  in  a  certain  direction,  we  do 
not  mean  all  the  bees,  but  the  greater  part  of  them. 
We  can  give  you  one  convincing  instance  of  the  cor- 
rectness of  this  opinion. 

By  glancing  at  the  diagram  you  will  notice  that 
the  home  apiary  is  just  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
the  north  point  of  an  island  in  the  river.  In  certain 
seasons  the  islands  are  covered  with  water  in  June; 
and  after  the  waters  recede  they  become  covered 


OUT-APIARIES. 


240 


OUT-APIARIES. 


with  a  luxuriant  vegetation,  and  the  yield  of  honey 
from  them  very  large.  In  one  of  these  seasons  we 
found  a  colony,  helong-ing  to  a  neighbor,  located 
half  way  between  us  and  the  river,  harvesting-  a 
large  yield  of  honey  from  this  source,  while  our  hees 
harvested  nothing.  Is  it  not  evident  that  our  hees 
had  not  gone  that  far  ?  Yet  we  have  seen  them  two 
miles  and  more  from  home  in  another  direction. 

Hamilton,  111.  C.  P.  Dadant. 

In  1890,  and  again  1897, 1  visited  a  number 
of  extensive  apiarists  in  the  States  of  ^^ew 
York  and  Vermont.  Among  others  whom 
I  called  upon  was  Mr.  P.  II.  Elwood,  who 
occupies  a  territory  for  his  system  of  out- 
apiaries  not  many  miles  from  that  formerly 
occupied  by  Mr.  Quinby.  Mr.  E.  runs 
about  1000  colonies  in  a  series  of  eight  or 
ten  out-yards,  and  they  are  located  in  the 
valleys  in  the  midst  of  those  York  State 
hills.  These  hills  are  anywhere  from  500  to 
1000  feet  high,  and.  are  covered  with  bass- 
woods  and  clover.  As  the  former  are  scat- 
tered over  the  hills  from  top  to  bottom,  the 


well  to  observe,  in  this  connection,  that  these 
hills  form  excellent  windbreaks  for  apia- 
rists in  the  valleys.  In  A^ermont,  in  a  cold- 
er climate,  this  feature  cuts  quite  a  figure. 
Mr.  Manum's  apiaries  are  also  located 
among  the  hills,  and  in  some  cases  on  the 
sides  of  the  mountains ;  but,  unlike  Mr. 
Elwood,  he  has  no  basswood  on  the  moun- 
tains. 

MOVABLE  APIARIES. 

Experience  has  shown,  in  many  instances, 
that  a  yard  that  has  in  years  gone  by  fur- 
nished tons  of  honey  is  now  practically 
worthless,  or  so  nearly  so  that  the  moving 
of  the  bees  to  some  location  more  favorable 
is  a  necessity.  For  instance,  four  or  five 
years  ago  an  apiary  furnished  an  abundance 
of  basswood  honey ;  but  the  basswoods 
have  all  been  cut  off ;  there  is  no  clover 
and  the  field  is  worthless.  Again,  a  locality 
has  once  furnished  immense  quantities  of 


o 

-A 


THE  DADANT  SYSTEM  OF  OUT-APIARIES  ALONG  THE  MLSSISSIPFI  RIVER. 


duration  of  the  honey-fiow  is  very  consider- 
ably prolonged.  Instead  of  there  being 
only  ten  days  or  two  weeks  of  basswood, 
it  sometimes  lasts  a  whole  month.  The 
first  basswoods  that  blossom  are  at  the  foot 
of  the  hills ;  and  as  the  season  advances, 
those  higher  up  come  in  bloom ;  and  the 
flow  does  not  cease  entirely  until  the  trees 
at  the  very  top  of  the  hills  have  gone  out  of 
bloom.  The  bees  will  first  commence  fly- 
ing on  the  horizontal ;  and  as  the  season 
progresses,  they  will  keep  flying  higher  and 
higher,  until  they  have  scaled  the  top  of 
the  hills.  Bee-keepers  who  are  situated  in 
such  a  country,  or  in  swamp  land,  are  in 
the  best  of  localities  for  honey.  It  might  be 


I  white  clover ;  but  intensive  agriculture 
I  has  set  in,  and  clover  pasturage  has  given 
I  way  to  immense  wheat-fields.  The  inroads 
I  of  civilization  sometimes  cut  off  the  honey- 
j  resources  of  a  locality,  and,  conversely,  aug- 
I  ment  them  very  considerably.  There  are  a 
few  locations  in  York  State  that  formerly 
I  gave  but  very  little  honey  :  but  the  farmers, 
\  in  recent  years,  have  introduced  buckwheat 
I  to  such  an  extent  that  these  are  now  splen- 
did buckwheat  countries  ;  and  the  yield  of 
\  this  dark  rich  honey  plays  a  considerable 
1  part  in  the  net  profits  of  the  season.  In  a 
I  word,  we  want  our  apiaries  so  we  can  load 
j  them  up  at  a  moment's  notice,  and  move 
1  them  at  practically  little  expense  to  any 


OUT-APIARIES. 


241 


OUT-APIARIES. 


ne\Y  field  that  may  be  more  inviting.   We  | 
can  not  always  tell  at  first  whether  it  vyill  j 
be  a  favorable  location  or  not.    If  it  does  I 
not  come  up  to  our  expectations,  we  can 
"  pull  up  stakes  "  and  try  elsewhere  again. 
How  are  we  to  make  our  apiaries  movable  ? 
Keep  them  on  fixed  frames,  to  be  sure, 
^^'either  Mr.  Elwood,  Captain  Hethering- 
tou,  nor  Mr.  Hoffman  fusses  with  fastening 
frames.   When  it   becomes    desirable  to 
move  a  yard,  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  close 
the  entrance  and  load  up  the  bees.  See 
Fixed  Frames. 

a  scale  hive  for  ax  out  yard. 
It  is  a  well-known  and  established  fact, 
that  one  yard  may  yield  quite  a  crop  of  hon- 


periods,  and  so  Mr.  Manum  has  some  resi- 
dent near  the  apiary  to  watch  the  scale,  and 
report  any  unexpected  developments  by  a 
postal  card. 

A  CAUTIOX   ABOUT    EXTERIXG    IXTO  THE 
OUT-APIARY  BUSIXESS. 

We  have  already  gone  over  the  ground  of 
the  general  subject  of  out-apiaries,  and 
what  contributes  toward  making  their  man- 
agement a  success.  While  there  are  many 
bee-keepers  who  have  brains  and  capacity 
enough  to  manage  a  series  of  out  apiaries, 
there  are  also  many  who  had  better  never 
think  of  entering  into  the  project.  To  be  a 
keeper  of  several  out-apiaries  means  great 
perseverance  and  a  good  deal  of  system,  be- 


A.  E.  MAXUM'S  SYSTEM!  OF  CUT-APIARIES. 


ey  while  another  one,  only  a  few  miles  dis-  | 
tant,  may  require  to  be  fed.  It  is  highly  j 
important  to  be  able  to  tell  just  what  bees  j 
are  doing  at  stated  periods  during  the  sea- 1 
son.  Mr.  Manum  keeps  a  hive  on  scales  in  ! 
each  yard  ;  and  every  time  he  visits  one  he  | 
consults  the  scales.  If  they  indicate  an  in- 1 
crease  of  several  pounds,  he  knows  tlien  that  \ 
the  bees  in  this  apiary  need  more  room,  and  | 
they  are  also  liable  to  swarm  ;  but  if  they  | 
indicate  a  loss  of  several  pounds,  he  infers  \ 
that  the  whole  yard  is  losing  likewise,  and  I 
that  some  colonies  may  need  to  be  fed.  Of 
course,  the  hive  on  the  scale  should  contain 
a  fair  average  colony.  In  many  cases  it  is 
not  always  possible  to  visit  yards  at  regular 


sides  ability  to  manage  not  only  the  bees, 
but  the  help  who  are  to  take  care  of  them. 
If  you  can  not  make  fifty  or  sixty  colonies 
pay  in  one  location,  do  not  delude  yourself 
by  the  idea  that  you  can  make  bees  pay  if 
you  establish  a  series  of  out-apiaries.  A 
man  who  can  not  make  a  small  business  pay 
will  not  probably  make  a  large  one  do  so. 
If  you  can  manage  successfully  your  home 
apiary,  it  may  be  profitable,  as  soon  as  the 
increase  is  sufficient,  to  take  a  part  of  it  to 
an  out -yard. 

OVERSTOCKIIUG.  By  this  term  we 
mean  the  putting  of  more  colonies  in  a 
given  locality  than  that  locality  can  profit- 
ably support.  By  referring  to  the  subject  of 


OYERSTOCKIi^G. 


242 


OYEESTOCKING. 


out- apiaries  it  will  be  seen  that  ordinarily  it 
is  not  advisable  to  have  more  than  from  60 
to  75  colonies  in  one  yard.  While  more  can 
be  kept  in  one  place,  it  is  better,  if  there  are 
enough  to  make  up  another  apiary  of  60  or 
75,  to  put  the  excess  in  another  yard  two,  or, 
better  still,  three,  and  even  four  miles,  from 
the  home  yard.5i9  But  if  75  is  just  the  right 
number  to  rise  in  one  place,  it  would  hardly 
pay,  if  one  had  100,  to  move  the  extra  25  to 
a  new  location ;  but  if  he  has  50  more  than 
the  requisite  number,  then  he  had  better 
start  another  apiary. 

A  given  locality  with  only  ten  colonies  to 
gather  the  nectar  in  it,  may  show  a  wonder- 
ful average  per  colony— perhaps  200  or  300 
pounds.  When  the  number  is  tripled  or 
quadrupled,  the  average  will  be  cut  down  a 
half.  The  locality  should  be  carefully  stud- 
ied, and  only  that  number  of  colonies  be 
used  which  on  an  average,  one  year  with 
another,  will  give  the  largest  results  in 
honey,  with  a  miDimiim  of  labor  and  capital. 
If  75  hives  during  an  average  season  w^oqM 
furnish  an  average  of  150  pounds  to  the 
hive,  then,  obviously,  the  number  might  be 
increased  to  100  or  even  150.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  average  is,  say,  only  50  lbs. 
of  extracted  honey,  and  there  are  only  50 
colonies  in  the  apiary,  then,  clearly,  50 
would  be  all  there  could  be  kept  with  profit 
in  that  spot;  and  it  might  be  questioned 
whether  or  not  35  might  not  be  just  as  prof- 
itable, and  at  the  same  time  save  a  little  in 
the  investment  and  some  little  labor  in 
gathering  and  harvesting  the  crop. 

But  in  some  locations,  notably  in  Califor- 
nia, Colorado,  Cuba,  and  in  some  portions 
of  Florida,  one  can  have  as  many  as  300  or 
400  colonies,  and  in  some  rare  instances  as 
many  as  500  colonies  in  one  apiary.  The 
celebrated  Sespe  apiary,  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, owned  by  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  has,  I  be- 
lieve, in  one  spot,  some  600  hives  of  bees ; 
but  the  great  mountains  on  either  side,  the 
fertile  valley,  and  the  great  abundance  of 
honey  flora,  make  such  a  number  possible. 
See  Apiaries. 

OVERSTOCKING  AXD  PRIORITY  RIGHTS. 

A  new  phase  of  overstocking  has  been  de- 
veloping within  recent  years,  bringing  up  a 
rather  difficult  and  serious  problem.  In 
good  localities  such  as,  for  example,  the  irri- 
gated regions  of  Colorado,  the  keeping  of 
bees  is  much  more  profitable,  or  at  least 
once  was,  than  in  some  of  the  less  favored 
localities  in  the  central  and  northern  States 
of  the  Union.  It  has  come  to  pass  that,  in 
recent  years,  certain  bee-keepers,  learning 


of  the  wonderful  yields  in  Colorado,  in  the 
irrigated  alfalfa  regions,  have  started  api- 
aries within  less  than  a  mile  of  some  other 
bee-keeper  having  100  or  200  colonies  in  that 
locality.  When  the  new  comer  establishes 
another  apiary  of  100  colonies,  the  place  is 
overstocked,  with  the  result  that  bee-keeper 
Ko.  1  has  his  average  per  colony  cut  down 
very  materially.  There  is  only  a  certain 
amount  of  nectar  in  the  field  to  be  gath- 
ered :  and  if  all  the  colonies  get  a  propor- 
tionate share,  then  bee-keeper  No.  2  prac- 
tically robs  bee-keeper  No.  1  of  a  large 
percentage  of  honey  that  he  would  have 
obtained  had  not  some  other  bees  been 
brought  into  the  locality  to  divide  the 
spoils.  But  there  is  no  law  against  such  a 
procedure,  and  the  only  protection  that  the 
original  squatter  has  is  the  unwritten  moral 
law  that  is  observed  among  the  better  class 
of  bee-keepers,  to  the  effect  that  no  one 
should  locate  an  apiary  so  close  to  one  of  his 
neighbors  that  he  will  rob  that  neighbor  of  a 
certain  amount  of  nectar  in  the  field  which 
is  his  by  priority  of  location.  In  a  good 
many  localities  in  and  about  Colorado,  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  the  unwritten  moral  law  is 
only  loosely  observed.  Locations  that  once 
afforded  an  average  of  100  or  150  pounds  per 
colony  now  afford,  owing  to  this  species  of 
overstocking,  only  about  50  or  75  pounds. 

On  the  other  side,  on  this  question  of  pri- 
ority of  right  it  may  be  said  that  the  first- 
comer  bee-keeper  has  in  no  sense  leased, 
bought,  or  borrowed  the  land  growing  the 
plants  from  which  the  nectar  is  secreted ; 
that  any  one  and  every  one  has  a  right  to 
the  product  from  the  flowers.  Legally  the 
second  comer  has  just  as  much  right  to  the 
field  as  his  neighbor. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  draw  out  any  fine 
moral  distinctions  that  may  be  involved  in 
this  question,  any  more  than  to  state  that, 
if  a  bee-keeper  has  by  luck,  careful  observa- 
tion, or  at  great  expense,  discovered  a  local- 
ity that  yields  large  amounts  of  honey,  he 
ought  to  be  left  in  the  peaceful  enjoyment 
and  free  possession  of  his  discovery,  to  the 
extent  that  no  one  else  should  locate  an 
apiary  nearer  than  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
any  of  his  apiaries ;  and  right  here  it  seems 
to  me  the  principle  of  the  golden  rule  ought 
to  be  used  to  settle  such  little  problems  ;  for 
it  is  practically  certain  that  bee-keeper  No. 
2,  w^ho  comes  into  an  already  occupied  field 
to  divide  the  profits,  would  not  regard  with 
very  much  favor  such  action  on  the  part  of 
another  if  he  were  in  the  position  of  the  one 
having  the  prior  rights. 


p 


PEDDLING  HONEY.    See  Ho^tey-ped- 

DLIKG. 

PERFORATED  ZINC.    See  Dkones. 
PICKLED  BROO  D.   See  FoTJL  Brogd. 
POISONED  BROOD.   See  Fruit-blos- 
soms. 

POISONOUS  HONEY.  There  are  cases 
on  record,  apparently  authenticated,  that 
seem  to  show  that  honey  gathered  from 
flowei  s  of  plants  that  are  in  themselves  poi- 
sonous is  also  poisonous  either  to  human 
beings  or  to  the  bees  themselves,  or  both. 
Xenophon  tells  how  in  the  memorable  march 


cifilly  near  Halifax  Court-house,  there  is 
grown  in  the  mountains,  quite  extensively, 
mountain  laurel.  The  bees  are  very  fond  of 
it;  and  while  it  does  not  seem  to  affect 
them  p  irticularly,  it  is  dangerous  to  human 
beings,  or  at  least  so  reported.  The  plant 
itself  is  an  extremely  distressing  narcotic, 
varying  in  its  etfects  according  to  the  quan- 
tity taken  into  the  stomach.  Dr.  Grammer, 
of  Halifax  Court-house,  reports  that,  during 
the  late  civil  war,  himself  and  quite  a  num- 
ber of  comrades  were  poisoned  from  eating 
honey  from  this  plant.    There  was,  he  says. 


of  the  ten  thousand  Greek  soldiers  to  the 
sea,  some  of  them  were  taken  seriously  ill 
from  eating  poisonous  honey.  The  facts 
are  so  carefully  and  minutely  recorded  as  to 
leave  no  doubt  of  the  honey-poisoning. 

The  wild  honey  in  one  or  two  of  the  South- 
ern States,  in  a  very  few  isolated  localities, 
is  reported  to  produce  sickness,  and  in 
some  instances  this  sickness  is  so  sudden 
and  violent  that  it  has  given  occasion  for 
alarm.  In  certain  regions  of  Virginia,  espe- 


a  queer  sensation  of  tingling  all  over,  indis- 
tinct vision,  with  an  empty,  dizzy  feeling 
about  the  head,  and  a  horrible  nausea  that 
could  not  be  relieved  by  vomiting.  This 
lasted  for  an  hour  or  so,  and  the  effects  did 
not  wear  off  fot  several  days. 

Another  honey-plant  from  which  the  honey 
is  said  to  be  poisonous  is  the  yellow  jasmine, 
and  it  is  found  in  certain  localities  in  Geor- 
gia, especially  in  the  vicinity  of  Augusta. 
The  roots,  leaves,  and  flowers  are  all  highly 


rOLLE^^. 


245 


poisonous ;  and  Dr.  J.  P.  H.  Brown,  a  bee- 
keeper, sa^'S  the  honey  from  it  is  also  of  like 
character,  as  he  knows  of  several  persons 
w^ho  came  verj^  near  losing  their  lives  b}'  eat- 
ing it.  In  his  opinion  bees  do  not  work  on 
it  from  choice  ;  for  when  other  bloom  is 
yielding  honey  at  the  same  time,  the  jas- 
mine flowers  are  seldom  visited. 

2^'ot withstanding  these  reported  cases, 
Prof.  A.  J.  Cook,  of  Pomona  College,  Clare- 
mont,  Cal.,  very  much  doubts  w^h ether  the 
honey  from  any  plant  is  poisonous.  Some 
years  ago  some  incidents  w^re  related  where 
bee-keepers  had  not  only  eaten  of  the  honey 
from  poisonous  plants,  but  ate  of  it  quite 
freely,  without  any  ill  effects.  But  the  ques- 
tion might  arise  as  to  whether  they  actually 
ate  of  the  honey  from  the  plants  in  question, 
or  from  some  oiher  harmless  jjJants  that  were 
in  bloom  at  the  same  time.  In  a  matter  in- 
volving severe  sickness  or  possible  loss  of 
life  it  would  seem  to  be  policy  to  err  on  the 
safe  side— that  is,  to  let  the  honey  from 
mountain  laurel,  yellow  jasmine,  and  other 
poisonous  plants,  entirely  alone.  If  it  does 
not  kill  the  bees,  let  them  have  it  for  brood- 
reariug,  but  make  no  other  use  of  it. 

FOIiLEIT.  Doubtless  you  have  all 
heard  bees  humming  about  hollyhock  blos- 
soms, but  perhaps  most  of  you  have  passed 
on,  thinking  that  it  w^as  nothing  strange, 
for  bees  are  alw^ays  humming  about  flow- 
ers. Suppose  we  stop  just  a  minute,  and 
look  into  the  matter  a  little.  The  bee,  al- 
though on  the  w4ng,  is  almost  motionless  as 
it  hovers  about  the  dust  in  the  center  of 
the  flow^ers,  and,  by  careful  w^atching,  we 
may  see  that  its  tongue  is  extended  to  a  con- 
siderable length.  This  tongue  looks  much 
like  a  delicate  pencil-brush  as  it  sweeps  it 
about  among  the  grains  of  pollen;  and  as  the 
pollen  adheres  to  it  and  is  from  time  to  time 
put  away  somehow,  w^e  are  led  to  infer  that 
there  must  be  something  adhesive  on  it.  I 
believe  the  bee,  when  it  starts  out  to  gather 
pollen,  does  carry  some  honey  if  it  finds  some 
in  the  blossom.  Well,  w^e  will  suppose  it 
has  moistened  its  long,  flexible,  brush-like 
tongue  w^ith  honey,  has  spread  it  out  and 
brushed  it  among  the  pollen-grains  and  then 
— I  rather  think  I  shall  have  to  give  you 
some  pictures  before  I  can  wtU  explain  to 
you  w^hat  happens  next. 

Pig.  1  is  a  collection  of  pollen-grains  high- 
ly magnified,  and  A  is  exactly  the  kmd  the 
bee  finds  in  the  hollyhock.  There  are  bris- 
tles forming  a  sort  of  brush  on  the  under  side 
of  the  fore  leg  just  above  the  claws.  The 


bee,  w^hen  its  tongue  is  well  loaded,  just 
claps  it  between  its  two  fore  legs,  and  in 
some  way  which  I  can  not  determine  to  my 
full  satisfaction,  the  bristles,  in  conjunct  ion 
with  the  claws  or  hooks,  catch  the  pol- 
len so  -quickly  that  it  leaves  sleight-of- 
hand  performers  all  far  in  the  shade.  I  be- 
lieve it  generally  wipes  its   tongue  w^ith 


A  B 


C  D 

FIG.  1.— POLLEK  GRAIXS. 


both  fore  feet  at  once;  and  w^hen  it  does 
this,  its  appearance,  view^ed  through  a  glass, 
is  comical  in  the  extreme,  ^^ow^it  is  anoth- 
er "knack"  it  has,  of  getting  it  into  i'S 
pollen-baskets,  after  it  gets  it  off  its  tongue. 

Bear  in  mind  that  a  bee  has  six  legs; 
the  first  tw^o  legs  remove  the  pollen  from 
the  tongue ;  the  last  tw^o  bear  the  pollen- 
baskets.  They  are  called  baskets,  and  are 
located  on  the  middle  large  joint  of  the  tw^o 
hind  legs,  and  they  consist  of  a  flat  place, 
or  slight  depression  on  the  side  of  the  leg, 
surrounded  by  a  fringe  of  hairs  to  hold  the 
pollen  from  tumbling  off.  The  engraving 
opposite  will  give  you  a  good  idea  of  it. 
Observe  the  pollen  is  caiTied  in  the  upper 
joint  of  the  leg. 

You  wall  see  that,  should  it  not  moisten 
the  pollen  into  a  kind  of  paste  or  dough,  it 
would  never  be  able  to  make  it  stick  in  such 
a  place.  Well,  it  does  sometimes  tumble 
off,  especially  if  it  takes  very  heavy  loads, 
or  has  an  inconvenient  entrance  into  its 
hive.  I  have  seen  quite  a  large  heap  of  pol- 
len, just  in  front  of  a  hive,  w^hen  the  en- 
trance was  so  badly  arranged  as  to  cause  the 
bee  to  scrape  it  off  when  going  in.  All 
kinds  of  traps  and  rigging,  to  prevent  the 
drones  and  queens  from  going  out  and  in 
wdth  the  workers,  have  been  objectionable 
on  this  very  account. 

Well,  between  the  pollen-gathering  legs 
and  the  pollen-basket  legs  is  another  pair. 
These  play  a  very  important  part  in  getting 
the  pollen  into  the  pollen-baskets.   With  the 


POLLEN. 


246 


POLLE^T. 


tongue,  fore  leg,  and  middle  leg,  the  bee 
pads  up  the  pollen  and  honey  until  there  is 
quite  a  wad  of  it,  and  then,  with  a  very  pret- 
ty sleight-of-hand,  it  carries  this  little  cake, 
scarcely  as  large  as  the  head  of  a  small  pin, 
between  the  middle  and  fore  legs,  back  to 
the  pollen-basket.   W^hen  in  place,  it  is  firm- 


the  flowers.  The  operation  may  be  wit- 
nessed easily,  by  taking  on  your  finger  a  bee 
that  is  gathering  propolis  from  some  old 
quilt  or  hive.  As  it  picks  and  pulls  of£  bits 
of  wax  with  its  mandibles,  it  will  convey 
them  back  to  the  pollen-basket  much  more 
leisurely  while  it  stands  still,  and  you  can 


THJS  TAVO  HIND  LEGS   OF  A  BEE  SHOAVING 

ly  pressed  into  the  basket,  and  then  neatly 
patted  down  with  the  middle  leg,  much  as 
a  dextrous  butter- woman  gives  her  neat  rolls 
the  finishing  taps.  This  motion  seems  to  be 
a  sort  of  automatic  movement ;  for  the  bee 
is  the  while  intently  engaged,  with  tongue 
and  fore  feet,  in  gathering  more  pollen  from 


POLLEN  BASKETS  ON  THE  MIDDLE  JOINTS. 

I  easily  follow  the  whole  proceeding.  Even 
on  a  cool  day,  when  its  motions  are  sluggish , 
you  will  be  astonished  at  the  wonderful 
celerity  and  deftness  with  which  these  fun- 
ny little  legs  move.  When  it  has  a  load 
that  it  deems  sufficient,  it  spreads  its  wings 
and  soars  aloft;  but  if  the  field  is  a  new 


POLLEN. 


247 


TOLLERS. 


one,  it  will  circle  about  and  take  its  points, 
returning  again  and  again,  that  it  may  not 
mistake  where  to  come  back,  its  plnmp  lit- 
tle load  being  plainly  visible  while  it  is  on 
the  wing. 

When  it  gets  into  the  hive,  if  a  young 
bee.  it  has  to  go  through  with  a  series  of  re- 
joicings— see  Bees  :  but  if  a  regular  laborer, 
it  proceeds  at  once,  or  at  least  as  soon  as  it 
has  had  a  breathing-spell  (for  carrying  large 
loads  of  pollen  is  like  carrying  a  hod  of  brick 
to  the  top  of  a  thi'ee-story  brick  building),  to 
deposit  the  pollen  in  the  cells.  This  is  done 
very  quickly  by  crossing  its  pollen  -  legs 
while  they  are  thrust  to  the  bottom  of  the 
cell,  and  then  kicking  the  loads  off.  much  ' 
like  the  way  in  which  our  blue-eyed  baby  | 
kicks  off  her  shoes  when  she  takes  a  notion  j 
to  go  barefooted.5-3  After  the  load  is  off.  it  | 
starts  out  again  without  paying  any  further 
attention  to  the  matter.  The  ciuestion  keeps 
coming  up  to  me.  Does  the  bee  that  brings 
the  pollen  never  stop  to  pack  it  in  the  cells 
or  eliminate  it  for  the  young  larvae?  I  am 
convinced  that  it  usually  does  not  ;  but 
where  the  hive  is  deprived  of  young  bees,  I 
think  almost  any  bee  can  do  this  work.  If 
there  are  plenty  of  young  bees  in  the  hive, 
it  probably  concludes  it  has  nothing  fiu'- 
ther  to  do  with  it. 

After  the  pollen  is  dropped  in  the  cells,  it 
will  fall  out  if  the  comb  is  timied  over;  and 
when  the  maples  are  first  out  in  the  spring, 
I  have  heard  and  seen  the  pollen  rattle  out 
like  shot,  in  turning  the  combs  horizontally 
to  look  at  the  queens.  Very  soon  after  the 
pollen  is  thus  deposited,  the  nursing  -  bees 
come  and  mash  it  do^ii  into  a  hard  cake :  I 
have  not  been  able  to  discover  how  they  do 
this,  unless  it  is  done  with  the  head.  The 
British  Bee  Journal  for  May.  1876.  graphical- 
ly describes  the  whole  operation  as  follows : 

The  pollen-laden  bee,  upon  entering-  the  hive, 
makes  directly  for  the  hrood-nest;  and  where  its 
load  is  required,  it  quickly  disencumbers  itself. 
Sometimes  the  nurse-bees  are  in  want  of  the  aU- 
necessary  pollen,  and  nibble  it  from  the  legs  of  the 
worker  without  ceremony  ;  but  more  often  the  bee 
goes  to  a  cell  devoted  to  pollen-storing,  and  hangs 
by  its  tirst  pair  of  legs  to  another  cell  immediately 
above,  and  by  the  aid  of  its  middle  pair  of  legs  it  un- 
loads its  hindmost,  and  (,as  it  were^  kicks  the  balls 
of  pollen  into  the  proper  receptacle.  Here  they  are 
mixed  with  a  little  honey,  and  kneaded  into  a  stiff 
paste,  which  is  then  rammed  hard  against  the  bot- 
tom of  the  cell,  for  future  use,  the  bee  using  its 
head  as  a  battering-ram;  these  operations  are  re- 
peated until  the  cell  is  almost  filled  with  the  knead- 
ed dough,  when  a  little  clear  honey  is  placed  on  the 
top,  and  it  is  sealed  over  and  preserved  as  bee- 
bread.  If  a  cell  full  of  pollen  be  cut  in  two  longi- 
tudinaUy,  its  contents  will,  as  a  rule,  be  found  of 


many  colors,  stratified,  the  strata  of  varied  thick- 
ness standing  on  edge,  as  if  the  bees,  instead  of  stor. 
ing  bread,  had  stored  pancakes. 

The  principal  supply  of  pollen  in  our  locali- 
ty is  from  maple  in  the  spring,  and  from  corn 
in  the  latter  part  of  summer  and  falL^-^  Al- 
most all  flowers  that  yield  honey  yield  pol- 
len also,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  and 
when  the  bee  comes  in  laden  with  the  one, 
it  almost  always  has  some  of  the  other. 
Eed  clover  yields  a  peculiar  dark-green  pol- 
len that  pretty  surely  indicates  when  the 
bees  are  gathering  honey  from  it.  They  oft- 
en get  a  considerable  load  of  honey,  with 
but  a  very  small  one  of  pollen  :  but  if  you 
did  not  notice  very  carefully,  you  would  quite 
likely  declare  that  they  had  gathered  no  pol- 
len at  all.^'Si.  151 

The  pollen  from  corn  is  generally  gather- 
ed early  in  the  morning:  when  it  is  first 
coming  into  bloom  I  have  seen  them  start 
out  in  the  fore  part  of  the  day.  much  as  they 
do  for  a  buckwheat-field. 

For  further  information  in  regard  to  the 
offices  of  pollen  in  the  hive,  see  Bees. 

NECESSITY     OF     POELEX    FOE  BROOD- 
EEAKIX&. 

We  are  interested  about  pollen,  because 
bees  can  not  rear  brood  without  either  it 
or  some  substitute  for  it.  Bees  kept  in 
confinement,  and  fed  on  piu'e  sugar  and 
pm-e  water,  will  thrive  and  void  little 
or  no  excrement;  but  as  soon  as  pollen, 
or  food  containing  the  farinaceous  ele- 
ment, is  given  them,  their  bodies  will 
become  distended:  and  instead  of  a  trans- 
parent fluid  they  vdll  void  a  fluid  of  a 
darkish  tint  which  will  soil  their  hives  and 
emit  quite  an  impleasant  smell.  I  once  kept 
about  300  bees  in  a  cage  with  a  queen,  and 
gave  them  only  piu'e  sugar  and  water.  They 
built  comb,  and  seemed  quite  contented,  the 
cage  emitting  no  smell  whatever.  In  order  to 
start  brood-rearing  I  gave  them  some  sugar 
candy  containing  flour,  and  they  got  uneasy 
i  very  soon,  and  tried  in  vain  to  get  out.  At 
this  time  the  cage  gave  off  quite  an  im- 
pleasant smell,  and  so  they  were  allowed  to 
fly.  Had  the  pollen  element  not  been  given 
them.  I  presume  they  would  have  stood  the 
confinement  for  a  month  or  more.  I  once 
wintered  a  fair  colony  of  bees  on  stores  of 
piu-e  sugar  syrup,  and  when  they  flew  in  the 
spring  there  was  no  perceptible  spot  on  the 
white  snow  about  their  hives.  They  had  no 
pollen,  and,  of  course,  no  brood  -  rearing 
could  go  on  without  it.  A  few  years  ago 
I  made  some  experiments  with  bees  confined 
in  a  large  room  under  glass.    As  it  was  late 


POLLEN. 


248 


POLLEN. 


in  the  fall,  after  brood-rearing  had  ceased,  I 
did  not  know  whether  I  should  succeed  in 
starting  them  again.  After  feeding  them 
for  about  a  week,  eggs  were  found  in  the 
cells,  but  none  of  them  hatched  into  larvae. 
A  heap  of  rye  meal  was  placed  in  the  center 
of  the  room  near  the  feed,  and  anxiously  I 
waited  to  see  them  take  notice  of  it.  After 
several  days  a  bee  was  seen  hovering  curi- 
ously about  it.  In  breathless  suspense  I 
watched  it  until  it  hnally  began  to  dip 
its  tongue  into  the  heap,  and  then  to  pad  it 
on  its  legs.  It  carried  home  a  small  load. 
I  had  the  hive  open,  and  the  frame  out,  as 
soon  as  it  was  among  its  comrades,  and 
watched  the  behavior  of  the  rest  while  it 
shook  itself  among  them,  until  it  depos- 
ited its  treasure  in  a  cell,  and  hurried  away 
for  another  load.  Very  shortly  some  of  the 
rest  followed  it,  and  buzzed  about  the 
room  until  they  found  where  it  was  loading 
up,  and  soon  they  were  at  work  on  the  meal, 
as  merrily  as  in  the  spring.  Of  course,  the 
eggs  were  very  soon,  now,  transformed  into 
unsealed  larvae,  then  into  capped  brood,  and, 
in  due  time,  I  had  young  bees  hatched  out 
in  the  month  of  December. 

By  warming  the  room  with  a  stove  for  sev- 
eral days  in  succession,  I  found  I  could  start 
brood-rearing  and  pollen-gathering  even  in 
the  month  of  January.  It  may  be  well  to 
state  here,  that  although  I  succeeded  in 
rearing  bees  in  midwinter,  as  strong  and 
healthy,  apparently,  as  those  raised  in  sum- 
mer time,  the  experiment  was  hardly  a  suc- 
cess after  all  ;  for  about  as  many  bees  died 
from  what  I  suppose  was  the  elTect  of  con- 
finement as  were  hatched  out.  It  was  a  de- 
cided success,  in  determining  many  un- 
known points  in  regard  to  bees,  aside  from 
the  office  of  pollen ;  and  I  presume,  if  it  ever 
should  be  necessary,  we  could  overcome  the 
difficulties  of  flying  bees  under  glass. 

ARTIFICIAL  SUBSTITUTES  FOR  POLLEN. 

It  has  been  known  for  many  years,  that  in 
the  spring  time  bees  will  make  use  of  the 
flour  or  meal  of  many  kinds  of  grain,  and 
many  bee-keepers  feed  bushels  of  it  every 
season.  The  favorite  seems  to  be  rye  •,i"2 
and,  as  the  bees  are  apt  to  fall  into  it  and 
sometimes  get  so  covered  as  to  perish,  I  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  having  the  rye  ground 
up  with  an  equal  quantity  of  oats.  A  great 
many  plans  have  been  devised  for  feeding  it 
without  waste ;  but,  after  all  our  experi- 
ments, a  heap  of  meal  on  the  ground  is  about 
as  satisfactory  as  any-  way.sss  Of  course, 
if  should  be  protected  from  rain;  and  as 
there  is  usually  much  high  wind  in  the 


spring,  which  is,  to  say  the  least,  very  an- 
noying to  the  bees,  it  is  well  to  have  it  in  a 
spot  sheltered  as  much  as  possible,  always 
aiming  to  give  them  as  much  sunshine  as 
may  be.  By  way  of  experiment,  I  have  con- 
centrated the  rays  of  the  sun  on  the  meal 
heap  by  mirrors,  that  the  bees  might  work 
on  days  otherwise  too  cold ;  I  have  also 
made  glass  covered  structures  for  the  pur- 
pose ;  and  have  even  kept  their  meal  hot  by 
means  of  a  lamp  nursery ;  all  these  plans 
have  succeeded,  but  I  am  inclined  to  doubt 
whether  stocks  pushed  along  in  brood-rear- 
ing, by  such  means,  were  really  in  advance 
of  some  that  were  left  to  take  their  chances. 
It  is  amusing  to  see  the  little  fellows  start 
from  their  hives  on  days  so  cold  that  they 
would  not  otherwise  stir  out,  hie  to  the 
warm  meal  and  load  up,  and  then  go  home 
so  quickly  that  they  do  not  have  time  to  get 
chilled. 

Is  there  any  danger  of  feeding  them  too 
much  meal  ?  In  our  own  apiary  I  have  nev- 
er known  them  to  take  so  much  that  it  was 
not  used  at  once  for  brood-rearing ;  but  I 
purchased  of  a  neighbor  some  hives  which 
contained  flour  in  the  cells,  dried  down  so 
hard  as  to  make  it  necessary  for  the  bees  to 
cut  it  out,  comb  and  all,  as  the  only  means 
of  getting  rid  of  it.  I  presume  this  came 
about  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  natural 
pollen,  when  they  had  laid  in  a  pretty  good 
supply  of  the  flour.  It  is  well  known  that, 
as  soon  as  the  natural  pollen  can  be  obtained, 
they  at  once  abandon  all  artificial  substitutes. 
I  think  there  is  but  little  clanger  of  giving 
them  too  much  rye  and  oat  meal,  but  I 
would  not  risk  giving  them  great  quantities 
of  fine  wheat  flour. 

Not  a  few  of  our  readers  have  been  per- 
plexed and  astonished,  doubtless,  by  seeing 
the  bees,  in  early  spring,  greedily  appro- 
priating sawdust,  just  as  they  do  rye  meal.  I 
have  seen  them  at  the  sawmills,  so  thick  on 
a  large  heap  of  fresh  sawdust  as  to  attract  a 
large  crowd  of  people;  and  when  I  caught 
them,  and  tasted  of  the  pollen  from  their 
legs,  I  was  somewhat  amazed  to  find  it  sweet 
and  very  much  like  the  pollen  from  the  flow- 
ers. I  presume  ,  they  had  plenty  of  honey 
but  no  pollen,  and  that  these  fine  particles 
of  wood  contained  enough  of  the  nitrogen- 
ous element  to  answer  very  well,  mixed  with 
honey,  as  they  have  it,  when  packed  in  their 
pollen-baskets.  The  pollen  from  green  tim- 
ber contains  an  essential  oil,  besides  some 
gummy  matter,  that  gives  an  odor  doubtless 
reminding  the  bees  of  the  aroma  of  the  open- 
ing buds.   Not  only  do  they  thus  collect  the 


POLLE^^. 


249 


POLLEN. 


(to  us)  tasteless  sawdust,  but  they  have  been 
found  at  different  times  on  a  great  variety 
of  substances.  A  friend  in  Michigan  at  one 
time  found  them  loading  up  with  the  fine 
black  earth  of  tlie  swamps,  and  they  have 
been  known  to  use  even  coal-dust ;  but  the 
strangest  thing  of  all  was  told  me  by  the 
owner  of  a  cheese-factory,  near  by.  He  said 
the  bees  were  one  day  observed  hovering 
over  the  shelves  in  the  cheese-room,  and,  as 
their  numbers  increased,  they  were  found  to 
be  packing  on  their  legs  the  fine  dust  that 
had  accumulated  from  handling  so  much 
cheese.  Microscopic  investigation  showed 
this  dust  to  be  embryo  cheese-mites,  so  that 
the  bees  had  really  been  using  animal  food 
as  pollen,  and  living  animals  at  that.  If  one 
might  be  allowed  to  theorize  in  the  matter, 
it  would  seem  this  should  be  a  rare  sub- 
stance to  crowd  brood-rearing  to  its  utter- 
most limit.  As  cheese  can  be  bought 
here  for  6  or  8  cts.  by  the  quantity,  it  might 
not  be  so  very  expensive  for  bee-food  after 
all. 

Bees  can  be  taught  to  use  a  great  variety 
of  articles  of  food  in  this  way,  when  they  are 
in  need  of  pollen,  and  therefore  the  story  of 
giving  a  hive  of  bees  a  roasted  chicken,  to 
promote  their  comfort  and  welfare,  may  be 
not  entirely  a  myth.  Ground  malt,  such  as 
is  used  in  making  beer,  has  been  very  highly 
recommended  in  place  of  rye  meal;  but  as  I 
have  never  succeeded  in  getting  any  of  it  I 
can  not  speak  from  practical  experience. 

THE  AGENCY  OF  THE  BEES  IN  FERTILIZING 
PLANTS,  BY  MINGLING  THE  POLLEN. 

This  subject  has  besn  discussed  under 
Eruit  Blossoms,  but  I  will  lieie  give  a 
few  more  examples.  A  perfect  blossom  con- 
tains both  stamens  and  pistils,  the  male  and 
female  organs  of  reproduction ;  but  some- 
times we  find  flowers  having  stamens  only, 
and  others  having  pistils  only ;  and  these 
two  blossoms  may  be  borne  by  the  same 
plant  or  by  different  plants. 

If  I  am  correct,  the  plant  is  fertilized  by 
the  pollen  from  the  anthers  falling  on  the 
stigma  at  the  summit  of  the  pistil.  Unless 
this  is  done,  the  plant  ripens  no  seed.  Na- 
ture has  adopted  a  multitude  of  devices  for 
carrying  this  pollen  from  one  blossom  to  the 
other;  but  perhaps  the  most  general,  and  the 
one  with  which  we  have  to  do  principally,  is 
the  agency  of  the  bees.  Common  corn  is  an 
illustration  of  a  class  of  plants  that  bear 
both  kinds  of  blossoms  on  the  same  plant. 
The  blossom  that  bears  the  seed  is  low  down, 
and  is  what  we  commonly  term  the  silk  of 


the  ear.  The  one  that  bears  the  pollen  is  at 
the  very  summit  of  the  stalk,  and  the  pollen, 
when  ripe,  is  shaken  off  and  falls  on  the  silk 
below ;  or,  what  is  still  better,  it  is  wafted 
by  the  wind  to  the  silk  of  the  neighboring 
stalks,  thus  preventing  in-and-in  breeding, 


RAGWEED  AND  CORN,  SHOAVING   THE  TWO 
KINDS  OF  BLOSSOMS  ON  ONE  STALK. 


in  a  manner  strikingly  analogous  to  the  w^ay 
in  which  the  drones  fly  out  in  the  air,  that 
the  chances  may  be  greatly  in  favor  of  their 
meeting  queens  other  than  those  from  their 
own  hives.  You  may  object,  that  the  silk 
from  the  ear  of  corn  is  not  properly  a  flower, 
so  I  will  give  you  a  more  striking  instance. 
The  common  ragweed,  A^nbrosia  artemisoe- 
folia,  also  sometimes  called  bitterweed,  or 
hogweed,  bears  two  distinct  and  entirely 
unlike  flowers. 

On  the  ends  of  the  tall  racemes,  as  at  B, 
the  pollen-bearing  blossoms  are  seen  very 
conspicuously;  and  many  of  you  who  are  fa- 
miliar with  the  weed,  perhaps  never  imag- 
ined that  it  had  any  other  blossom  at  all :  if 
so,  will  you  please  go  outdoors  and  take  a 
look  at  them  again?  Eight  close  to  the  main 
stem,  where  the  branches  all  start  out,  you 
will  find  a  very  pretty  little  flower,  only  that 
it  possesses  no  color  except  green,  and  it  is 
here  where  all  the  seeds  are -borne,  as  you 
will  see  on  some  of  the  branches  where  they 
are  matured.  N'ow,  if  you  will  get  up  early 
in  the  morning  you  will  find  that  these 
plants,  when  shaken,  give  off  a  little  cloud 
of  fine  green  dust,  and  this  is  the  pollen  of 
the  plant.  Before  I  knew  what  it  was  I  used 
to  find  it  annoying  on  account  of  the  way 
in  which  it  soiled  light  clothing.  As  this 
plant  is  in  no  way  dependent  on  the  bees  for 
the  fertilization  of  its  blossom's,  they  con- 
tain no  honey,  or  at  least  I  have  never  been 
able  to  detect  any  ;  although  I  have,  during 


POLLEN. 


250 


POLLEN. 


two  seasons,  seen  the  bees  quite  busily  en- 
gaged gathering  the  pollen.  It  is  said  that 
corn  sometimes  bears  honey  as  well  as  pol- 
len, although  I  have  never  been  able  to  get 
proof  of  it.  These  two  plants,  as  I  have  be- 
fore remarked,  seem  to  insure  crossing  the 
seed  with  other  plants  of  the  same  variety, 
by  bearing  the  pollen-bearing  flowers  aloft, 
on  slender  stalks ;  also  by  furnishing  a 
great  preponderance  in  numbers  of  these 
blossoms,  for  precisely  the  same  reason  that 
a  thousand  or  more  drones  are  reared  to  one 
queen.  A  stalk  that  succeeds  in  pushing 
itself  above  the  others,  and  in  bearing  a  pro- 
fusion of  pollen-flowers,  Mall  probably  be  the 
father,  so  to  speak,  of  a  multitude  of  the  ris- 
ing generation,  and  this  process,  repeated 
for  generations,  would  develop  just  the  ten- 
dency of  corn  and  ragweed,  to  shoot  up  tall 
spires,  clothed  with  an  exuberance  of  the 
pollen-bearing  blossoms.  As  the  plants  that 
give  the  greatest  distance  on  the  stalk  be- 
tween the  lower^(or  seed)  blossoms,  and  the 
upper  ones,  are  most  likely  to  shed  the  pol- 
len on  neighboring  plants,  this,  too,  fosters 
the  tendency  mentioned. 

But  what  shall  the  great  multitude  of 
plants  do  that  have  no  tall  spines  with 
which  to  shake  their  pollen  to  the  breezes? 
Here  is  where  the  bees  come  in  and  fulfill 
their  allotted  task  in  the  work  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life.  They  would,  it  is  true, 
visit  many  plants  for  the  pollen  alone  ;  but 
with  by  far  the  greater  part  of  them  the 
pollen  is  only  a  secondary  consideration,  or 
not  sought  for  at  all.  In  vieing  with  each 
other,  or  in  the  strife  to  perpetuate  their 
species,  what  shall  the  plant  do  to  offer  the 
greatest  attraction  to  the  bees  to  visit  them, 
and  carry  the  precious  pollen  to  the  neigh- 
boring blossoms,  for  the  purpose  we  have 
mentioned?  Suppose  we  wish  to  gather  a 
group  of  school-children  about  us,  what  will 
be  the  surest  and  most  effectual  method  of  do- 
ing it?  Coax  them  with  candy,  maple  sugar, 
and  the  like,  of  course;  and  that  is  just  what 
the  plant  does  ;  or  it  does  still  more,  for  it 
ransacks  its  storehouse,  and,  I  dare  say, 
sends  its  roots  abroad  through  the  soil,  with 
untiring  efforts,  to  steal  a  more  delicious 
and  enticing  nectar,  more  wonderfully  ex- 
quisite than  even  the  purest  and  most  trans- 
parent maple-sugar  syrup  ever  distilled,  or 
"  boiled  bown,"  by  the  skill  of  man,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  coaxing  the  bees  to  come  and 
dust  themselves  in  their  precious  pollen,  or 
to  bring  from  some  other  blossom  the  pol- 
len they  have  previously  been  dusted  with. 
Now,  this  honey  is  precious,  and  it  must  tax 


the  plant  to  its  utmostto  produce  it.  Nature, 
therefore,  who  is  a  most  careful  economist, 
not  only  deals  it  out  in  small  doses,  but  she 
places  it  in  the  most  cunning  nooks  and  cor- 
ners, that  the  bee  may  be  obliged  to  twist 
itself  into  all  possible  shapes,  around  and 
among  the  stamens,  until  the  pollen  is  most 
surely  dusted  all  over  it.  Observe  that  the 
flower  secretes  no  honey  until  the  pollen 
is  ripe  and  ready  to  do  its  work;  that  the 
honey  slowly  exudes  into  the  nectaries, 
that  the  bees  may  be  kept  coming  and  lick- 
ing it  out  every  hour  in  the  day ;  and  that 
the  flow  of  honey  ceases  just  as  soon  as  the 
pollen  is  ripened  and  gone.  A  lady  has  sug- 
gested a  beautiful  experiment,  to  determine 
the  amount  of  honey  yielded  by  the  spider- 
flower,  Cleome.  She  tied  lace  over  the  stalk, 
to  keep  away  the  bees  that  were  constantly 
visiting  it.  The  honey  collected  in  quite  a 
large  drop.  I  presume  we  could  measure 
the  amount  with  many  other  plants  in  a 
similar  way.  The  little  cups  on  the  flower 
of  the  JFiGWORT,  I  have  seen  full  to  the  brim 
with  honey,  when  found  standing  alone  out 
in  the  woods.   Truly : 

"  Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air." 

Did  you  ever  notice  the  spot  of  fur,  or 
down,  on  the  back  of  the  bee,  just  between 
the  wings?  Well,  bee -hunters  sometimes 
put  a  small  drop  of  white  paint  on  this  spot, 
that  they  may  know  a  bee  when  it  comes 
back.  Several  years  ago  bees  were  going 
into  many  of  the  hives,  with  a  spot  of  white 
on  this  fur  that  looked,  at  first  sight,  al- 
most like  white  paint.  Tor  several  seasons 
in  succession  I  hunted  in  vain  to  see  where 
they  got  this  white  spot.  At  one  time  it 
seemed  to  come  from  working  on  thistles ; 
but  I  was  obliged  to  give  this  up,  for  I  found 
it  most  on  the  bees  one  season  when  they 
did  not  notice  thistles  at  all.  One  swarm  of 
beautiful  Italians  had  filled  their  hive  nice- 
ly in  September,  and  almost  every  bee  had 
a  white  back.  I  lined  them  from  the  hive, 
and  followed  them.  They  went  toward  a 
large  piece  of  wild  woodland,  and  I  scanned 
the  tops  of  the  trees  in  vain;  finally,  over 
between  the  hills,  beside  a  brook,  I  found 
acres  of  the  wild  touch-me-not  {Impatievs), 
the  same  plant  that  we  have  often  played 
with  in  childhood,  because  the  queer  little 
seed-pods  will  snap  all  to  pieces  when  ripe, 
if  they  are  touched  ever  so  carefully.  The 
honey  is  secreted  in  the  spur  of  the  flow- 
er, shown  at  B. 

The  bee  can  reach  this  only  by  diving 
down  into  it  almost  out  of  sight:  and  when 


251 


POLLEI^. 


the  coveted  treasure  is  obtained  it  backs 
out  with  a  ludicrous  kicking  and  sprawling 
of  its  legs,  and  in  so  doing  the  down  on  its 
back  is  ruffled  up  the  wrong  way.  ^ow, 


FLOWER    or    THE    WILD  TOUCH-ME-NOT, 
SHOWING  THE  WAY  THE  BEE  GETS 
THE  POLLEN  ON  ITS  BACK. 

this  would  be  pretty  certain  to  get  the  pol- 
len dusted  all  over  it ;  but  nature,  to  make 
sure,  has  planted  a  little  tuft  that  bears  the 
pollen  just  on  the  upper  side  of  the  entrance 
to  the  flower,  at  A,  and,  in  its  struggles  to 
get  out,  the  white  pollen  is  brushed  all  over 
its  back  most  effectually,  to  be  carried  to 
the  next  flower,  and  so  on. 

A  year  or  two  after  this,  I  took  a  friend  of 
mine  to  the  spot  to  show  him  my  wonderful 
discovery;  but,  lo  and  behold!  the  sharp- 
witted  Italians  had  taken  a  short  cut  to  the 
honey  by  biting*  through  the  spur,  and  in- 
serting their  tongues,  without  the  laborious 
operation  of  crowding  down  into  the  flower. 
I  really  can  not  say  how  many  years  it  will 
take  the  plant  to  discover  that  it  is  secret- 
ing the  honey  in  that  little  spur  in  vain,  or 
whether  it  will,  for  self  -  preservation,  make 
the  spur  so  thick  and  hard  that  the  bees  can 
not  bite  through  it,  or  put  the  honey  some- 
where else,  or  do  some  other  way.  It  seems 
very  certain  that  it  must  soon  become  ex- 
tinct, unless  something  is  done ;  for  not  a 
seed  can  mature  so  long  as  the  bees  bite 
through,  instead  of  pushing  past  the  pollen 
as  they  have  formerly  done.f 

Throughout  the  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms  there  seems  to  be  a  constant  strug- 
gle for  the  perpetuation  of  their  species, 
which  is  secured  only  by  ripening  perfect 
seeds.  ^sTotice  how  the  weeds  in  om'  garden 
will  struggle  and  fight,  as  it  were,  to  get  a 
foot-hold  until  they  can  get  a  crop  of  seeds 
ripened,  and  then  notice  the  numerous 
ways  they  adopt  to  scatter  this  seed  as 
widely  as  possible.    If  the  plants  were 

*  This  point  was  called  in  question  in  Gleanings  in 
Bee  Culture:  hut  so  mnnv  corroborating-  testimonies 
from  eye-witnesses  came  in,  to  the  effect  that  Italians 
do  bite  throug-h  the  spur,  that  the  point  is  now  better 
established  than  ever. 

tAnother  interesting  case  similar  to  this  is  given 
under  Sage,  which  see. 


animated  beings,  we  might  almost  call  it 
tricks  and  sharp  practice ;  some  of  the  seeds 
have  wings,  and  fly  like  grasshoppers  ;  oth- 
ers have  hooks,  and  catch  on  om-  clothing, 
and  on  the  fur  of  different  animals,  in  the 
hope  of  being  carried  to  some  spot  where 
they  may  have  a  more  favorable  place  to 
germinate.  Fruits  and  berries,  instead  of 
clothing  themselves  in  the  sober  green  of 
the  foliage  surrounding  them,  when  the 
seeds  are  fully  ripened  affect  scarlet  red  and 

I  other  bright  colors,  and,  sometimes,  fancy 

j  stripes,  just  to  induce  the  birds  to  take  them 
in  preference  to  the  fruit  of  other  trees. 
Why  do  they  want  their  fruits  to  be  eaten 

J  by  the  birds,  if  it  is  their  purpose  to  se- 
cure a  place  for  their  seed?  Well,  if  you 
examine,  you  will  find  that  the  seed  is  en- 
cased in  a  horny  shell  that  is  proof  against 
the  digestive  organs  of  the  bird,  and  these 
seeds  and  stones  are,  therefore,  voided  fre- 
quently, if  not  invariably,  while  on  the  wing, 
in  just  the  condition  to  take  root  in  the 
soil  wherever  they  may  be  cast.  Bear  this 
in  mind  while  we  go  back  a  little  to  the  bees 
and  flowers. 

I  have  suggested  that  the  honey  is  placed 
in  the  flowers  to  attract  the  bees ;  after  a 
bee  has  foiuid  honey  in  one  flower  it  will 
be  very  likely  to  examine  others  of  a  similar 
kind  or  appearance.  If  the  flowers  were  all 
green,  like  the  leaves  of  the  plant,  the  insects 
would  find  much  more  trouble  in  himting 
them  up  than  they  now  do,  because  the 
contrasting  color,  such  as  the  white  or  red 
of  the  clovers,  makes  them  conspicuous. 

;  If  you  look  back  to  what  I  said  about  corn 
and  ragweed  you  will  see  that  the  flowers 
of  both  are  a  plain  green,  for  they  have  no 

I  need  of  bees  to  insure  their  fertilization. 

I  It  is  easily  proven  that  bees  have  a  sort  of 
telescopic  vision  that  enables  them  to  per- 
ceive objects  at  long  distances.  When  a  bee 
starts  out  in  the  morning  it  circles  up 
aloft,  then  takes  a  view,  and  starts  out  for 
business.  If  one  fleld  of  clover  should  be 
more  conspicuous  than  the  rest,  it  would 
probably  give  it  the  preference — at  least,  so 
far  as  to  make  an  examination.   If  it  has 

j  been  at  work  on  a  profitable  field  the  day 
before,  it  will,  doubtless,  strike  for  it  again 
without  any  preamble.  That  bees  look  for 
honey,  and  hunt  it  out,  I  have  proven  to  my 

1  full  satisfaction ;  and  I  am  well  convinced 
that  what  is  often  called  instinct,  and  al- 

!  lowed  to  drop  there,  is  only  profiting  by  ex- 
perience, and  an  excellent  memory  of  past 
events,  much  in  the  same  way  human  beings 
do.   We  say  that  bees  instinctively  go  to  the 


rOLLEN. 


25 


POLLEN. 


flowers  for  honey.  I  have  watched  them  in 
the  spring  when  the  blossoms  first  open, 
and  many  a  one,  very  likely  a  young  bee 
that  has  never  before  seen  a  blossom,  will 
examine  the  leaves,  branches,  and  even 
rough  wood,  of  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  intent- 
ly smelling  and  sniffing  at  every  part,  until 
it  finds  just  where  the  coveted  treasure  is 
located.  After  it  has  dived  deep  into  one 
blossom,  and  tasted  the  nectar,  it  knows 
pretty  well  where  to  look  next. 

The  touch-me-not  has  learned,  by  ages  of 
experiment,  to  produce  a  bright  orange  flow- 
er, to  secrete  honey  in  the  spur,  to  place  the 
pollen-bearing  stamens  at  the  point  where 
the  bee  must  rub  against  them  in  getting 
the  honey,  to  construct  those  wonderful  seed- 
pods,  which  explode  and  scatter  the  seed  far 
and  wide,  just  that  it  may  reproduce  and 
multiply  its  species.  I  should  judge  it  had 
succeeded  pretty  well  in  a  waste  piece  of 
woodland  near  my  home,  for  there  are  now 
acres  of  it  as  high  as  one's  head,  and  it  is 
quite  a  valuable  acquisition  to  our  apiary. 
As  nearly  as  I  can  make  out,  the  plant  has 
much  increased  since  the  advent  of  the  Ital- 
ians, as  might  be  expected;  and  instead  of 
having  a  dearth  of  pasturage  for  several 
months  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  we  not  only 
have  honey  enough  so  that  the  bees  trouble 
the  houses  and  groceries  very  little,  but  they 
amass  suflicient  stores  to  carry  them  through 
the  winter,  with  little  if  any  feeding.  This 
is  true  of  dandelions  as  well;  and  the  large, 
brilliant,  showy  blossoms  that  now  line  our 
roadsides  and  waste  places,  instead  of  un- 
sightly weeds,  should  remind  one  of  how 
much  an  apiary  of  bees  contributes  to  fulfill 
the  words  of  sacred  prophecy: 

The  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  shall  be  glad 
for  them  ;  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice,  and  blossom 
as  the  rose.— Isaiah  35  :  1. 

No v^',  I  can  not  positively  affirm  that  the 
flowers  were  given  their  gaudy  colors  by  the 
bees' selecting  the  brightest  and  most  con- 
spicuous, thereby  inducing  such  blossoms  to 
bear  seed  in  preference  to  those  less  gaudily 
attired,  neither  do  I  know  that  cherries  be- 
came red  because  the  birds  selected  those 
that  showed  a  disposition  to  that  color, 
year  after  year,  for  many  centuries;  nor 
can  I  prove  that  the  bright  plumage  of  male 
birds  came  about  in  the  course  of  time,  sim- 
ply because  the  female  encouraged  the  at- 
tentions of  and  showed  a  preference  for 
those  most  handsome.  T  can  only  suggest 
that  the  actions  of  birds,  bees,  flowers,  and 
fruits,  seem  to  point  that  way.  You  all 
know  how  quickly  we  can  get  fancy-colored  , 


flowers,  yellow  queen-bees,  or  birds  of  al- 
most any  shade  or  color,  by  careful  selection 
for  several  generations.  Have  not  the  bees 
so  colored  the  flowers,  and  birds  the  berries, 
etc.,  although  they  did  it  all  unconsciously  ? 

My  friend,  before  you  again  complain  be- 
cause you  have  found  a  cell  or  two  of  bee- 
bread  in  your  comb  honey,  would  you  not 
better  ponder  on  the  wonderful  agency  which 
those  simple  grains  of  pollen  exert  on  the 
plant  life  that  is  yet  to  come,  years,  per- 
haps, after  we  have  faded  away  and  gone? 

POLLEN    m    SECTION    BOXES    AND  COMB 
HONEY. 

I  do  not  mean  to  convey  the  idea  that  we 
should  be  satisfied  with  pollen  in  our  honey, 
for  a  very  good  and  useful  thing  is  some- 
times a  very  bad  one,  if  out  of  place.  When 
pollen  or  meal  is  brought  into  the  hive,  it  is 
taken,  at  once,  very  near  to  the  brood ;  in 
fact,  it  is  placed  in  the  comb  opposite,  if 
possible.  When  opening  hives  in  the  spring, 
we  find  pollen  scattered  all  through  the 
brood-combs  to  some  extent;  but  the  two 
combs  next  to  the  two  outside  brood-combs 
are  often  a  solid  mass  of  pollen.  Should  a 
few  stormy  days  intervene,  however,  this 
will  disappear  so  quickly  that  one  who  has 
not  witnessed  the  rapidity  with  which  it  is 
used  in  brood-rearing  would  not  know  how 
to  account  for  it.  When  it  is  gone,  of 
course  the  brood  -  rearing  must  cease, 
although  the  queen  may  continue  to  lay. 
The  amount  of  brood  that  may  be  reared  by 
keeping  a  stock  supplied  with  pollen  artifi- 
cially, during  such  unfavorable  weather,  is  a 
very  important  item,  where  rapid  increase 
of  stock  is  desired. 

Using  the  candy  slabs  with  ^  or  t  wheat 
flour  is,  perhaps,  the  surest  Avay  of  doing 
this.   See  Candy  for  Bees. 

A  friend  has  a  house-apiary,  where  the 
combs  are  pretty  deep,  and  no  upper  story 
is  used.  His  comb  honey  was  all  secured  in 
frames  containing  sections  at  the  side  of  the 
brood.  When  asked  if  the  bees  did  not  de- 
posit pollen  in  the  sections  when  used  in 
that  way  he  replied,  "  Not  if  a  comb  is  in- 
terposed between  the  brood  and  the  hon- 
ey." This  is  because  they  always  want  the 
pollen  next  the  brood.  Now,  we  can  get 
more  comb  honey  by  having  it  near  the 
brood  than  in  any  other  way ;  what  shall  we 
do  to  keep  out  the  pollen,  and  to  keep  the 
queen  from  laying  eggs  in  our  surplus-honey 
sections?  The  remedy  I  have  adopted,  and 
advised  through  this  work,  is  the  use  of 
separators,  with  the  small  one-pound  section 
,  boxes ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  queen 


polle:n. 


253 


is  averse  fco  using  small  pieces  of  comb,  or 
comb  near  much  wood.  In  our  own  apiary, 
I  have  never  known  the  queen  to  deposit 
eggs  in  these  sections,  when  thus  prepared, 
even  if  they  are  placed  next  the  brood- 
combs  ;  but  others  have  written  that  they 
are,  at  times,  filled  with  both  brood  and  pol- 
len, even  when  thus  prepared.  If  I  could 
see  the  hives  I  think  I  could  find  the  trou- 
ble, yet  there  may  be  exceptional  cases.  The 
frames  or  sections  used  in  the  lower  story 
are  more  likely  to  be  filled  with  pollen  than 
those  in  the  upper  story;  for  if  the  wide 
frames  and  sections  are  so  made  that  but 
about  i-inch  Space  is  left  for  the  bees  to  go 
up  into  them,  the  queen  is  very  unlikely  to 
attempt  to  go  up. 157  An  occasional  cell  of 
pollen  will  sometimes  be  found,  which  I  re- 
gret the  more,  because  such  combs  are  much 
more  likely  to  contain  worms,  if  taken  out 
in  warm  weather.  If  it  were  not  for  this 
small,  accidental  quantity  of  pollen,  I  am 
not  sure  we  should  ever  find  worms  in  the 
comb  honey.   See  Bee-moth. 

POLLEN  m  THE  SECTIONS  AS  THE  RESULT 
OF  CONTRACTING  THE  BROOD- CHAilBER 
TOO  MUCH. 

Pollen  will  be  forced  into  the  surplus 
apartment  if  contraction  (see  Comb  Honey) 
be  carried  too  far.  The  brood-chamber  of  an 
8-frame  Langstroth  brood-nest  should  not 
be  contracted,  as  it  is  quite  small  enough ; 
but  a  larger  hive  may  perhaps  be  contract- 
ed to  two- thirds  of  its  full  size.  During  one 
season,  when  the  honey -flow  was  rather 
meager,  desiring  to  get  all  the  honey  into 
the  sections  that  was  gathered,  we  contract- 
ed the  brood-nest  of  two  or  three  of  our  best 
colonies  down  to  two  or  three  frames.  This, 
of  course,  left  the  bees  very  little  room  for 
the  storage  of  honey  below,  and,  as  we  rea- 
soned, the  overplus  of  honey  would  go  above 
right  speedily,  which  it  did.  The  bees  went 
to  work  in  the  sections,  without  any  trouble. 
The  supers  of  these  colonies  were  filled, 
while  colonies  whose  brood-chambers  were 
moderately  contracted  made  no  demonstra- 
tion above.  When,  however,  we  came  to 
take  off  the  honey  at  the  close  of  the  season, 
from  the  first-mentioned  colonies,  we  found 
that  it  contained  more  or  less  pollen.  The 
sections  from  the  colony  which  had  only  two 
brood-frames  contained  the  most  pollen. 

A  fair  average  colony  will  bring  in  just  so 
much  pollen,  and  they  will  put  it  somewhere. 
They  prefer  to  put  it  in  and  around  the 
brood  ;  but  if  this  is  denied  them  they  will 
put  it  "  upstairs,"  just-where  we  don't  want 
them  to  put  it,  especially  when  running  for 


comb  honey.  Had  not  queen-excluding  hon- 
ey-boards been  placed  between  the  upper 
and  lower  stories,  the  queen,  no  doubt,  would 
i  likewise  have  deposited  eggs  in  the  sections; 
for,  of  course,  her  field  of  labor  was  consid- 
erably reduced.  Indeed,  reports  have  been 
received  where  such  excessive  contraction  ^ 
has  resulted  in  depositing  eggs  in  the  sec- 
tions, when  no  queen-excluders  were  used. 
In  view  of  the  foregoing,  if  you  desire  to 
keep  brood  and  pollen  in  their  proper  places, 
do  not  contract ;  the  practice  has  generally 
gone  out  of  vogue  any  way. 

QUEEN - EXCLUDING    HONEY -BOARDS  NOT 
NECESSARILY  AN  EXCLUDER  OF  POLLEN. 

It  is  said,  that  the  strips  of  perforated 
zinc  in  the  slatted  honey-board  will  largely 
prevent  the  storage  of  pollen  above.  From 
what  experience  we  have  had,  I  am  inclined 
to  think  the  zinc  will  discourage  it  to  some 
extent ;  but  from  the  incident  above  related 
it  will  be  observed  that,  if  contraction  be 
carried  too  far,  the  bees  will  put  the  pollen 
where  they  please,  zinc  or  no  zinc. 

HOW  TO   START  BEES  AT  WORK  ON  RYE 
M]fiAL. 

A  beginner  hears  the  feeding  of  oatmeal 
highly  recommended  as  a  substitute  for  pol- 
len. He  places  some  near  the  entrances  of 
the  hives,  but  not  a  bee  touches  it.  He  is 
told  again  to  wait  until  early  spring,  before 
the  bees  have  access  to  natural  pollen,  and 
then  they  will  take  it.  He  does  so,  but,  as 
before,  not  a  bee  notices  it.  He  is  next  told 
to  put  a  heap  of  it  in  the  sun,  a  few  rods  dis- 
tant from  the  hives.  This  time  he  may  suc- 
ceed ;  but  it  would  not  be  strange  if  he 
should  once  more  report  that  his  bees  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Finally  he  is 
directed  to  take  a  piece  of  honey  and  get 
some  bees  to  feeding  on  it.  then  to  set  it  on 
the  heap  of  meal.  The  bees  soon  gather 
over  it  in  great  numbers;  those  who  go 
home  loaded  start  out  many  more  searching 
all  about  the  vicinity,  to  see  where  the  trea- 
sure comes  from.  The  hum  of  the  busy  ones 
on  the  honey  soon  attracts  them,  and,  in 
snufling  about  the  pile  of  meal,  some  bee  dis- 
covers that  it  can  be  used  as  a  substitute  for 
pollen ;  the  others  soon  follow  suit,  and,  in 
a  little  time,  both  the  bees  and  their  owner 
are  happy,  and  the  pile  of  meal  quickly  dis- 
appears. After  this  he  never  has  any  more 
trouble  in  getting  the  bees  to  work  on  meal, 
for  he  knoivs  how.  The  bees  and  their  own- 
er have  both  learned  a  valuable  lesson  about 
pollen.  Is  there  any  very  great  difference 
in  the  way  they  have  been  taught?  Did  they 
not  both  learn  by  practical  experiment?  539 


PROPOLIS. 


254 


PEOPOLIS. 


FROFOIbXS.  This  is  the  gum  or  var- 
nish that  bees  collect  for  varnishing  over 
the  inside  of  their  hives,  filling  cracks  and 
crevices,  cementing  loose  pieces  of  the  hive 
together,  and  for  making  things  fast  and 
close  generally.  It  collects,  in  time,  on  old 
hives  and  combs,  so  as  to  add  very  material- 
ly to  their  weight.  It  is  not  generally  gath- 
ered in  any  great  quantity  until  at  the  close 
of  the  season,  and  it  seems  to  be  collected 
in  response  to  a  kind  of  instinct  that  bids 
them  prepare  for  cold  weather.  I  wish  I 
were  able  to  tell  you  more  definitely  where 
they  get  it ;  it  has  been  suggested  that  it  is 
collected  from  the  resinous  buds  of  the  balm- 
of-gilead,  and  trees  of  a  like  nature ;  but.  to 
tell  the  truth,  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  saw 
bees  collecting  fresh  propolis  at  all.  I  see 
them  almost  every  day  collecting  propolis 
from  old  hives,  old  quilts,  and  pieces  of 
refuse  wax,  when  we  are  so  wasteful  and 
untidy  as  to  leave  any  such  scattered  about. 
That  the  principal  part  of  it  comes  from 
some  particular  plant  or  class  of  plants,  or 
tree,  lam  pretty  well  satisfied,  for  almost 
the  same  aromatic  resinous  flavor  is  notice- 
able, no  matter  what  the  locality  or  season 
of  the  year.  Bees  gather  propolis  with  their 
mandibles,  and  pack  and  carry  it  precisely 
as  they  do  pollen.  It  is  never  packed  in  the 
cells,  however,  but  is  applied  at  once  to  the 
place  wanted.  It  is  often  mixed  with  wax, 
to  strengthen  their  combs,  and  is  applied  to 
the  cells  as  a  varnish,  for  the  same  purpose. 
In  the  absence  of  a  natural  supply,  the  bees 
frequently  resort  to  various  substances,  such 
as  paints,  varnishes,  resins,  pitch,  and  the 
like;  and  the  superstition,  popular  in  some 
sections,  that  bees  follow  their  owner  to  the 
grave,  after  his  death,  probably  obtained 
credence  from  seeing  the  bees  at  work  on 
the  varnish  of  the  coflin.  To  save  the  bees 
the  trouble  of  waxing  up  the  crevices  in 
their  hives,  it  has  been  suggested  that  a 
mixture  of  melted  wax  and  resin  be  poured 
into  the  hive  and  made  to  flow  along  the 
cracks  and  corners.  This  may  do  very  well, 
although  I  fancy  the  bees  can  do  this  better 
and  cheaper  than  we  can.  Our  principal 
trouble  has  been  to  get  rid  of  the  surplus 
propolis,  and  I  should  much  rather  hear  of 
some  invention  to  keep  it  out  of  the  way 
than  to  add  more. 

HOW    TO    KEEP   PROPOLIS  FROM  SURPLUS 
HONEY. 

Of  course,  the  readiest  means  is  to  remove 
all  sections  just  as  soon  as  a  single  one  is 
capped  over;  and,  as  but  little  propolis  is 
gathered  during  a  strong  yield  of  honey. 


but  little  will  be  found  on  the  honey,  unless 
it  is  left  until  the  yield  has  ceased.  The 
bees  not  only  cover  all  the  wood-work  of  the 
sections  if  left  on  too  long,  but  they  also 
varnish  over  the  whole  surface  of  the  white 
capping,  almost  spoiling  the  looks  and  sale 
of  the  honey. 

It  is  next  to  impossible  to  keep  propolis 
from  the  sections  entirely.  Bees  will  depos- 
it at  least  some  in  the  interstices  between 
the  sections.  As  Nature  abhors  a  vacuum, 
so  bees  seem  to  abhor  a  crack  or  crevice. 
The  nearer  we  can  get  surplus  arrangements 
so  as  to  leave  but  few  crevices  or  places  of 
contact  accessible  to  bees,  the  less  propolis 
will  be  deposited.  Some  surplus  arrange- 
ments are  made  so  as  to  produce  compres- 
sion upon  the  sections,  thus  reducing  the 
space  formed  by  contact  with  sections  to  a 
minimum.  Some  prefer  to  have  the  outside 
of  the  sections  covered  entire.  This  can  be 
accomplished  either  with  the  wide  frames  or 
with  surplus  arrangements  having  the  top 
and  bottom  so  as  to  cover  the  outsides  of  the 
sections.  For  removing  propolis  from  sec- 
tions, see  Comb  Honey. 

HOW  TO  REMOVE  PROPOLIS  FROM  THE  FIN- 
GERS. 

A  variety  of  substances  have  been  sug- 
gested. Alcohol  is  perhaps  the  neatest,  but 
is  rather  expensive;  benzine  or  gasoline,  or 
common  lye  for  soap-making,  answers  near- 
ly as  well,  and  is  cheap ;  soap  will  answer, 
if  a  little  lard  be  rubbed  on  the  hands  first, 
but  will  have  little  eifect  on  it  otherwise. 
A  friend  down  south  says  he  has  a  pair  of 
light  cotton  gloves  which  he  slips  on  when 
handling  the  waxy  frames,  and  his  hands 
are  left  clean  whenever  he  is  obliged  to  stop 
work.  Por  removing  it  from  glass,  etc., 
alcohol  is  perhaps  best.  When  we  have 
much  glass  soiled,  it  can  often  be  cleaned 
most  expeditiously  by  boiling  it  in  a  kettle 
of  water  with  a  quantity  of  wood  ashes,  or, 
better,  lye.  Bight  here  I  can  not  do  better 
than  to  reprint  an  article  by  Miss  Wilson, 
Dr.  Miller's  assistant,  from  Gleanings  in  Bee 
Culture. 

When  7  cleaned  the  T  tins  with  concentrated  lye, 
I  felt  pretty  sure  that  hires,  supers,  separators, 
etc.,  could  be  cleaned  in  the  same  way,  but  was  so 
busy  J  could  not  take  time  just  then  to  experi- 
ment, so  concluded  to  say  nothing  about  it  till  I 
could  find  time  to  test  the  matter.  This  morning. 
May  r.th,  being  the  first  opportunity  I  have  had,  I 
concluded  to  experiment  a  little. 

1  put  on  my  wash-boiler  with  water  and  Ij^cthen 
went  to  the  shop  and  selected  the  most  badly  pro- 
polized  supers  and  separators  that  I  could  find  as 
fit  subjects  on  which  to  experiment.  I  dropped  a 
few  separatoi'S  into  the  boiler  while  the  water  was 


PROPOLIS. 


255 


PROPOLIS. 


yet  cold,  to  see  what  effect  it  would  have  on  them. 
I  couldn't  see  that  it  affected  them  in  the  least 
until  the  water  almost  reached  the  boiling-point, 
when  the  propolis  disappeared. 

What  I  was  most  afraid  of.  was  that  the  sepa- 
rators while  wet  would  cling-  so  closely  together 
that  the  lye  would  not  reach  evei  y  part,  and  that 
they  would  not  be  perfectly  clean.  I  was  glad  to 
find  these  few  did  not  bother  at  all.  hm  came  out 
perfectly  clean.  I  stirred  them  with  the  poker 
while  boiling',  although  1  don"t  know  that  it  was 
necessary,  as  I  tried  another  lot  -nithout  stirring-, 
and  they  came  out  just  as  clean.  1  ne.xt  tied  up  a 
bundle  of  59  separators,  that  being  the  number  I 
had  handy.  Of  course,  they  were  tied  loosely. 
I  dropped  them  in.  having-  a  strong-  cord  tied 
around  the  middle  of  the  bundle  to  lift  them  out 
by.  I  let  them  boil  two  or  three  minutes,  and  took 
them  out:  32  of  them  were  perfectly  clean.  The 
rest,  the  center  of  the  bundle,  still  had  some  pro- 
polis left  on,  and  were  treated  to  a  second  dose. 

Taking- a  very  large  quantity  of  the  separators 
atone  time,  there  might  be  more  trotible  than  I 
think,  about  getting  them  clean,  but  1  don  t  be- 
lieve there  would  be  if  the  water  were  kept  hot 
enough,  and  enough  of  the  lye  used.  I  clon"t  think 
any  harm  would  come  from  having-  it  unnecessari- 
ly strong. 

I  next  tried  dipping  the  T  supers.  My  boiler  was 
large  enough  to  clean  only  half  a  super  at  a  time, 
so  I  had  to  dip  in  one  half,  reverse  it,  and  dip  the 
other  half.  Had  I  been  able  to  dip  one  all  at  once, 
I  think  I  could  have  cleaned  one  a  minute.  And 
they  are  beautifully  cleaned.  I  don't  know  of  any 
other  way  they  could  be  cleaned  so  nicely— quite 
as  clean.  I  think,  as  when  new.  We  scraped  all 
our  supers  before  the  lye  was  thought  of:  and 
while  they  are  much  improved  by  the  scraping, 
they  are  not  nearly  as  nice  as  when  cleaned  with 
lye,  and  the  scraping  is  harder  work. 

I  did  not  have  any  thing  large  enough  to  dip  a 
hive  into,  but  of  course  a  hive  Avould  clean  as  read- 
ily as  a  super.  With  convenient  apparatus  to  work 
■with,  a  large  number  of  such  articles  as  separat- 
ors could  be  cleaned  at  a  time  with  no  very  gTcat 
amount  of  labor.  It  is  such  a  comfort  to  have  ev- 
ery thing  clean!  Wood  separators  are  so  cheap 
that  we  have  always  thotight  it  did  not  pay  to 
clean  them.  I  rather  think  we  shall  conclttde  that 
it  does  pay.  after  this,  providing  we  can  get  them 
satisfactorily  dried  in  good  shape. 

Marengo,  111.  Emma  Wilson. 

DO  THE  BEES  XEED  PROPOLIS? 

Much  discussion  has  arisen  in  regard  to 
the  habit  of  the  bees,  of  making  all  openings 
tight  with  propolis.  Theory  says,  if  allowed 
to  follow  its  bent,  or  instinct,  it  will 
smother  itself  to  death.  Practice  says, 
it  does,  at  least  at  times,  so  prevent  the  es- 
cape of  moisture  that  its  home  gets  damp 
and  wet,  filled  with  icicles,  etc.,  so  that  it 
suffers :  or.  at  least,  such  is  the  case  in  the 
hives  we  have  provided  for  it.   Who  is 


right— the  bee  or  the  enlightened  bee-keep- 
er V  T\"ell,  I  think  the  greater  part  of  the 
fault  lies  in  the  hive  we  have  given  it. 
The  enameled  cloth  which  I  have  lately  been 
using  for  covering  bees  is  as  impervious  to 
air  and  moisture  as  the  propolis  they  collect 
with  so  much  pains  and  trouble.  If  the 
outside  of  this  is  allowed  to  get  frosty,  it 
will,  most  assuredly,  condense  the  breath  of 
the  bees  on  the  inside:  and  if  the  outside  is 
but  thinly  protected  from  the  weather,  ici- 
cles will  certainly  form  on  the  inside,  and 
freeze  the  bees  all  fast  in  a  lump.  Xow  I 
would  have  no  fear  at  all  in  having  the  bees 
wax  up  every  thing  as  tight  as  they  wished, 
if  I  could  have  their  winter  apartment  made 
so  small  that  they  completely  filled  it — filled 
it  so  full,  indeed,  as  to  be  crowded  out  at 
the  entrance,  unless  in  very  cold  weather — 
and  have  the  entire  outside  protected  with 
some  non-conductor  that  would  enable  the 
bees  to  keep  the  inner  walls  warm  at  all 
times.  I  think  then  we  should  have  no  damp- 
ness. With  chaff  packing  and  chaff  cush- 
ions, I  have  succeeded  so  well  that  I  am 
perfectly  willing  the  little  fellows  shall  fix 
up  just  as  snug  for  winter  as  their  instinct 
prompts  them  to  do. 

VALXTE  OF  PROPOLIS. 

The  gum  has  been  used  to  some  extent  in 
medicine  ;  also  in  the  preparation  of  certain 
leather  polishes.  It  is  claimed  that  propolis 
for  this  purpose  possesses  a  pr-  perty  that 
renders  it  superior  to  any  of  the  pitches  or 
resins. 

RE3I0VIXG  WAX  AXD  PROPOLIS  BY  STEAM. 

A  friend  sends  us  the  following,  which 
will  prove  very  serviceable  when  one  has  a 
steam-boiler  convenient: 

I  have  tried  all  the  formulas  for  cleaning  wax 
from  utensils,  and,  in  my  experience,  have  found 
that  concentrated  lye  cleans  it  off  faster  and  ^more 
thoroughly  than  any  thing  else.  All  the  methods  are 
troublesome,  and  it  takes  time  to  clean,  especially 
the  perforations.  My  plan  of  cleaning  wax  from  the 
perforated  basjiet  of  the  wax-extractor  is.  to  have 
two  pieces  of  gas-pipe,  each  one  foot  long,  just  large 
enough  to  screw  into  the  sprinkler  of  the  fountain 
pump.  Attach  the  sprinkler  to  one  end  of  the  pipe, 
procure  a  globe  valve,  and  screw  this  on  the  other 
end;  screw  one  end  of  the  other  piece  of  pipe  on  the 
globe  valve,  and  the  other  end  into  the  steam-boiler, 
about  one  or  two  inches  below  the  water-line.  Open 
the  valve,  and  spray  the  articles  covered  -with  wax. 
with  steam  and  hoj  water.  You  will  be  astonished 
to  find  how  quickly  it  makes  things  look  like  new. 

J.  A.  Pritchard. 

St.  Gabrielle,  La.,  Aug.  8,  1879. 


Q. 


QUBBW  - RXSARirra.  Every  honey- 
producer  should  know  how  to  raise  his  own 
queens.  There  are  times  when  it  is  better 
to  buy  them,  and  other  times  when  it  is  cer- 
tainly cheaper  to  rear  them.  Other  things 
being  equal,  a  queen  that  has  never  been 
compelled  to  go  through  the  mails,  shut  up 
in  mail-s:icks,  to  be  bumped  about  in  this 
way  and  that  for  a  period  of  two  or  three 
days  or  perhaps  that  many  weeks,  ought  to 
live  longer  and  give  better  results  than  one 
that  is  compelled  t  ^  undergo  such  treatment. 
It  very  often  ha])pens  that  a  queen  that  has 
been  doing  excellent  service  for  a  year  or  so, 
after  being  sent  through  the  mails,  and  in- 
troduced, dies  within  a  few  days,  for  the 
very  probable  reason  that  the  journey  was 
too  much  for  her.  It  would  seem,  then,  that 
every  bee-keeper  should  himself  rear  the  ma- 
jority of  the  queens  that  he  uses,bnying  only 
just  enough  to  renew  his  stock,  or  to  intro- 
duce new  strains.  Where  one  hus  nothing 
but  blacks  or  hybrids  in  his  vicinity,  it  will 
be  difficult  to  produce  pure  queens ;  and 
usually  under  such  circumstances  it  is  more 
practicable  to  buy  largely. 

CONDITIOJTS    FAVORABLE   AND  UNFAVOR- 
ABLE FOR  REARING  QUEENS. 

When  a  colony  from  some  cause  or  other 
becomes  queenless,  the  bees  will  set  about 
rearing  another.  If  it  is  after  the  swarming 
season  they  may  or  may  not  self  ct  larvge  of 
the  right  age,  and  they  may  be  in  such  haste 
to  rear  one  that  what  they  do  raise  will  be  a 
poor  little  inferior  black  queen  hardly  bigger 
than  a  worker.  Such  queens  should  be  kill- 
ed, and  good  ones  put  in  their  place. 

In  nature,  the  best  queens  are  those  that 
are  reared  either  during  the  swarming-time 
or  when  the  bees  are  about  to  supersede  an 
old  queen  soon  to  fail.  At  such  times  we 
see  large  beautiful  queen-cells,  reminding 
one  of  big  peanuts,  projecting  from  the  side 
of  the  comb.  The  larvae  in  such  cells  are 
lavishly  fed  with  the  royal  food  ;  and  when 
the  queens  finally  hatch  they  are  usually 
large  and  vigorous. 


I    I  said  there  is  one  class  of  cells  that  the 
I  bees  rear  when  they  are  about  to  super- 
j  sede  an  old  queen.   When  one  gets  to  be 
I  two  or  three  years  old  she  begins  to  show 
signs  of  failing.  The  bees  recognize  the  fact 
that  their  own  mother  will  soon  die,  or  at 
least  need  help  from  a  daughter,  and  very 
leisurely  proceed  to  construct  a  number  of 
1  cells,  all  of  which  are  supplied  with  larvae, 
!  and  fed  in  the  same  lavish  way  as  those 
j  reared  under  the  swarming  impulse. 
I    But  we  can  never  determine  in  advance 
j  when  the  bees  will  rear  supersedure  cells, 
i  and  it  may  be  true  that  the  queen  about  to 
1  be  superseded  is  not  desirable  stock  from 
j  which  to  rear.  In  this  case  such  cells  should 
not  be  utilized.  For  a  like  reason,  also,  cells 
I  reared  under  the  swarming  impulse  should 
i  be  rejected;  for  in  any  case  it  is  penny  wise 
and  pound  foolish  to  rear  queens  from  any 
thing  but  the  very  best  select  stock.  But  all 
I  swarming-cells  from  good  queens  should  be 
reserved.    I  would  advise  placing  them  in 
West  queen- cell  protectors ;  then  I  would 
!  hunt  up  queens  two  or  three  years  old,  pinch 
their  heads  off,  and  put  one  of  these  cells  in 
their  colonies.    But  perhaps  you  say  you 
have  good  queens  even  two  or  three  years 
old.   Perhaps ;  but  the  majority  of  our  hon- 
i  ey-producers  think  it  protitable  to  replace 
I  all  queens  three  years  old,  and  a  good  many 
I  make  it  a  practice  to  requeen  all  colonies 
i  having  queens  of  two  years  and  over, 
j    While  these  swarming-cells  will  produce 
!  the  very  best  of  queens,  it  may  not  be  con- 
I  venient  to  requeen  during  the  swarming 
j  season,  and  in  some  localities  it  may  be  a 
j  very  bad  time  of  year  for  it  owing  to  the  in- 
I  terruption  that  it  will  make  in  the  regular 
production  of  honey ;  for  it  is  w^ell  known 
that  a  good  many  colonies  will  not  do  as  well 
in  honey-gathering  when  they  are  queenless 
as  when  they  have  a  good  queen  in  the  hive. 
But  such  cells  even  then  can  be  given  to 
nuclei,  for  they  ought  not  to  be  w^asted. 

I  have  said  there  are  several  methods  ( f 
queen-rearing.   The  first  one  that  I  will 


QUEEX  REAEIXG. 


257 


QUEEX-REAEIXG. 


describe  is  the  Doolittle  method— a  plan 
that  he  introduced  in  1SS9.  and  described 
very  fully  in  his  book.  •■  Scientific  Queen- 
rearing." 

THE  DOOLITTLE  AIETHOD  OF  REAKIXC- 
QUEEXS. 

While  Mr.  Doolittle "s  system  is  artificial 
in  a  sense,  yet  he  endeavors  to  make  this 
method  or  methods  conform  as  nearly  as 
possible  toXature's  ways.  The  first  thing 
of  prominent  importance  in  the  rearing  of 
queens  is  to  bring  about  conditions  that  will 
approach,  as  nearly  as  possible,  those  thnt 
are  present  during  the  swarming  season,  at 
a  time  when  the  bees  supply  the  cell-cups 
lavishly  with  royal  food.  One  of  the  first 
requisites,  then,  for  cell-building  is  strong 
powerful  colonies  ;  second,  a  light  honey- 
flow,  or  a  condition  almost  analogous,  viz.. 
stimtilative  feed  hi  g  if  the  honey  is  not 
coming  in.  Queens  reared  during  a 
dearth  of  honey,  or  in  nuclei,  are  apt 
to  be  small,  and  the  cells  from  whieh 
they  come  look  small  and  inferior. 
The  mothers  that  do  the  best  work 
are  those  that  are  large,  and  capable 
of  laying  anywhere  from  2000  to  3000 
eggs  per  day.  A  queen  that  is  inca- 
pable of  this  should  not  be  kept. 
For  instance,  a  colony  with  a  good 
queen  might  earn  for  its  o^vner  in  a 
good  season  S5.00  in  clean  cash.  In 
the  same  season  the  same  colony  ^ or. 
perhaps,  to  speak  more  exactly,  the 
same  hive  of  bees  ,  with  a  poorer 
queen,  would  bring  in  less  than  half 
that  amount.  A  queen  that  can  lay 
2000  or  3000  eggs  a  day  at  the  rijM 
time  of  the  year,  so  that  there  will  be 
a  large  force  of  bees  ready  to  begin 
on  the  honey  when  it  does  come,  is 
the  kind  of  queen  that  we  need  to 
rear. 

HOW   TO    MAKE   DOOLITTLE  CELL- 
CUPS. 

Many  times,  when  an  apiarist  is 
going  through  his  yard,  he  can  cut 
out  embryo  cell-cups,  such  as  the 
bees  make.   These  can  be  utilized 
at  some  future  time  for  the  purpose  of 
grafting.   But  such  cells,  alter  they  are 
gathered,  are  exceedingly  frail,  irregular  in 
shape,  will  not  bear  much  handling;  and 
most  of  the  time  one  can  not  find  enough. 

Mr.  Doolittle  was  the  first  who  conceived 
the  idea  of  making  artificial  cell-cups  that 
should  not  only  be  regular  in  form,  but  of 
such  construction  as  to  stand  any  reasonable 
amoimt  of  handling  ;  and,  contraiy  to  what 
9 


one  might  expect,  such  cells  are  just  as  read- 
ily accepted  by  the  bees  as  those  they  make 
in  the  good  old-fashioned  way ;  and.  what 
is  of  considerable  importance,  they  can  be 
made  in  any  quantity  and  by  any  one  of  or- 
dinary intelligence. 

Mr.  Doolittle  takes  a  wooden  rake-tooth, 
and  whittles  and  smdpapers  the  point  so 
that  it  is  the  size  aiid  shape  of  the  bottom  of 


the  queen -cell  (see  illustration.  Two  or 
three  other  sticks  are  then  fashioned  of  the 
same  shape  and  pattern.  Preparatory  to 
forming  the  cells  Mr.  Doolittle  has  a  little 
pan  of  beeswax,  kept  hot  by  means  of  a 
lamp  ;  also  a  cup  of  water.  Seating  himself 
before  a  table  he  is  now  ready  for  work. 
Takino-  one  of  these  cell-fo-ming  sticks,  he 


DOOLITTLE  31AK1XG  CELL-LLTS. 
From  Doolittle's  Quecn-rcai  ing- 

dips  it  into  water,  after  which  he  plunges 
it  about  of  an  inch  into  the  melted  wax. 
He  then  lifts  it  up  and  twirls  it  at  an  angle 
(waxed  end  lowest)  in  his  fingers.  When 
cool  he  dips  it  again,  but  not  quite  so  deep, 
and  twkls  it  as  before.  He  proceeds  thus 
until  the  cup  is  dipped  seven  or  eight  times, 
but  each  time  dipping  it  less  depth,  or  with- 
in inch  of  the  previous  dipping.  The 
main  thing  is  to  secure  a  cup  having  a  thick 


QUEEN-REAKLNG. 


239 


<4UEEN-REARLN^G. 


heavy  bottom,  but  which  will  have  a  thin 
and  delicate  knife  edge  at  the  top,  or  at  that 
point  where  the  bees  are  supposed  to  begin 
their  work.  After  the  last  dipping  is  cool- 
ed, a  slight  pressure  of  the  thumb  loosens 
the  cell-cup  slightly.  It  is  then  dipped  on  e 
more,  and  before  it  is  cool  it  is  attached  to  a 
comb  or  a  stick  designed  to  receive  it.  And 
that  brings  me  to  the  point  that  Mr.  Doolit- 
tle  has  his  cell-cups  fastened  in  rows  on  a 
stick,  this  stick  being  fastened  in  a  brood- 
frame.  More  cell-cups  are  fastened  on  the 
aforesaid  stick  at  regular  intervals,  as  shown 
in  the  cut. 

Cell- cups  can  be  made  in  a  much  more 
wholesale  manner  by  mounting  several 
sticks  at  regular  intervals  in  a  cross-bar. 
The  whole,  when  completed,  looks  some- 
thing like  a  rake-head.  The  modus  opera) idi 
is  as  follows  :  The  teeth  of  this  rake  are  dip- 
ped into  melted  wax  to  the  required  depth  : 
and  just  about  as  the  drops  of  wax  begin 
to  form  on  the  end.  the  whole  is  given  a 
shake,  disengaging  the  drops.  It  is  next 
dipped  in  the  same  manner,  but  to  a  less 
depth,  and  given  another  shake,  and  so  on 
until  the  required  number  of  dippings  have 
been  made  :  but  the  average  bee-keeper  had 
better  follow  the  plan  with  one  stick,  as  he 
will  be  likely  to  obtain  better  results. 

GRAFTmG  CELLS. 

The  next  operation  is  to  insert  a  small 
particle  of  royal  jelly  in  each  queen-cell  so 
made.  The  amount  in  each  should  be  about 
equivalent  in  bulk  to  a  double-B  shot,  says 
Mr.  Doolittle.  But  we  have  found  that  a 
much  less  quantity  will  answer.  Out  of  an 
ordinary  queen- cell  well  supplied  with  royal 
jelly  we  get  enough  to  supply  20  cups.  If 
we  took  a  quantity  equal  in  bulk  to  a  BB 
shot  we  would  have  to  rvh  two  or  three  cells 
to  supply  20  cups.  This  royal  jelly  should 
come  from  some  queen-cell  nearly  ready  to 
seal,  as  that  will  contain  the  most  royal 
jelly.  The  jelly  should  be  stirred  to  bring 
all  of  about  the  same  consistency,  after 
which  it  may  be  di;  ped  out  of  the  cells  by 
means  of  a  stick  whittled  like  an  ordinary 
ear-spo;iu,  or  a  toothpick  bent  to  about  that 
shape. 

The  next  operation  is  take  a  frame  of 
young  larvae  just  hatched  from  the  egg  fr^m 
our  best  breeding  queen.  Even  if  the  larvae 
are  from  one  to  two  days  old  it  will  do  no 
harm.  Each  little  grub  should  be  picked  up 
with  the  aforesaid  ear-spoon,  and  gently  lai  l 
in  the  ro\  al  food  previously  prepared  in  one 
of  the  cell-cup3.  A  larva  should  be  given  to 
every  one  of  the  cell-cups  in  this  manner, 


and  when  all  are  supplied  they  are  to  be 
put  into  the  cell-building  colony. 

Now,  then,  after  this  cross-stick  has  been 
i  mounted  in  a  brood-frame  we  are  all  ready 
I  for  the  bees  to  begin  where  man  left  off.  If 
■  it  is  during  the  swarming  season  I  would 
;  select  some  strong  colony  having  a  queen, 
place  on  top  of  it  a  queen-excluding  honey- 
j  board,  and  over  it  an  upper  story  with  a  few 
I  frames  of  brood.   If  the  colony  is  already 
j  a  two-story  one,  a  perforated  zinc  -  board 
,  should  be  inserted  between  the  two  sections 
of  the  hive.  'Into  the  upper  story  of  such  a 
I  colony  we  place  our  frame  with  prepared 
cells  between  two  frames  of  brood  and  bees. 
If  the  colony  is  strong  enough  the  bees  will 
go  to  work  immediately,  drawing  out  the 
queen-cells,  giving  them  an  added  supply  of 
royal  jelly,  and  finally  completing  them  as 
shown  in  the  large  illustration  on  preced- 
ing page. 

While  he  can  use  these  upper  stories  al- 
ready containing  a  queen  for  the  drawing- 
out  of  cells  before  and  after  the  sw^arming 
season  by  giving  their  bees  stimulative  feed- 
\  ing.  yet  more  extended  experience  has  shown 
that  a  larger  percentage  of  cells,  and  just  as 
good  ones,  will  be  secured  from  a  strong 
queen  less  colony  t\mt  has  been  made  queen- 
less,  broodless,  and  eggless  four  or  five  days 
previous  to  the  giving  of  the  cups.  But  it  is 
important  at  the  time  of  making  this  cell- 
!  building  colony  queenless  to  begin  stimula- 
five  feeding,  giving  them  half  a  pint  of  sjni'up 
daily.   After  the  lapse  of  four  or  live  days  a 
!  frame  of  prepared  cell-cups  as  before  direct- 
I  ed  should  be  given,  when  the  bees  are  al- 
most crying  for  a  queen  or  for  something 
!  from  wiiich  they  may  start  cells.  Under 
such  circumstances  they  will  immediately 
,  accept  the  cups  and  draw  them  out,  feeding 
I  them  la^dshly  with  royal  food,  and  the  cells 
will  be  equal  to  any  swarming  cells. 

But  a  cell-building  colony  to  be  preferred 
above  all  others  outside  of  the  swarming 
season  is  one  having  a  queen  which  it  is 
;  trying  to  supersede.   One  or  more  such  col- 
onies will  be  found  in  a  large  apiary,  but  as 
a  rule  the  queen  is  hardly  good  enough  to 
I  breed  from.   Having  found  our  colonv,  we 
:  begin  giving  it  daily  feeds  at  once,  as  this 
!  is  a  prime  requisite  for  the  best  results  in 
I  cell-building  with  any  colonj",  either  with  a 
i  queen  or  without  one.   This  supersedure 
i  cell-building  colony  will  not  only  draw^  out 
and  complete  one  set  of  cups  but  several 
sets  in  succession ;  but  it  is  best  not  to  give 
any  one  such  colony  more  than  a  dozen  or  a 
dozen  and  a  half  of  prepared  cups  at  a  time. 


QUEEK-EEAEIXG. 


260 


QUEEX-EEARmG. 


Allow  it  to  finish  np  one  batch,  and  then,  if  j 
necessary,  give  it  another. 

To  one  of  onr  supersedure  colonies,  as  we 
call  them,  we  gave  one  batch  of  Doolittle 
cups  after  another  until  they  had  completed 
over  300  fine  cells :  but  we  were  careful  to  i 
take  away  each  lot  before  any  could  hatch, 
of  course,  for  a  young  virgin  would  very 
soon  make  havoc  of  the  other  cells  un- 


j  over  twenty  years  used  a  method  that  is 
essentially  different  from  the  Doolittle.  His 
plan  of  procedure  is  as  follows  :  He  goes  to 
his  select  breeding  colony,  and  from  it  takes 
out  a  frame  of  eggs  almost  ready  to  hatch. 
I  Erom  this  he  cuts  out  a  piece  of  comb  about 
four  inches  square.  This  he  shaves  on  one 
side  so  that  the  cells  are  about  half  their 
original  depth.   He  next  cuts  it  into  strips, 


Fr&.i.  CoH 8. Contain mcr  Egg-s. 

1     .  . 

,  ■■■iiwiimiiiwi.  ]i  ijiL  -rn-rrr                                   -.  i 

W0RKER-C03IB   FOR   CELL-STARTING  A  LA  ALLEY. 


hatched,  and  besides  would  get  the  colony 
out  of  the  notion  of  trjang  to  supersede  the 
old  queen. 

Just  how  far  supersedure  bees  will  con- 
tinue to  build  out  batches  of  cell-cups  one 
after  another,  I  am  not  able  to  say ;  but  if 
they  are  fed  half  a  pint  of  syrup  daily  they 
appear  to  be  willing  to  keep  up  the  work 
indefinitely,  in  the  hope  that  they  will  some 


running  a  knife  through  alternate  rows  of 
cells.  He  now  takes  one  of  these  strips, 
and  with  the  head  of  a  match  destroys  the 
egg  or  larva,  as  the  case  may  be,  of  each 
alternate  cell  on  that  side  of  the  comb  that 
has  been  cut  down  half  depth.  In  a  like 
manner  he  treats  the  other  strips.  These 
strips  of  comb  are  secured  to  sticks  by  melt- 
ed wax  and  then  mounting  in  a  brood-frame 


COMPLETED   CELLS  FR031  WORKER-COMB. 


day  be  able  to  rear  a  virgin  that  will  sup- 
plant the  old  queen  that  appears  to  be  failing. 

THE  ALLEY  METHOD  OF  SECURING  CELLS. 

The  veteran  queen  -  breeder  Mr.  Henry 
Alley,  of  Wenham,  Mass.,  has  for  something 


in  the  manner  shown :  that  is  to  say,  the 
ends  of  the  sticks  engage  in  notches  of  the 
sides  of  two  i-inch  boards  fastened  on  each 
side  of  the  brood  -  frame.  When  properly 
done,  the  strip  of  comb  will  have  the  cells 


QUEEi^-EEAEmG.  261 


QUEEi^-EEAEi:NrG. 


shaved  down,  pointing  toward  the  bottom- 
bar.  One  of  these  prepared  frames  is  finally 
placed  in  a  strong  colony  that  has  been  made 
qneenless  and  broodless  four  or  five  days 
before.  As  I  have  already  pointed  out, 
such  a  colony  fairly  howls  or  cries  in  its 
distress  for  something  with  which  to  start 
cells.  If  they  are  fed  by  giving  them  half  a 
pint  of  syrup  daily  they  will  immediately 
begin  to  work  building  out  large  lavishly 
fed  cells :  and  if  every  alternate  egg  has 
been  destroyed,  only  every  other  worker-cell 
is  used  for  building  a  queen-cell. 

DRONE  -  COMB  PLAN  OF  REARING  CELLS. 

This  is  almost  the  same  as  the  Alley,  with 
this  dilference  :  Empty  drone  comb  is  used 
instead  of  worker.  Every  af ternate  cell*  is 
grafted  with  a  larva  or  egg,  after  which  it  is 
given  a  minute  particle  of  royal  jelly  t,  as 
has  been  explained  in  the  Doolittle  method. 
These  strips  of  drone  comb  are  then  mount- 
ed on  a  stick,  as  explained  in  the  Alley 
plan,  and  plaped  in  a  hive  that  has  been 
made  queenless  and  broodless  four  or  five 
days  before. 

These  drone-cells  can  be  given  to  colonies 
trying  to  supersede  queens,  or  the  upper 
story  of  a  colony  having  a  queen,  and  the 
cells  will  be  drawn  out  and  completed  as  are 
Doolittle  cups  when  made  artificially.  But 
I  should  not  think  it  practicable  to  give 
worker  comb  by  the  Alley  plan  to  the  upper 
stories  of  colonies,  for  the  reason  that  royal  I 
jelly  in  the  cells  is  quite  necessary  to  get  the 
bees  to  start  them  in  colonies  not  queenless.  ' 

PRIDGEN    METHOD  OF  REARING    QUEENS,  i 

Mr.  W.  H.  Pridgen,  of  Creek,      C,  has 
developed  a  system  of  queen-rearing  that 
differs  somewhat  from  all  these  methods,  or  ! 
rather,  I  should  say,  it  is  a  combination  : 
of  all.   He  makes  Doolittle  cell-cups  in  a  j 
wholesale  way  by  dipping  20  or  30  sti,cks  at  a 
time.  These  cups  at  the  bottom,  when  com-  ; 
plete,  are  reduced  down  to  about  the  size  of 
a  worker-cell,  and  in  appearance  they  look 
like  little   goblets.   Mr.   Pridgen   shaves  ; 
down  a  piece  of  worker  comb  with  young  | 
larvse  from  his  breeder  so  the  cells  are  about ! 
i\  in.  deep.   He  then  bends  the  comb  back 
and  forth  along  the  line  of  the  cells  from 
which  he  wishes  to  take  his  larvse,  and  in 
such  a  way  as  to  partially  loosen  the  cocoons 
in  the  cells.   He  now  takes  a  stick,  the  di- 


*  It  would  be  better  to  graft  every  third  ceU— that  I 
is.  leave  two  empty  cells  between  cells  with  larvae.  | 
This  allows  more  room  for  cutting  apart  when  cells  i 
are  completed.  [ 

tj.  D.  Fooshe,  a  breeder  of  large  experience,  con- 
siders the  giving  of  royal  food  as  unnecessary. 


ameter  of  a  worker-cell,  but  which  has  been 
hollowed  out  on  the  under  side,  so  that  it  is 
cone  or  cup  shaped.  He  gently  pushes  this 
stick  down  into  a  cocoon  until  it  strikes  bot- 
tom, the  hollowed- out  end  resting  down  over 
the  larva  and  the  milky  food  in  which  it  is 
enveloped.  By  twisting  the  stick  a  little  he 
loosens  the  cocoon  until  it  adheres  to  the 
stick.  He  now  lifts  it  out  and  inserts  it  in 
the  bottom  of  one  of  his  artificial  cell-cups, 
or  goblets.  Again  giving  the  stick  a  little 
twist  he  loosens  the  stick  from  the  cocoon, 
leaving  the  cocoon  fastened  in  the  cup.  In 
this  way  he  inserts  cocoons  with  their  con- 
tents in  a  series  of  cups  mounted  on  a  stick 
equally  distant  from  each  other. 

It  will  be  noticed  this  plan  differs  from 
the  Doolittle  in  the  manner  of  transfeiTing 
the  larvse,  and  that  instead  of  royal  jelly 
only  the  milky  food  designed  for  worker 
brood  is  used. 

These  cell- cups  with  their  transferred  co- 
coons are  now  inserted  in  cell-buildiug  col- 
onies. So  far  this  plan  is  similar  to  the  one 
used  by  the  Atchleys,  except  that  they  trans- 
fer the  cocoons  by  means  of  tweezers ;  but 
Mr.  Pridgen's  method,  according  to  our  ex- 
perience, is  the  more  easily  practiced. 

The  question  will  naturally  arise.  Which 
of  the  methods  described  for  securing  cells 
is  the  best?  This  I  can  hardly  answer. 
Excellent  results  can  be  obtained  with  any 
one  of  them.  Much  will  depend  upon  what 
one  is  used  to.  If  he  has  tried  one  plan  and 
it  works  well,  let  him  stick  to  that.  Perhaps 
more  breeders  use  the  Doolittle  method  be- 
cause it  has  been  more  generally  described 
in  the  bee-journals.  It  is  certainly  true  that 
hrmdreds  of  bee-keepers  have  been  and  are 
using  it,  considering  it  the  ne  plus  ultra  of 
all  methods. 

QUEEN-CELL  PROTECTORS. 

Having  told  abjut  how  to  rear  ceUs,  the 
next  point  to  consider  is  what  to  do  with 
them.  They  can  be  put  directly  into  nuclei; 
but  it  is  usually  advisable  to  slip  them  into 


THE  WEST  QUEEN-CELL  PROTECTOR. 

a  queen-cell  protector.  The  best  one  I  know 
of  is  the  West,  making  use  of  a  sort  of  cage 
made  of  coiled  wire. 


QUEEK-REAHmG.  262  QUEEK-REARmG. 


One  of  the  cells  is  to  be  slipped  into  one 
of  these  protectors,  and  the  tin  slide  shoved 
into  place,  as  shoT\Ti  in  the  illustration.  This 
protector,  having  a  wire  sticking  out  at  right 
angles,  can  be  easily  attached  to  any  comb. 
When  the  queen  hatches  she  simply  emerges 
from  the  end  of  the  cell  in  the  usual  way, 
for  the  end  of  the  protector  is  left  open. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  queen  and  bees 
do  not  attempt  to  destroy  or  open  a  cell  ex- 
cept at  the  sides.  If  these  portions  are  pro- 
tected, and  the  end  left  exposed,  as  in  the 
cut  of  the  West,  the  royal  mother-to-be  in 
Ler  waxen  cradle  will  not  be  molested. 

FORMING  NUCLEI  FOR  CELLS. 

Under  ISTijcleus,  elsewhere,  I  described 
how  to  form  nuclei,  so  it  will  not  be  neces- 
sary to  go  over  the  whole  ground  here.  But 
Mr.  Doolittle  uses  a  method  that  may  be 
employed  to  advantage,  and  I'll  describe  it 
right  here.  It  is  similar  to  the  Somerford 
plan  spoken  of  under  Nucleus.  It  is  this  : 
We  go  to  any  strong  colony  between  the 
hours  of  10  in  the  forenoon  and  2  in  the  aft- 
ernoon, when  the  bees  are  flying  the  strong- 
est—a time  when  al  ]or  nearly  all  of  the  old 
bees  will  be  off  to  the  fields.  If  these  old 
bees  were  taken  to  a  new  location  they 
would  be  sure  to  return  to  the  parent  stand. 
We  therefore  desire  to  get  as  many  of  the 
young  bees  as  possible  when  we  make  the  di- 
vision, because  they  will  stay  right  where 
they  are  put,  and  at  the  same  time  will  be 
more  kindly  disposed  to  the  queen-cell  we 
give  them. 

Out  of  this  strong  colony  to  be  divided 
during  the  middle  of  the  day  we  take  a  frame 


to  receive  this  nucleus  be  a  fall-sized  oiie,  a 
division-board  should  be  put  in  so  as  to  con- 
tract the  space  down  to  one  or  two  frames 
as  the  case  may  be.  The  entrance  should  be 
closed,  and  the  nucleus  left  for  48  hours  to 
accustom  the  bees  to  their  new  location,  at 
the  end  of  which  time — that  is,  just  at  night 
— the  entrance  is  to  be  opened,  and  a  queen- 
cell  given  to  the  bees.  More  nuclei  can  thus 
be  formed  until  all  but  one  of  the  frames 
of  brood  of  the  colony  are  used  up.  This 
should  be  left  for  the.returning  bees ;  and,  if 
they  are  made  queenless,  a  queen-cell  should 
be  given. 

But  there  may  be  times  when  we  shall 
have  a  surplus  of  cells  and  no  nuclei.  In 
such  a  case  cells  may  be  inserted  in  little 
wire-cloth  cages,  and  the  cages  hung  in  an 
ordinary  brood-nest  between  two  frames  of 
brood. 


The  cage  Mr.  Alley  uses  is  shown  in 
the  accompanying  illustration.  He  takes  an 
ordinary  block  about  2i  inches  square,  and 
bores  a  li-inch  hole  through  it.  On  one  side, 
as  sh  mn,  he  bores  a  small  hole  to  hold  can- 
dy or  feed  for  the  queen.  A  little  nearer  one 


^^^^  1 

ALLEY'S  QUEEN-NURSERY. 


of  brood  and  adhering  bees,  and  then  put 
with  it,  in  another  location,  a  frame  of  hon- 


ey from  this  or  any  other  hive.   If  the  hive   ho'e.   He  then  takes  another  bit,  i  inch  in 


edge  he  bores  another  hole  f  inch  in  diame- 
ter, and  within  i  inch  of  the  large  li-inch 


QUEE^^-EEAEmG. 


263 


QUEENS. 


diameter,  aud  bores  clear  through  it.  This 
leaves  a  shoulder  to  hold  the  queen-ct-11  so 
the  point  projects  into  the  large  hole.  Both 
sides  of  this  block  are  covered  with  wire 
cloth,  and  enough  of  them  are  made  to  fill 
out  a  brood-frame.  These  cells  we  will  in- 
sert in  these  wire-cloth  cages  described,  and 
then  put  the  cages  into  a  brood-frame,  as 
shown  ill  the  next  engraving.  The  whole 
is  now  set  down  into  a  colony  of  bees,  and 
the  young  queens  are  allowed  to  hatch. 

FERTILIZING   Q^KEIirS  IIS"  UPPER  STORIES. 

This  has  been  practiced  to  some  extent, 
and  with  some  degree  of  success :  but  it 
more  often  results  in  failure.  Mr.  Doolittle 
reasoned  that,  if  bees  would  build  cells  in 
an  upper  story,  why  could  not  these  same 
upper  stories  be  used  for  having  queens  fer- 
tilized ?  He  accordingly  had  one  of  his  su- 
pers divided  ofi  into  three  compartments 
with  perforated  zinc.  Each  compartment 
had  an  entrance  so  that  the  young  queen, 
when  she  was  hatched  from  the  cell,  could, 
at  the  proper  time,  take  her  wedding-flight. 
In  his  earlier  experiments  he  seemed  to 
make  it  an  entire  success,  for  he  was  grati- 
fied to  find  that  the  young  queens  were  not 
only  fertilized,  but  went  to^ laying,  and  this, 
too,  notwithstanding  the  same  bees  had  a  \ 
queen  in  the  brood-nest  below ;  but  later  ex- 1 
periments  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  plan  | 
can  not  be  relied  on,  as  too  large  a  percent- 
age of  the  young  queens  are  missing.  We 
have  been  testing  the  plan  this  summer  in 
our  own  apiary,  and  so  far  have  not  met 
with  a  single  case  where  a  queen  has  been 
successfully  fertilized,  and  we  therefore  con- 
clude that,  for  the  present  at  least,  all  cells 
or  virgins  must  be  given  to  nuclei. 

HOW  TO  INTRODUCE  VIRGIX  QTJEEKS. 

Almost  any  queenless  colony  will  accept  a 
virgin  queen  that  has  been  out  of  the  cell  for 
about  24  hours ;  but  after  they  have  been 
out  longer,  say  three  or  four  days,  it  is  not 
so  easy  a  matter  to  get  the  bees  to  accept 
them.  In  fact,  it  is  much  more  diflicult  to 
introduce  a  virgin  four  or  five  days  old  than 
an  ordinary  fertile  queen ;  but  it  sometimes 
happens  that  we  do  not  have  nuclei  that  can 
take  the  cells  or  queens  at  just  the  right 
time,  so  we  have  to  let  these  queens  remain 
in  these  cages  until  we  have  nuclei  to  spare. 
This  often  results  in  having  virgin  queens 
anywhere  from  three  to  four  days  old. 

But  these  four  and  five  day  virgin  queens 
can  be  introduced  providing  one  exercises 
due  precaution  and  patience.  Under  Ix- 
TRODUciXG  we  have  illustrated  and  de- 


scribed the  Miller  introducing-cage.  Put 
the  old(V)  virgin  into  one  of  these  cages. 
Plug  the  hole  up  with  candy,  and  then  tack 
over  the  end  of  the  hole  a  piece  of  card- 
board. The  bees  will  gnaw  away  the  paste- 
board and  then  eat  out  the  candy,  all  of 
which  will  take  four  or  five  days.  This 
length  of  time  will  usually  cause  the  bees  to 
be  favorably  disposed  toward  the  virgin, 
and  she  will  be  fertilized  in  due  course  of 
time. 

Colonies  having  queen -cells  just  sealed 
will  be  more  apt  to  accept  virgins  than  those 
that  have  just  been  made  queenless.  Still, 
we  have  successfully  introduced  them  by 
the  plan  spoken  of,  even  in  colonies  just 
made  motherless,  at  the  time  of  putting  in 
the  Miller  cage,  but  it  must  be  at  least  four 
days  before  the  bees  get  at  the  virgin. 

Young  vdrgins  just  hatched  can  usually  be 
allowed  to  run  in  at  the  entrance  of  a  queen- 
less nucleus ;  but  if  you  desire  to  take  great- 
er precaution  daub  her  in  honey  and  then 
let  her  loose. 

QUEENS,  HOW  TO  FIXD.  See  Frames, 
TO  Manipulate. 

QUZSZirTS.  The  most  important  person- 
age in  the  hive  is  the  queen,  or  mother-bee. 
\  She  is  called  the  mother-bee  because  she  is, 
i  in  reality,  the  mother  of  all  the  bees  in  the 
I  hive.  So  much  has  already  been  said  of 
i  queens,  in  Drones,  and  Queen-rearing, 
I  that  I  presume  our  A  B  C  class  are  already 
I  pretty  well  acquainted  with  her  majesty,  as 
she  is  frequently  designated. 


the  queen  and  her  retinue. 

If  we  deprive  a  colony  of  their  queen,  the 
bees  will  set  to  work  and  raise  another,  so 
long  as  they  have  any  worker-larvte  in  the 


QUEENS. 


264 


QUEEN8. 


hatch  in  only  ten  days  after  the  larvae  were 
given  them.  These  ten-day  queens  proba- 
bly are  not  as  good  as  those  reared  from 
younger  larvae :  and  I  think,  as  a  rule,  it 


hive  with  which  to  do  it.  This  is  the  rule, 
but  there  are  some  exceptions  :  the  excep- 
tions are  so  few,  however,  that  it  is  safe  to 
assume  that  a  queen  of  some  kind  is  present 
in  the  hive,  whenever  they  refuse  to  start  would  be  well  to  supersede  them 
queen-cells  from  larvae  of  a  proper  age. 

IMPERFECTLY  DEVELOPED  QUEE^^S. 

Some  queens  are  small,  usually  dark  in  col- 
or, and  will  sonretimes  become  fertilized,  and 
lay  eggs  for  a  little  while  (all  the  way  from 
a  week  to  several  months),  but  they  are  nev- 
er profitable.  Sometimes  they  will  not  lay 
at  all,  but  will  remain  in  a  colony  all  through 
the  season,  neither  doing  any  good  nor  per- 
mitting any  other  queen  to  be  either  intro- 
duced or  reared.  A  wingless  queen,  or  one 
with  bad  wings,  will  produce  the  same  re- 
sult. The  remedy  is  to  hunt  them  out  and 
remove  them.  Where  they  are  so  near  like 
a  worker-bee  as  to  make  it  hard  to  distin- 
guish them,  they  may  often  be  detected  by 
the  peculiar  behavior  of  the  bees  toward 
them.  See  iNTPODUcmG-  QuEEi^s,  also  cut 
on  preceding  column. 

HOW  A  WORKER-EGG  IS  MADE  TO  PRODUCE 
A  QUEEN. 

This  is  a  question  often  asked,  and  it  is 
one  that  puzzles  me  about  as  much  to  an- 
swer as  any  question  a  visitor  can  ask.  I 
cannot  promise  to  tell  you  all  about  it,  but  I 
will  tell  you  all  I  know  about  it.  We  will 
first  get  a  frame  of  eggs,  as  we  did  in  study- 
ing Bees,  but  we  will  vary  the  experiment 
by  putting  it  into  a  colony  having  no  queen. 
The  minute  eggs  will  hatch  into  larvae  as 
before  ;  but  about  as  soon  as  they  begin 
to  hatch,  if  we  look  carefully  we  shall  see 
some  of  the  cells  supplied  with  a  greater 
profusion  of  the  milky  food  than  others. 
Later,  these  cells  will  begin  to  be  enlarged, 
and  soon  at  the  expense  of  the  adjoining 
ones.  These  are  queen-cells,  and  they  are 
something  like  the  cup  of  an  acorn  in  shape, 
and  usually  occupy  about  the  space  of  three 
ordinary  cells.  In  the  drawing  given,  you 
will  see  cells  in  different  stages  of  gro^^h. 

At  A  is  a  cell  just  being  converted  into  a 
queen-cell;  at  B,  one  where  the  thin  walls 
are  extended  so  as  to  form  a  queen-cell  prop- 
er, almost  ready  to  seal  up.  This  occurs  at 
just  about  9  days  from  the  time  the  egg  was 
laid.  In  7  days  more,  16  days  in  all  from 
the  time  the  egg  was  laid,  the  queen  will 
hatch  out,  a  perfect  insect.  C  is  a  cell  just 
vacated.  Now  bear  in  mind  exactly  what  I 
say,  or  you  will  get  confused.  If,  instead  of 
eggs,  larvae  3  days  old  are  given  the  bees,  they 
will  rear  a  queen,  and,  in  this  case,  she  will 


QUEEN-CELLS,  AFTER  CHESHIRE. 

There  are  some  queer  things  about  queen- 
cells,  as  you  will  notice.  After  the  cell  is 
sealed,  they  go  and  put  a  great  excess  of 
wax  on  it,  give  it  a  long  tapering  point,  and 
corrugate  the  sides  something  like  a  thim- 
ble, as  shown  at  C.  This  corrugation,  or 
roughness,  when  closely  examined,  will  be 
seen  to  be  honey-comb  on  a  very  small  scale. 
Now  right  here  is  a  point  that  you  will  not 
fail  to  observe :  Bees,  like  other  folks,  some- 
times make  mistakes  ;  for  they  do  not  seem 
to  know  any  better  than  to  use  a  drone-larva 
for  rearing  a  queen,  if  such  happens  to  be 
present. 

Now,  it  is  very  handy  to  be  able  to  tell 
about  when  any  queen-cells  you  may  hap- 
pen to  find  unexpectedly  will  be  likely  to 
hatch ;  and  the  bees  are  very  accommodat- 
ing in  this  respect  also ;  for,  about  the  day 
before  the  queen  hatches,  or  it  may  be  two 
days,  they  go  and  tear  down  this  long  peak 
of  wax  on  the  tip  of  the  cell,  and  leave  only 
a  very  thin  covering,  similar  to  D.  I  do  not 
know  what  this  is  for,  unless  it  is  because 
they  are  anxious  to  get  a  peep  at  their  new 
mother.  It  has  been  said,  they  do  it  that 
she  may  be  better  able  to  pierce  the  cap- 
ping ;  but  sometimes  they  omit  the  pro- 
ceeding entirely,  and  I  have  not  been  able 
to  see  that  she  has  any  difiiculty  in  cutting 
the  cap  off.  If  the  cell  is  built  on  new 
comb,  or  on  a  sheet  of  foundation,  and  it 
be  held  up  before  a  strong  light,  at  about 
the  fifteenth  day,  or  a  little  later,  you  will 
see  the  queen  moving  about  in  the  cell.  A 
little  later,  by  listening  carefully,  you  can 
hear  her  gnawing  her  way  out.   Pretty  soon 


QUEEi^S. 


265 


QCJEE^fS. 


the  points  of  her  3harp  and  powerful  mandi- 
bles will  be  seen  protruding,  as  she  bites  out 
a  narrow  line.   Since  she  turns  her  body  in 
a  circle  while  doing  this,  she  cuts  out  a  cir- 
cle so  true  that  it  often  looks  as  if  cut  out 
by  a  pair  of  compasses.   IsTow  observe,  that 
the  substance  of  which  the  cell  is  made  is 
tough  and  leathery ,1^^  and,  therefore,  before 
she  gets  clear  around  her  circle,  the  piece 
springs  out  in  response  to  her  pushing,  and 
opens  just  about  as  the  lid  of  a  cofCee-pot 
would  if  a  kitten  should  happen  to  be  inside 
crowding  against  the  lid.   I  have 
often  seen  them  push  the  door 
open  and  look  out,  with  as  much 
apparent  curiosity  as  a  child  ex- 
hibits when  it  first  creeps  to  the 
door  on  a  summer  morning :  oft- 
en, after  taking  this  look,  they 
will  back  down  into  their  cradle, 
and   stay  some  time.   This  is 
especially  the  case  when  other 
queens  are  hatching,  and  there  is 
a  strife  as  to  who  shall  be  sover- 
eign. 

We  will  now  consider  the 
strange  substance 

ROYAL  JELLY. 

The  milky  food  before  describ- 
ed, which  is  given  to  the  young 
larvse,  and  which  is  supposed  to 
be  "a  mixture  of  pollen  and  honey 
partially  digested,  is  very  similar, 
if  not  identical,  in  composition 
with  the  royal  jelly.   The  bees 
are  not  the  only  examples  in  the 
animal  kingdom,  where  the  food 
is  taken  into  the  stomach  by  the 
parent,  and,  after  a  partial  diges- 
tion, is  throTVTi  up  for  the  use  of 
the  offspring.  Pigeons  feed  their 
young  precisely  in  this  way,  until 
they  are  able  to  digest  the  food 
for  themselves.  It  has  been  stat- 
ed that  bees  use  a  coarser  food 
for  the  worker  larvae,  after  they 
are  a  few  days  old,  and  also  for  the  drone 
larvae,  during  the  whole  of  their  larval 
state.   What  I  mean  by  a  coarser  food 
is,  a  food  not  so  perfectly  digested;  in 
fact,  drones  are  said  to  be  fed  on  a  mix- 
ture of  pollen  and  honey,  in  a  state  nearly 
natm-al.   This  may  be  so,  but  I  have  no 
means  of  proving  it  to  my  satisfaction.  It 
has  also  been  said,  that  the  queens  receive 
the  very  finest,  most  perfectly  digested,  and 
concentrated  food  that  they  can  prepare. 
This  I  can  readily  believe,  for  the  royal  jelly 


has  a  very  rich  taste — something  between 
cream,  quince  jelly,  and  honey— with  a 
slightly  tart  and  a  rank,  strong,  milky  taste 
that  is  quite  sickening  if  much  of  it  be  tak- 
en. See  EoYAL  Jelly,  under  the  head  of 
Anatomy  of  Bees. 

what  does  the  queen  do  while  sealed 

TJPV 

Candidly,  I  do  not  know  very  much  about 
it,  although  I  have  opened  cells  at  every 
stage  after  they  were  sealed,  until  they  were 
ready  to  hatch.   One  day  after  being  sealed, 


QUEEN  CELLS. 

they  are  simply  ordinary  larvae,  although 
rather  larger  than  worker  larvae  of  the  same 
age;  after  two  or  three  days,  a  head  begins 
gradually  to  be  "  mapped  out,"  if  that  is  the 
proper  expression,  and,  later,  some  legs  are 
j  seen  folded  up;  last  of  all,  a  pair  of  delicate 
wings  come  from  somewhere,  I  hardly  know 
how.  Two  days  before  hatching  I  have  tak- 
en them  out  of  the  cell,  and  had  them  ma- 
ture into  perfect  queens,  by  simply  keeping 
them  in  a  warm  place.  I  have  also  taken 
them  out  of  the  cell  before  they  were  ma- 


266 


QUEEJS-S. 


ture,  held  the  white,  still,  corpse-like  form 
in  my  hand  while  I  admired  it  as  long  as  I 
chose,  then  put  it  back,  waxed  up  the  cell 
by  warming  a  bit  of  wax  in  my  fingers,  and 
had  it  hatch  out  three  days  after,  as  nice  a 
queen  as  any.  Mr.  Langstroth  mentions 
having  seen  the  whole  operation  by  placing 
a  thin  glass  tube,  open  at  both  ends,  into  the 
cell,  so  as  to  have  it  inclose  the  queen,  the 
bees  being  allowed  to  cap  it  as  usual.  If  I 
am  correct,  this  experiment  was  first  made 
by  Huber.  With  several  such  glass  queen- 
cells,  I  presume  the  whole  operation  could 
be  watched  from  beginning  to  end. 

DAVIS'  TRAI^SPOSITION  PROCESS. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1874,  after  I  had 
discovered  how  to  send  larvae  for  queen-rear- 
ing safely  by  mail  for  short  distances,  our 
friend  J.  L,  Davis,  of  Delhi,  Ingham  Co., 
Mich.,  wrote  that  he  should  get  a  large  num- 
-ber  of  queens  from  the  piece  I  sent  him,  for 
he  was  going  to  remove  the  larvae  from  the 
cells  and  place  them  in  queen-cells  already 
started  in  his  hives— of  course,  removing  the 
original  larvae  first.  I  caught  at  the  idea  at 
once,  and  went  to  some  hives  of  hybrids  that 
had  persisted  in  tearing  down  all  the  cells 
given  them,  and  building  others  from  their 
own  brood,  and  removed  the  larvae  from  all 
the  cells,  substituting  larvae  from  the  im- 
ported queen  in  its  stead.  I  used  a  quill 
toothpick  for  making  the  transposition. 
Almost  every  cell  was  built  out  and  capped, 
just  as  well  as  if  they  had  kept  their  own 
black  stock.  In  due  time  I  had  as  nice  a 
lot  of  fine  yellow  queens  as  I  ever  reared. 
We  have  practiced  this  method  almost  ev- 
ery year  since. 

We  have  used  a  tiny  silver  spoon,  made 
on  purpose  for  removing  the  larvae,  and  as 
much  of  the  milky  food  as  possible  I 
need  hardly  caution  you  that  these  small 
larvae  are  very  tender  and  delicate,  and  will 
hardly  bear  so  much  as  a  touch,  without  in-  ' 
jury.  I 

WHAT  BECOjMES  OF  THE  QUEEN  AFTER  SHE  I 
LEAVES  THE  CELL?  | 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  I  can  tell  you,  by  \ 
personal  observation,  pretty  nearly  what  a  i 
queen  does  after  she  pushes  open    that ' 
hinged  door  that  I  told  you  of,  and  which 
you  will  find  illustrated  under  the  head  of 
QiTEEisr-REARmG.   She  generally  begins  to 
put  her  head  into  the  cells  until  she  finds 
one  containing  misealed  honey,  from,  which 
she  takes  a  sup  that,  at  least,  indicates  that  j 
she  likes  that  kind  of  provision. 

After  she  has  had  her  supper  she  begins  , 
to  crawl  about,  partly  to  enjoy  using  the  ' 


long  strong  legs  God  has  given  her,  and  per- 
haps because  she  knows  that  it  is  her  allot- 
ted task  to  tear  down  the  remaining  queen- 
cells,  if  such  there  are...  If  other  queens  have 
hatched  before  her,  it  is  one  of  her  first  and 
foremost  duties  to  look  them  up,  and  either 
reign  supreme  or  die  in  the  attempt.s^s  m  if 
all  other  cells  have  been  removed,  as  they 
usually  are  where  queens  are  wanted  for 
other  purposes,  she  has  nothing  to  do  but  to 
promenade  over  the  premises,  monarch  of 
all  she  surveys.  If  she  ever  sits  down  to 
take  a  rest,  or  takes  a  rest  in  any  other  po- 
sition, during  the  first  week  of  her  life,  I 
have  never  been  able  to  discover  it.  She  is 
always  traveling  about,  and  this  is  one  rea- 
son why  I  am  averse  to  caging  young 
queens,  in  order  that  we  may  allow  several 
to  hatch  in  the  same  hive.  It  seems  to  be 
natural  for  them  to  nm  about,  and  I  believe 
it  is  necessary  for  their  well-being.  Several 
years  ago  I  thought  I  had  made  a  brilliant 
discovery  when  I  succeeded  in  hatching  all 
the  queen-cells  in  the  hive,  under  cups  made 
of  wire  cloth.  The  first  hatched  was  al- 
lowed to  run  until  she  became  fertile,  and 
began  laying ;  she  was  then  removed,  and 
the  next  released,  and  so  on.  I  think  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  four  laying  queens  from 
the  single  lot  of  cells,  all  in  the  one  hive,  but 
the  bees  made  such  desperate  elf  orts  to  get 
the  obnoxious  cages  out  of  the  way,  and  the 
inmates  of  the  cages  to  get  out,  that  I  gave 
up  the  plan,  after  seeing  several  fine  queens 
die  of  nothing  else,  so  far  as  I  could  see,  than 
confinement. 

But  suppose  she  does  find  another  cell ; 
what  then?  Well,  she  sometimes  runs 
around  it  awhile;  sometimes  the  bees  tear 
it  down,  and  sometimes  she  tears  it  down 
herself,  with  the  same  strong  mandibles  that 
she  used  to  cut  her  way  out  of  the  cell  at 
first.  She  usually  makes  the  opening  in  the 
side  of  the  cell,  as  shown  at  E  in  cut  on 
page  264. 

]^ow,  it  is  said  that  the  queen  immediately 
stings  her  helpless  immature  sister,  to  make 
a  sure  thing  of  her  destruction ;  but  of  this 
I  am  not  certain,  for  I  never  saw  her  in  the 
act  of  so  doing.  I  have  seen  spots  in  the 
side  of  the  queen  that  looked  much  as  if  she 
had  been  stung,  but  I  have  also  rescued  cells 
and  put  them  into  a  wire-cage  nursery  after 
they  had  been  torn  open,  and  had  them  ma- 
ture into  nice  queens.  As  these  immatm^e 
queens  are  very  soft,  the  workers  will  soon 
pick  them  out  of  the  cell,  piece  by  piece, 
and  I  have  sometimes  placed  them  in  the 
nursery  and  had  them  mature,  minus  a  wing 


QUEE^^S. 


267 


QUEENS. 


or  leg,  or  whatever  portion  the  mischievous 
worker  had  pulled  away.  I  judge  from 
many  such  observations  that  the  queen  gen- 
erally tears  a  hole  in  the  cell,  or  bites  into  it 
in  such  a  way  that  the  workers  take  hold  of 
it,  and  tear  it  all  down,  much  in  the  way 
they  do  any  mutilated  or  broken  piece  of 
comb.  ^yhen  queen-cells  have  been  cut  out, 
all  the  larvae  that  are  in  any  way  injured  are  at 
once  thrown  out,  and  none  but  the  perfect 
cells  preserved.  Bees  never  fuss  with  crip- 
ples, or  try  to  nurse  up  a  bee  that  is 
wounded  or  maimed.  They  have  just  the 
same  feeling  for  their  fellows  that  a  locomo- 
tive might  be  expected  to  have  for  a  man 
whom  it  had  run  over.  They  battle  against 
'  any  thing  that  threatens  the  extinction  of 
the  colony,  it  is  true;  but  I  have  never  been 
able  to  discover  any  signs  of  their  caring  for 
one  of  their  number,  or  even  having  com- 
passion on  their  helpless  brood,  when  it  is 
wounded  and  suffering.  If  a  hole  is  made  in 
a  queen-cell,  by  the  queen  or  anybody  else, 
they  are  almost  sure  to  tear  it  down  and 
throw  it  away.  When  a  queen  hatches,  the 
remaining  cells  are  very  soon  torn  down,  as 
a  general  thing,  but  there  are  many  excep- 
tions.547  When  two  queens  hatch  out  at  about 
the  same  time,  they  also  generally  attempt 
to  kill  each  other;  but  I  have  never  heard  of 
both  being  killed.  This  probably  results 
from  the  fact  that  they  can  sting  their  rivals 
only  in  one  certain  way ;  and  the  one  that, 
by  strength  or  accident,  gets  the  lucky  posi- 
tion in  the  combat,  is  sure  to  come  off  vic- 
tor. This  explains  how  a  very  inferior  vir- 
gin queen,  that  has  got  into  the  hive  by  ac- 
cident, may  sometimes  supplant  an  old  lay- 
ing queen.  Two  queens,  when  thus  thrown 
together,  generally  fight  very  soon,  but  this 
is  not  always  the  case.  Several  cases  are  on 
record  where  they  have  lived  in  peace  and 
harmony  for  months,  even  when  hatched  at 
about  the  same  time,  and  it  is  quite  common 
to  find  a  young  queen  helping  her  mother 
in  the  egg-laying  duties  of  the  hive,  espe- 
cially when  the  mother  is  two  or  three  years 
old.  If  the  season  is  good,  and  the  hive  pop- 
ulous, very  often,  instead  of  a  fight,  they  di- 
vide up  their  forces  in  some  way,  and  we 
have  After- SWARMING,  which  see. 

Sometimes  the  queen  will  pay  no  attention 
to  the  remaining  0^13,549  but  will  let  them 
hatch  out,  and  then  their  "little  differences" 
are  adjusted  afterward,  either  by  swarming 
or  by  the  usual  "hand-to-hand"conflict  "un- 
til death."  I  once  looked  for  a  queen,  and, 
not  finding  her,  concluded  she  was  lost. 
Another  cell  was  inserted,  and  in  due  time 


hatched  out.  I  was  much  surprised  to  find 
my  new  queen  laying  when  only  one  day 
old;  but  a  little  further  looking  revealed  the 
two,  both  on  the  same  comb.  Many  losses 
in  introducing  queens  have  resulted  from 
two  queens  being  in  the  hive,  the  owner  be- 
ing sure  his  hive  was  queenless — because  he 
had  removed  one. 

QUEENS'  VOICES. 

Queens  have  two  kinds  of  voices,  or  calls, 
either  one  of  which  they  may  emit  on  cer- 
tain occasions.  It  is  almost  impossible, 
on  the  printed  page,  to  describe  these 
sounds.  One  of  these  is  a  sort  of  z-e-ep, 
z-e-ep,  zeep,  zeep.  Some  call  it  piping, 
others  teeting.  Whatever  it  is,  it  consists 
of  a  prolonged  tone,  or,  as  we  might  say,  a 
long  zeep  followed  by  several  much  shorter, 
each  tone  shorter  than  the  preceding  one. 
This  piping  is  made  when  the  queen  is  out 
of  the  cell,  either  a  virgin  or  a  laying,  but 
usually  by  a  young  one.  The  older  ones  are 
generally  too  dignified,  or  too  something, 
to  give  forth  any  such  loud  squealing  ;  but 
they  will  squeal,  and  lustily,  too,  sometimes, 
when  the  bees  ball  them  and  grab  them  by 
the  legs  and  wings.  They  squeal  just  as 
we  would  when  surrounded  by  enemies  on 
every  side,  and  in  mere  fright  give  a  yell  of 
alarm. 

The  other  note  that  queen-bees  are  known 
to  give  forth  is  what  is  called  quaJiking,  for 
that  more  nearly  describes  the  actual  sound 
than  any  other  combination  of  letters  we 
can  put  together.  If  I  mistake  not,  it  is 
emitted  only  when  the  queen  is  in  the  cell, 
before  she  is  hatched,  and  is  made  in  an- 
swer to  the  piping  or  zeep,  zeep,  of  one  of 
the  virgins  that  has  already  hatched,  and 
is  trying  perhaps  to  proclaim  aloud  her  sov- 
ereignty. The  quahk  will  be  heard,  then, 
only  when  there  are  queen-cells  in  the  hive. 
At  other  times  the  note  will  be  a  series  of 
long  z  e-ep,  z-e-e-p,  zeep,  followed  by  short- 
er tones,  as  explained. 

When  a  young  queen  is  being  introduced 
she  will  frequently  utter  a  note  of  alarm,  a 
zeep,  zeep,  etc. ,  and  some  of  our  friends  have 
called  it  "  squealing."  The  bees  are  almost 
always  stirred  by  these  notes  of  the  queen, 
and  they  will  often  turn  and  run  after  her 
and  cling  around  her  like  a  ball,  when  they 
would  have  paid  no  attention  to  her  had  she 
not  uttered  this  well-known  note.  After 
you  have  once  heard  it,  you  will  recognize  it 
ever  afterward.  Queens,  when  placed  near 
together  in  cages,  will  often  call  and  ans- 
wer each  other,  in  tones  that  we  have  sup- 
posed might  be  challenges  to  mortal  combat. 


QUEENS. 


268 


QUEENS. 


Some  queens  received  one  summer  from 
W.P.Henderson,  of  Murfreesboro,  Tenn., 
called  so  loudly,  when  placed  on  our  table, 
that  they  could  be  heard  clear  across  a  long 
room.  One  voice  would  be  on  a  high,  shrill 
key,  and  another  a  deep  bass,  while  others 
were  intermediate.  On  watching  closely,  a 
tremulous  movement  of  the  wings  was  no- 
ticed while  the  queen  was  uttering  the 
note,  and  one  might  infer  from  this  that  the 
sound  is  produced  by  the  wings,  but  this  is 
probably  not  the  case.  Some  one,  I  think,  , 
reported  having  heard  a  queen  squeal,  both 
of  whose  wings  had  been  entirely  clipped 
oji.550  That  these  sounds  from  the  queen 
have  the  power  of  controlling  certain  move-  | 
ments  of  the  bees  I  am  well  aware,  but  I  do 
not  know  just  how  or  to  what  extent  this 
influence  works.  I 

VIRGIN  QUEENS.  ! 

The  newly  hatched  queen  is  termed  a  vir-  | 
gin  queen  to  distinguish  her  from  queens  ; 
that  have  been  fertilized  by  the  drone,  and 
are  laying.  Virgin  queens,  when  first 
hatched,  are  sometimes  nearly  as  large  as  a 
fertile  queen,  but  they  gradually  decrease  in 
size;  and  when  three  or  four  days  old  they 
often  look  so  small  and  insignificant  that  a 
novice  is  disgusted  with  their  appearance, 
and,  if  he  is  hasty,  pronounces  them  good 
for  nothing.  For  the  first  week  of  their 
lives  they  crawl  about  much  as  an  ordinary 
young  worker  does,  and  it  is  often  very  difii- 
cult,  if  not  almost  impossible,  to  find  them, 
unless  an  amount  of  time  is  taken  that  is 
more  than  a  busy  apiarist  can  well  afford  to 
spare.  In  Queen-rearing  I  have  advised 
not  to  look  for  them,  but  to  insert  a  small 
piece  of  comb  containing  larvae,  and,  if  no 
cells  are  started,  you  can  decide  the  queen  is 
there,  without  looking.  This  piece  of  lar- 
vae answers  a  threefold  purpose.  It  tells  at 
a  glance  whether  the  queen  is  in  the  hive 
all  right  or  not;  for  the  very  moment  she  is 
lost,  they  will  start  more  queen-cells  on  it ; 
it  enables  the  bees  to  start  another  queen, 
in  case  the  queen  is  lost  by  any  accident  in 
her  wedding-flight,  which  is  frequently  the 
case;  and,  lastly,  it  serves  as  a  sort  of  nucleus 
to  hold  the  bees  together,  and  to  keep  them 
from  going  out  with  the  queen  on  her  wed- 
ding-trip, which  they  are  much  disposed 
to  do,  if  in  a  small  nucleus  containing  no 
brood.  Unsealed  brood  in  a  hive  is  a  great  | 
safeguard  against  accidents  of  all  sorts,  and 
I  have  often  started  a  young  queen  to  lay- 
ing by  simply  giving  the  bees  some  eggs 
and  unsealed  brood.  Whether  it  caused  her 
to  rouse  up  and  take  her  wedding-flight,  or  \ 


whether  she  had  taken  it,  but  was  for  some 
reason  idle,  I  can  not  say;  but  this  I  know, 
that  young  queens  that  do  not  lay  at  two 
weeks  of  age  will  often  commence,  when 
eggs  and  larvae  are  given  to  their  colonies. 
It  may  be  that  the  sight  of  eggs  and  larvae 
suggests  to  them  the  next  step  in  affairs,  or 
it  may  induce  the  workers  to  feed  them,  as 
they  do  a  laying  queen,  an  unusual  quantity 
of  food. 

AGE  AT  WHICH  VIRGIN  QUEENS  TAIiE  THEIR 
WEDDING-FLIGHT. 

Our  books  seem  to  disagree  considerably 
on  this  point,  and  I  am  afraid  that  many  of 
the  book-makers  find  it  easier  to  copy  from 
the  sayings  of  others  than  to  make  practi- 
cal experiments.  It  has  been  variously  stat- 
ed, at  from  two  to  ten  days  :  some  go  as  fat 
as  to  say  that  the  queen  goes  out  to  meet  the 
drones  the  day  after  leaving  the  cell.  It  is 
quite  likely  that  some  difference  arises  from 
the  fact  that  queens  often  stay  in  the  cell  a 
day  or  two  after  they  are  strong  enough  to 
walk  about.*  Some'times  a  queen  will  be 
found  walking  about  the  combs  when  she  is 
so  young  as  to  be  almost  white ;  I  have  oft- 
en seen  beginners  rejoice  at  their  beautiful 
yellow  queens,  saying  that  they  were  yellow 
all  over,  without  a  bit  of  black  on  them;  but 
when  looked  at  again,  they  would  be  found 
to  be  as  dark  as  the  generality  of  queens. 
At  other  times  when  they  come  out  of  the 
cell  they  will  look,  both  in  color  and  size, 
as  if  they  might  be  three  or  four  days  old. 
The  queens  in  our  apiary  generally  begin  to 
crawl  about  the  entrance  of  the  hive,  possi- 
bly looking  out  now  and  then,  when  5  or  6 
days  old.  The  next  day,  supposing  of  course 
we  have  fine  weather,  they  will  generally  go 
out  and  try  their  wings  a  little .  These  flights 
are  usually  taken  in  the  warmest  part  of  the 
afternoon.  I  know  of  no  prettier  or  more 
interesting  sight  to  the  apiarist  than  the 
first  flight  of  a  queen.  Perhaps  a  few  hours 
before  he  had  looked  at  her,  and  been  dis- 
appointed at  her  small  and  insignificant  ap- 
pearance ;  but  now,  as  she  ventures  out  cau- 
tiously on  the  alighting  -  board,  with  her 
wings  slightly  raised,  her  tapering  body 
elongated  and  amazingly  increased  in  size, 
he  looks  in  wonder,  scarcely  believing  she 
can  be  the  same  insect.  She  runs  this  way 
and  that,  something  as  does  a  young  bee, 
only  apparently  much  more  excited  at  the 
prospect  of  soaring  aloft  in  the  soft  summer 
air.  Finally  she  tremblingly  spreads  those 
long  silky  wings,  and  with  a  graceful  move- 

*  Recent  reports  state  that  queens  were  confined 
in  cells  4  or  5  days  after  they  should  have  hatched. 


QUEE^^S. 


270 


QUEEKS. 


ment  that  I  can  not  remember  to  have  seen 
equaled  anywhere  in  the  whole  scope  of  an- 
hnated  nature,  she  swings  from  her  feet, 
while  her  long  body  sways  pendulously  as 
she  hovers  about  the  entrance  of  the  hive. 

A  worker-bee  hovers  about  the  entrance 
and  carefully  takes  its  points  when  it  tries 
its  wings  for  the  first  time ;  but  she,  seem- 
ing to  feel  instinctively  that  she  is  of  more 
value  to  the  colony  than  many,  many  work- 
ers, with  the  most  scrupulous  exactness 
notes  every  mi'iute  point  and  feature  of  the 
exterior  of  her  abode,  often  alighting  and 
taking  wing  again  and  again,  to  make  sure 
she  knows  all  about  it.  I  remember  that, 
when  I  saw  one  for  the  first  time  go  through 
with  all  these  manoeuvres,  I  became  impa- 
tient of  so  much  manoeuvring,  and  if  I  did 
not  say,  I  felt  like  saying,— 

"There!  there!  young  lady;  you  certaiidy 
know  where  you  live  now;  do  you  snp])Ose  a 
fellow  can  stay  here  all  the  afternoon,  neg- 
lecting his  business,  just  to  see  you  start  off 
on  your  first  journey  in  life?" 

By  and  by  she  ventures  to  circle  a  little 
way  from  home,  always  bringing  back  soon, 
but  being  gone  longer  and  longer  each  time. 
She  sometimes  goes  back  into  the  hive  sat- 
isfied, without  going  out  of  sight  at  all ;  but 
in  this  case  she  will  be  sure  to  take  a  longer 
flight  next  day  or  a  half -hour  later  in  the 
same  day.  During  these  seasons  she  seems 
to  be  so  intent  on  the  idea  she  has  in  her  lit- 
tle head  that  she  forgets  all  about  surround- 
ing things,  and,  instead  of  being  frightened 
as  usual  at  your  opening  the  hive,  she  will 
pay  no  attention  to  you;  but  if  you  lift 
up  the  comb  she  is  on  she  will  take  her  flight 
from  that  as  well  as  from  anywhere  else.  I 
have  caught  them  in  my  hand  at  such  times, 
without  their  being  frightened  at  all;  but  as 
soon  as  they  were  allowed  to  go,  they  were 
off  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  After  she 
is  satisfied  that  she  will  know  the  place,  she 
ventures  out  boldly;  and  from  the  fact  of  her 
circling  right  up  in  the  air,  we  have,  until 
lately,  supposed  that  fertilization  took  place 
above  the  ken  of  human  eyesight.  This  has 
been  shown  to  be  a  mistake. 

After  a  successful  flight,  she  returns  with 
the  organs  of  the  drone  remaining  attached 
to  her  body.  See  Drones.  This  is  a  white 
substance,  and  is  frequently  so  large  as  to 
be  plainly  seen  while  she  is  on  the  wing.  I 
should  think  a  queen  is  usually  gone  half  an 
hour,  but  I  have  seen  them  retm^n  fertilized 
after  an  absence  of  not  more  than  10  or  15 
minutes.  This  accomplished,  she  goes  qui- 
etly into  the  hive.   The  bees  are  much  in- 


clined to  chase  after  her,  and  they  some- 
times pull  at  the  protruding  substance  as  if 
they  would  drag  it  away,  but  I  am  inclined 
to  think  it  is  eventually  absorbed  into  the 
body  of  the  queen.  In  looking  at  her  the 
day  after,  all  the  trace  of  it  you  will  observe 
will  be  possibly  a  shriveled  thread.  In  one 
day  more  you  will,  as  a  general  rule,  find 
her  depositing  eggs.  I  presume  the  average 
age  at  which  our  queens  are  laying  is  about 
9  days ;  we  generally  wait  10  days  from  the 
date  of  hatching,  and  are  then  pretty  sure 
of  finding  them  ready  to  send  off. .  Between 
the  fertilization  and  the  time  the  first  egg  is 
laid  a  remarkable  change  takes  place.  Aft- 
er the  queen  has  been  out  and  fertilized, 
her  appearance  is  much  the  same  as  before. 
She  runs  and  hides  when  the  hive  is  opened, 
and  looks  so  small  and  insignificant, 
one  would  not  think  of  calling  her  a  fer- 
tile queen .  A  few  hours  before  the  first  egg 
is  laid,  however,  her  body  increases  remark- 
ably in  size,  and,  if  an  Italian,  becomes 
lighter  in  color,  and,  instead  of  running 
about  as  before,  she  walks  slowly  and  se- 
dately, and  seems  to  have  given  up  all  her 
youthful  freaks,  and  come  down  to  the  so- 
ber business  of  life,  in  supplying  the  cells 
with  eggs. 

HOW  OLD  A  QUEEN  MAY  BE  AND  STILT.  BE- 
COME FERTILIZED. 

As  I  have  said  before,  our  queens  usually 
begin  to  lay  when  8  or  10  days  old,  on  the 
average ;  but  during  a  dearth  of  pasturage, 
or  when  drones  are  scarce,  they  may  fail  to 
lay  until  three  weeks  old.  The  longest 
period  I  have  ever  known  to  elapse  between 
the  birth  of  a  queen  and  laying,  when  she 
produced  worker-eggs,  was  25  days.  I  think 
I  would  destroy  all  queens  that  do  not  lay  at 
the  age  of  20  days,  if  the  season,  flow  of  hon- 
ey, flight  of  drones,  etc.,  is  all  right.  There 
is  one  important  exception  to  this.  Many 
times  queens  will  not  lay  in  the  fall  at  all, 
unless  a  flow  of  honey  is  produced  either  by 
natural  or  artificial  means.  Queens  intro- 
duced in  the  fall  will  often  not  lay  at  all 
until  the  ensuing  spring,  unless  the  colony 
is  fed  regularly  every  day  for  a  week  or  ten 
days.  Also  young  queens  that  are  fertilized 
late  in  the  season  will  often  show  no  in- 
dications of  being  fertilized  until  the  col- 
ony is  fed  as  I  have  indicated.  A  lot  of 
young  queens  that  I  thought  might  be  fer- 
I  till  zed  but  did  not  lay,  I  once  wintered  over, 
I  just  to  try  the  experiment ;  and  although 
j  they  went  into  winter  quarters  looking  very 
j  small,  like  virgin  queens,  they  nearly  all 
I  proved  fine  layers  in  the  spring. 


QUEENS. 


271 


QUEEXS. 


DROJsE-LAYIXG  QrEEXS. 

If  a  queen  is  not  fertilized  in  two  weeks 
from  the  time  she  is  hatched,  she  will  often 
commence  lajTiig  without  being  fertilized  at 
all.  She  is  then  what  we  call  a  di'one-laying 
queen.  Usually  her  eggs  are  not  deposited 
in  the  regular  order  of  a  fertile  queen, 
neither  are  there  as  many  of  them ;  but  by 
these  marks  we  are  able  only  to  guess  that 
she  may  not  be  all  right,  and  so  keep  her 
until  some  of  the  brood  is  capped,  when  the 
extra  height  of  the  cappings.  as  I  have  ex- 
plained under  Deoxes.  will  tell  the  story. 
At  times,  however,  the  eggs  are  deposited 
so  regularly  that  we  are  deceiA"ed.  and  the 
queen  may  be  sold  for  a  fertile  queen,  when 
she  is  only  a  worthless  drone-layer :  but  we 
always  discover  it  after  the  brood  is  capped, 
and  send  our  customer  another  queen.  Such 
a  case  occurs.  i>erhaps.  once  in  a  thousand. 
Whether  these  drone-layers  are  just  as  good 
to  furnish  supplies  of  drones  for  the  apiary 
as  the  drones  reared  fi'om  a  fertile  queen,  is 
a  point.  I  believe,  not  fully  decided :  but  if 
you  care  for  my  opinion.  I  should  say  if  the 
queen  lays  the  eggs  in  di-one  comb,  and  the 
drones  are  large,  fine,  and  healthy.  I  believe 
them  to  be  just  as  good.  I  should  not  want 
to  use  drones  reared  from  fertile  workers,  or 
drones  reared  in  worker-cells,  as  those  from 
drone-laying  queens  sometimes  are. 

SHALL  TTE  CLIP  QUEEXS'  WIXGS  ? 

The  majority  of  honey-producers  practice 
what  is  known  as  clipping  :  that  is.  two 
wings  on  one  side  are  cropped  off.  leaving 
merely  the  stumps  of  what  were  once  wings. 
The  object,  of  com'se.  is  to  prevent  swarms 
from  going  o-ff  by  making  it  impossible  for 
the  queen  to  follow. 

As  soon  as  a  swarm  issues  it  will,  of 
course,  cu'cle  about  in  the  air  for  a  few 
minutes,  when,  discovering  the  absence  of 
the  queen,  it  will  return  to  the  old  hive, 
where  it  ^ill  find  her,  probably,  hopping 
about  near  the  entrance.  If  the  apiarist 
happens  to  be  on  hand  he  changes  hives 
while  the  bees  are  in  the  air.  and  when  they 
return  they  enter  their  new  quarters  with 
the  queen.  See  Swaemixg.  If  he  is  not 
present,  or  any  one  else  to  take  care  of 
them,  no  harm  is  done,  for  the  bees  with 
the  queen  simply  go  back. 

If  one  does  not  practice  clipping  he  is  quite 
sure  to  be  bothered  with  swarms  clus:er!ng 
in  diflicult  and  inacc*  ssible  places,  swarms 
going  ofE.  to  saym  thini  of  the  general  an- 
noyance to  neighbors  and  to  himself  in  re- 
covering and  finally  bringing  back  his  ab- 
sconders. 


Some,  instead  of  clipping,  prefer  to  use  en- 
trance-guards or  Alley  traps  see  Droxes  . 
They  prevent  all  possibility  of  any  valuable 
q  ieeus  getting  lest  in  the  grass,  and  save 
the  marring  of  her  symmetrical  appearance. 
But  out>ide  of  any  sentimental  reason,  if  we 
may  call  it  such,  the  use  of  entrance-guards 
often  saves  an  hoiu'  or  two  of  hunting  for 
the  queen  for  the  purp  se  of  clipping),  es- 
pecially if  the  bef-  are  black  or  hybrid,  or 
the  colony  is  very  populous.  It  takes  but  a 
moment  to  put  on  the  entrance-guards,  and 
it  may.  perhaps,  on  an  average  take  five  or 
ten  minutes  to  find  a  queen  and  clip  her 
wings,  taking  colonies  as  they  run. 

But  entrance-guards  are  objected  to  be- 
cause they  obstruct  more  or  less  the  passage 
of  the  bees  to  and  from  the  hive  :  and  this, 
in  the  height  of  the  season,  it  is  argued,  cuts 
down  s?mewhat  the  actual  amoimt  of  honey 
seciu'ed.  I  hardly  think  there  is  much  in 
this  :  and  still  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  it 
may  possibly  make  an  appreciable  difference. 

There  are  very  few  who  believe  or  profess 
to  believe  that  clipping  is  injurious  to  the 
queen.  The  fact  that  queens  after  being 
clipped  seem  to  do  good  serrice  for  two  or 
three  years,  and  sometimes  four,  and  the 
further  fact  that  such  queens  do  as  well  as 
those  not  clipped,  would  seem  to  show  that 
no  detrimental  results  follow. 

HOW  TO  CLIP  QCEEXS"  WIXGS. 

There  are  several  ways  of  accomplishing 
this.  One  way  is  to  grasp  the  queen  by  the 
wings  with  the  right  hand,  in  the  usual 
manner.  Xow.  with  the  thumb  and  fore- 
finger of  the  left  hand,  take  hold  of  her 
waist,  or  thorax.  In  this  way  she  can  be 
held  very  secin:ely  and  safely,  leaving  her 
legs  as  well  as  her  wings  free.  TTith  a  pair 
of  slender-pointed  embroidery  scissors  for 
any  kind  of  scissors  if  these  are  not  obtain- 
able'  clip  olf  the  two  icings  on  one  side,  leav- 
ing anywhere  from  i  to  of  an  inch,  and 
being  careful  not  to  cut  too  close.  This  ac- 
complished, drop  her  gently  between  two 
frames  of  brood;  but  in  no  case  let  her  fall 
more  than  an  inch ;  for  a  queen  during  the 
height  of  the  egg-laying  seasjn  is  liable  to 
be  injured  if  handled  roughly. 

S  jmetimes  in  an  out-yard,  when  a  pair  of 
scissors  is  not  to  be  had.  I  use  the  sharp 
blade  of  a  penknife.  This  is  passed  under 
tlie  two  wings  in  such  a  way  as  to  cause 
them  to  bear  directly  upon  the  edge  of  the 
blade.  The  thumb  is  now  pressed  down 
upon  the  wings  over  the  blade,  and  then 
drawn  back  and  forth  seesaw  fashion,  per- 
haps two  or  three  times.   If  the  knife  is 


QUEENS. 


272 


QUEERS. 


sharp,  the  wings  will  be  severed  with  two  or 
three  strokes.  If  it  is  dull,  the  queen  should 
be  laid  on  her  back,  st.  11  holding  her  between 
the  thumb  and  finger  of  the  left  hand  so  that 
her  wings  will  bear  directly  upon  a  hive-cov- 
er or  any  other  piece  of  board  or  wood.  The 
edge  of  the  knife  should  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  wings.  A  slight  pressure  will  cause 
the  blade  to  pass  through  the  wings  into  the 
cover. 


HOW  TO  CLIP  A  queen's  WINGS  WITH  A 
DULL  POCKET-KNIFE. 

During  these  operations  be  careful  to  han- 
dle queens  only  by  the  wings  or  by  the  thorax.  , 
There  is  no  danger  of  hurting  her  in  the  least 
when  she  is  handled  in  this  way,  providing  : 
you  are  not  too  clumsy.   But  always  be  care- 
ful about  pressing  the  abdomen  of  the  queen.  ' 

There  are  some  beginners  who  perhaps  feel 
some  hesitancy  about  picking  up  any  thing 
so  delicate  as  a  queen-bee  for  fear  they  may 
injure  her  in  some  way.  For  such 
there  has  been  devised  a  little 
instrument   called  the  Monette 
queen- clipping  device.*  It  con- 
sists of  a  sort  of  spiral  cage  made 
of  coiled  wire.   It  is  large  at  the 
bottom  and  small  at  the  top.  This 
is  placed  over  the  queen ;  finding  \ 
herself  confined  she  will  run  toward  the  top.  | 
A  piece  of  tin  is  then  slipped  back  of  her  so  \ 
that  she  is  confined  in  a  space  equal  to  her  I 
own  length  and  diameter.  A  pair  of  scissors  ^ 
passes  between  the  wires  of  the  spirals  at  the  | 
right  point,  and  clips  the  wings.  The  device  | 
is  then  set  back  on  the  comb,  and  the  queen 
is  allowed  to  go  back  to  her  usual  tramping-  ; 
ground  without  so  much  as  the  finger  of  a 
human  being  having  touched  her.    For  fur- 
ther particulars  on  clipping  see  Swarmixo. 

*The  cut  was  loaned  to  us  by  the  publishers  of  the 
Amer2ca?i  Bee  Journal. 


HOW  QUEENS  LAY  TWO  KINDS  OF  EGGS. 

That  they  do  lay  two  kinds  of  eggs  I 
think  few  are  inclined  to  dispute,  since  the 
experiments  with  the  microscope  have  de- 
cided the  matter  so  clearly,  as  given  under 
Drones.  Suppose  a  young  queen  goes  out 
to  meet  the  drones  so  late  in  the  fall  or  so 
early  in  the  spring  that  there  are  none; 
what  is  the  consequence?  Well,  sometimes 
she  will  never  lay  at  all;  but  frequently 
she  commences  to  lay  when  3  or  4  weeks 
old,  and  her  /eggs  produce  only  drones.  In 
fact,  she  can  produce  no  other  eggs,  having 
never  been  fertilized.  How  shall  we  dis- 
tinguish such  queens  from  fertile  ones? 
We  can  not  decide  positively  concerning 
them,  by  any  means  that  I  know  of,  until 
their  brood  is  ready  to  seal  up;  then  we 
will  know  by  the  round,  raised  caps  of  the 
brood,  like  bullets  laid  on  a  board,  as  I 
explained  under  Drones.  We  can  give 
pretty  good  guess,  by  noticing  the  way  in 
which  she  lays  the  eggs ;  if  they  are  few  and 
scattering,  and  sometimes,  or  often,  in 
drone-cells,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  she 
did  not  commence  laying  until  two  weeks 
or  more  old,  we  had  better  not  send  her  off 
as  a  dollar  queen,  until  some  of  her  brood  is 
sealed  over.  A  young  queen,  if  properly 
fertilized,  never,  or  very  rarely,  lays  an  egg 
in  a  drone-cell;  and  when  she  commences  to 
lay,  she  fills  cell  after  cell  in  regular  order, 
as  men  hoe  a  field  of  corn ;  her  work  also 
has  a  neat  and  finished  appearance  that  says 
at  once  to  the  practiced  eye,  "You  are  all 
right." 

Now,  my  friends,  do  not  think  me  contra- 
dictory when  I  tell  you  that  a  young  queen 
in  rare  cases  commences  with  all,  or  nearly 
all,  drone-eggs,  and,  after  awhile,  lays  en- 
tirely worker-eggs  as  regularly  as  one  might 
wish.  I  do  not  know  why  this  is :  perhaps 
she  has  not  yet  got  used  to  the  "machinery." 
Once  more,  you  must  bear  with  me  when  I 
tell  you  that  any  queen,  the  best  one  you 
ever  saw,  is  liable,  at  any  day  of  her  life,  to 
commence,  on  a  sudden,  laying  drone-eggs 
altogether,  or  only  in  part.  I  wish  you  to  re- 
member this,  that  you  may  be  more  charita- 
ble toward  each  other  in  your  dealings.  A 
nice  laying  young  queen,  taken  from  a  hive, 
and  shipped  to  a  distance,  may  prove  to  be  a 
drone -layer  shortly  after,  or  immediately 
after,  she  is  received.  Such  things  are  not 
very  common,  but  they  do  occur.  In  an 
apiary  of  50  or  100  hives  I  should  expect  to 
find  one  drone-layer,  on  an  average,  each 
spring.  During  the  summer,  perhaps  one 
more  will  be  found.   It  may  be  that  the 


QUEENS. 


273 


QUEENS. 


queen  was  not  fertilized  sufficiently,  if  I 
may  use  the  term,  and  that  the  supply  of 
spermatozoa  gave  out  while  she  was  in  full 
vigor,  thus  reducing  her  to  the  condition  of 
a  virgin  queen.  Microscopic  examination 
has  shown  an  entire  absence  of  spermatozoa 
in  at  least  one  or  two  instances,  where 
queens  of  this  kind  were  killed  and  dissect- 
ed. Similar  experiments,  given  by  Lang- 
stroth,  show  that  the  spermatozoa  may  be 
chilled  beyond  recovery,  by  chilling  the 
queen,  and  yet  the  queen  herself  may  be  re- 
suscitated. I  think  it  likely  that  hardship 
and  being  shipped  long  distances  may  pro- 
duce the  same  results.  Do  not  think  I  am 
going  to  excuse  those  who  sell  queens,  and 
let  the  blame  for  unprofitable  queens  slip  off 
their  shoulders ;  on  the  contrary,  I  think 
they  had  better  make  up  their  minds  to  ren- 
der a  full  equivalent  for  all  the  money  they 
receive.  If  a  queen  proves  a  drone-laj^er  be- 
fore the  purchaser  can  receive  any  benefit 
from  her,  I  think  another  should  be  sent. 
Of  course,  I  can  not  give  a  rule  for  settling 
all  such  matters,  but  I  would  most  earnestly 
advise  that  we  all  try  to  do  as  we  would  be 
done  by,  and  be  each  one  ready  to  bear  a  lit- 
tle more  than  our  share  of  such  losses  as 
may  come  up. 

Well,  queens  not  only  turn  suddenly  to 
drone-layers,  but  they  sometimes  produce 
about  an  equal  number  of  each  kind  of  eggs. 
In  all  these  cases,  where  the  queen  lays 
drone-eggs  when  she  evidently  intended  to 
lay  worker-eggs,  they  are  in  worker-cells; 
also  the  number  of  eggs  laid  usually  rapid- 
ly decreases.  The  bees,  as  well  as  queen, 
evidently  be'gin  to  think  that  something  is 
wrong ;  queen-cells  are  soon  started,  and  aft- 
er the  young  queen  is  hatched  she  becomes 
fertile,  and  begins  to  help  her  mother.  All 
hands  evidently  think  that  any  kind  of  a 
queen  is  better  than  no  queen,  hence  a  queen 
is  seldom  dragged  out  of  the  hive,  as  a  work- 
er-bee is,  because  she  is  ailing. 

Very  early  in  the  spring,  or  late  in  the  fall, 
or  at  any  time  when  forage  is  not  abundant, 
a  queen  will  pass  right  by  drone-cells,  tak- 
ing no  notice  of  them.  I  have  often  tried  to 
get  eggs  in  drone-cells  by  feeding,  and  can 
but  conclude  that  the  queen  knows  when  an 
egg  will  produce  a  drone,  and  knows  just 
what  ''wires  to  pulF'  to  have  every  egg  laid 
in  a  drone-cell  produce  a  drone.  I  think  it 
very  likely  the  workers  have  something  to 
do  with  this  matter,  but  I  have  never  been 
able  to  make  out  by  what  means  they  signi- 
fy to  the  queen  that  some  eggs  in  drone-cells, 
or  even  queen  -  cells,  would  be  desirable. 


There  seems  to  be  a  constant  understanding 
in  the  hive  as  to  what  is  going  to  be  done 
next,  and  consequently  there  is  no  clashing. 
I  wish,  my  friends,  the  human  family  could 
understand  each  other  as  well.  In  our  api- 
ary there  seems  to  be,  in  strong  stocks,  a 
kind  of  understanding  that  eggs  shall  be  laid 
in  drone-cells  about  the  last  of  March,  and 
we  have  drones,  therefore,  some  time  in 
April,  ready  for  the  first  queens  that  may, 
by  any  accident,  make  their  appearance. 
Those  who  insist  that  there  is  only  one 
kind  of  eggs  can  satisfy  themselves  easily, 
by  cutting  out  a  piece  of  comb,  eggs  and  all, 
from  either  a  drone  or  worker  cell,  and  set- 
ting it  in  the  bottom  of  a  cell  of  the  other 
kind.  They  will  get  a  drone  in  a  worker- 
cell,  or  a  worker  in  a  drone-cell.  Again :  If 
you  give  a  young  laying  queen  a  hive  sup- 
plied only  with  drone  -  combs,  she  will  rear 
worker  -  brood  in  these  drone  -  cells.  The 
mouth  of  the  cells  will  be  contracted  with 
wax,  as  mentioned  in  HoifEY-co^rB. 

When  they  get  ready  to  swarm  they  build 
shallow  queen-cells,  and  the  queen  then  lays 
a  worker-egg  in  these  queen-cells.  Although 
I  never  saw  her  lay  an  egg  in  a  queen-cell, 
I  am  satisfied  that  she  does  it,  from  the  way 
in  which  it  is  put  in.  Like  the  rest  of  the 
eggs,  it  is  fastened  to  the  center  of  the  bot- 
tom of  the  cell  by  one  of  its  ends,  and  I  sup- 
pose, when  first  deposited,  it  is  covered  with 
a  sort  of  glutinous  matter  that  makes  it  stick 
firmly,  where  it  first  touches.  I  know  that 
bees  have  the  skill  to  remove  both  eggs  and 
larvae,  for  I  have  several  times  kno^^^l  of 
their  taking  eggs  and  brood  to  an  old  dry 
comb,  when  no  queen  was  present  in  the 
hive.  Occasionally  a  queen  is  found  that 
will  never  lay  at  all ;  again,  queens  that  laid 
eggs  which  never  hatched  into  larvae  have 
been  several  times  reported.  We  have  had 
several  such,  and  they  were  in  appearance 
fine  nice-looking  queens. 

After  having  told  you  thus  much  of  the 
faults  and  imperfections  of  queens,  I  would 
add,  for  their  credit,  that  when  once  proper- 
ly installed  in  a  strong  colony  they  are  about 
as  safe  property  as  any  thing  I  know  of,  for, 
in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  they  live  and 
thrive  for  years.  I  have  never  heard  of  any 
disease  among  queens,  and,  while  a  worker 
lives  only  a  few  months,  they  often  live  3  or 
4  years.  One  that  was  imported  from  Italy 
by  Dadant  furnished  us  brood  and  eggs  for 
queen-rearing  for  four  summers.  I  then 
sold  her  for  $2.00,  and  she  died  in  being  sent 
less  than  50  miles.  She  was  very  large  and 
heavy,  and,  probably,  being  so  old  could  not 


QUEENS. 


274 


QUEENS. 


cling  to  the  sides  of  the  cage  like  a  younger 
one. 5-^3  I  have  never  heard  of  queens  being 
troubled  with  any  thing  but  an  Italian  para- 
site, and  these  quickly  disappeared  when 
they  were  introduced  into  our  own  apiaries. 
See  Enemies  of  Bees. 

LOSS  OF  QUEEN. 

It  is  a  very  important  matter  to  be  able  to 
know  at  once  when  a  queen  is  lost.  During 
the  months  of  May  and  June  the  loss  of  a 
queen  from  the  hive  a  single  day  will  make 
quite  a  marked  difference  in  the  honey-crop. 
If  we  assume  the  number  of  eggs  a  queen 
may  lay  in  a  day  to  be  3000,  by  taking  her 
away  a  single  day  we  should,  in  the  course 
of  events,  be  just  that  number  of  bees  short, 
right  during  a  yield  of  honey.  To  put  it 
very  moderately,  a  quart  of  bees  might  be 
taken  out  of  the  hive  by  simply  caging  the 
queen  for  a  single  day.  Beginners  should 
remember  this,  for  their  untimely,  or,  rather, 
inconsiderate  tinkering,  just  before  the  flow 
of  honey  comes,  often  cuts  short  their  in- 
come to  a  very  considerable  degree.  What- 
ever you  do,  be  very  careful  you  do  not  drop 
the  queens  off  the  combs  when  handling 
them  at  this  time  of  the  year,  and  do  not 
needlessly  interrupt  the  queen  in  her  work 
by  changing  the  combs  about  so  as  to  ex- 
pose the  brood  or  upset  their  little  house- 
hold matters  in  the  hive.  With  a  little  prac- 
tice you  will  be  able  to  detect  a  queenless 
hive,  simply  by  the  way  the  bees  behave 
themselves  on  the  outside.  Where  they 
stand  around  on  the  alighting-board  in  a 
listless  sort  of  way,  with  no  bees  going  in 
with  pollen,  when  other  colonies  are  thus  en- 
gaged, it  is  well  to  open  the  hive  and  take  a 
look  at  them.  If  you  find  eggs  and  worker- 
brood,  you  may  be  sure  a  queen  is  there;  but 
if  you  do  not,  proceed  at  once  to  see  if  there 
is  not  a  queen  of  some  kind  in  the  hive,  that 
does  not  lay.  If  you  do  not  find  one,  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  give  them  a  frame  contain- 
ing brood  and  eggs,  and  see  if  they  start 
queen-cells.  You  ought  to  be  able  to  find 
incipient  queen-cells  in  about  12  hours,  if 
the  bees  have  been  some  little  time  queen- 
less.  As  soon  as  you  see  these,  give  them  a 
queen  if  possible.  If  no  queen  is  to  be  had, 
they  may  be  allowed  to  raise  one,  if  the  col- 
ony has  bees  enough.  If  it  has  not,  they  had 
better  be  united  with  some  other  stock. 

ODOR  OF  A  LAYIISTG  QUEEN. 

After  bees  have  been  sometime  queenless, 
they  usually  become,  if  no  fertile  workers 
make  their  appearance  (see  Fertile  Work- 
ers), very  eager  for  the  presence  of  a  queen; 
and  I  can  in  no  way  describe  this  eager  be- 


havior, if  I  may  so  term  it,  so  well  as  to  de- 
scribe another  way  of  testing  a  colony  you 
have  reason  to  suspect  is  queenless.   Take  a 
cage  or  box  containing  a  laying  queen,  and 
hold  either  the  cage,  or  simply  the  cover  of 
it,  over  the  bees,  or  hold  it  in  such  a  w^ay  as 
i  to  let  one  corner  touch  the  frames.   If  queen- 
less, the  first  that  catch  the  scent  of  the  piece 
j  of  wood  on  which  the  queen  has  clustered 
I  will  begin  to  move  their  wings  in  token  of 
i  rejoicing,  and  soon  you  will  have  nearly  the 
whole  swarm  hanging  to  the  cage,  or  cover. 
When  they  behave  in  this  manner  I  have 
never  had  any  trouble  in  letting  the  queen 
right  out  at  once.   Such  cases  are  generally 
[  where  a  colony  is  found  without  brood  in 
i  the  spring. 

There  is  something  very  peculiar  about 
the  scent  of  a  laying  queen.   After  having 
had  a  queen  in  my  fingers,  I  have  had  bees 
;  follow  me  and  gather  about  my  hand,  even 
when  I  had  gone  some  distance  from  the 
I  apiary.   By  this  strange  instinct  they  will 
often  hover  about  the  spot  where  the  queen 
has  alighted  even  for  an  instant,  for  hours, 
■  and,  sometimes,  for  a  day  or  two  afterward, 
j  Where  clipped  queens  get  down  into  the 
:  grass  or  weeds,  or  crawl  sometimes  a  consid- 
erable distance  from  the  hive,  I  have  often 
\  found  them,  by  watching  the  bees  that  were 
crawling  about,  along  the  path  she  had  tak- 
i  en.   When  cages  containing  queens  are  be- 
i  ing  carried  away,  bees  will  often  come  and 
alight  on  the  cage,  making  that  peculiar  shak- 
I  ing  of  the  wings,  which  indicates  their  joy 
at  finding  the  queen. 

queens'  stings. 
'    There  is  something  very  strange  in  the 
fact  that  a  queen  very  rarely  uses  her  sting, 
even  under  the  greatest  provocation  possi- 
ble, unless  it  is  toward  a  rival  queen.  In 
I  fact,  they  may  be  pinched,  or  pulled  limb 
from  limb,  without  even  showing  any  symp- 
'  toms  of  protruding  the  sting  at  all;  but  as 
soon  as  you  put  them  in  a  cage,  or  under  a 
tumbler  with  another  queen,  the  fatal  sting 
is  almost  sure  to  be  used  at  once. 555  There 
I  seems  to  be  a  most  wise  provision  in  this; 
j  for  if  the  queen  used  her  sting  at  every  pro- 
vocation as  does  the  worker,  the  prosperity 
;  of  the  colony  would  be  almost  constantly  en- 
dangered.  It  is  true,  that  instances  are  on 
i  record  where  queens  have  stung  the  fingers 
of  those  handling  them ;  but  these  cases  are 
so  very  rare  it  is  quite  safe  to  say  queens 
never  sting.  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  cases 
mentioned  (although,  of  course,  it  must 
be  only  a  surmise)  were  with  queens  that 
were  not  fully  developed ;  for  I  have  often 


QUEENS. 


275 


QUEENS. 


seen  the  dark  half-queen  and  half-worker, 
mentioned  some  time  back,  show  its 
sting  when  handled  as  we  usually  handle 
queens.  It  is  said  that  a  queen  has  been 
known  to  lay  eggs  after  having  lost  her 
sting;  but  as  they  never  lose  their  stings,  so 
far  as  I  know,  at  least,  when  they  sting  rival 
queens,  we  must  consider  this  as  a  very  un- 
usual occurrence.  When^ou  wish  to  pick 
queens  from  a  comb,  you  can-do  it  with  just 
as  much  assurance  of  safety  as  if  you  were 
picking  up  a  drone.  It  is  true,  the  queen 
often  bites  with  her  powerful  mandibles, 
and  she  does  this  so  viciously  that  a  novice 
might  be  almost  excusable  for  letting  her 
get  away  in  affright. 


CAUTIOjST  m  REGARD  TO  DECIDHsTG  A  STOCK 
TO  BE  QUEENLESS. 

As  a  rule,  we  may  say  that  absence  of 
brood  or  eggs  is  a  pretty  sure  indication  of 
queenlessness ;  but  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  all  hives,  as  a  rule,  are  without 
eggs  and  brood  in  the  fall  and  early  winter 
months,  or,  in  fact,  at  any  time  when  there 
is  a  considerable  dearth  of  pasturage.  At 
such  seasons,  beginners  are  more  apt  to 
think  their  hives  are  queenless,  because  the 
queens  are  much  smaller  than  when  they  are 
laying  profusely.  In  weak  colonies  queens 
often  cease  laying  diuing  the  whole  of  the 
I  winter  months.   See  Introducing. 


R. 


RA7Zi  [Brassica).  This  plant  is  a  near 
relative  of  the  turnip,  cabbage,  mustard,  etc. 
All  of  them  yield  honey  largely,  where 
grown  in  sufficient  quantities.  As  rape  is 
the  only  one  of  which  the  seed  is  utilized  for 
purposes  other  than  for  increase,  it  should 
play  a  prominent  part  on  the  honey  -  farm. 
It  would  seem,  in  fact,  that  it  is  almost  the 
only  plant  that  should  stand  beside  Buck- 
wheat, or  rather,  perhaps,  above  it,  for  the 
honey  from  the  rape  is  very  much  superior 
to  buckwheat  honey.  The  great  drawback 
is  the  lack  of  hardiness  of  the  young  plants, 
when  they  first  come  up.  In  our  locality 
the  black  flea  is  almost  sure  to  eat  the  ten- 
der green  leaves  when  they  first  make  their 
appearance.  Our  neighbors  have  several 
times  tried  considerable  fields  of  it ;  but 
though  it  would  come  up  nicely,  this  flea 
would  take  off  almost  every  plant.  In  other 
localities  we  have  had  reports  of  bountiful 
crops  of  seed,  and  honey  enough  so  that  the 
bees  worked  beautifully  in  the  surplus  re- 
ceptacles. Like  buckwheat,  it  commences 
to  blossom  when  quite  small,  and  continues 
in  bloom  mitil  the  plant  has  gained  its  full 
height.  As  it  will  bloom  in  20  days  after 
sowing,  it  may  be  sown  almost  any  time 
in  the  summer ;  and  it  is  said  to  escape  the 
ravages  of  the  flea  best  when  sown  late. 
We  have  had  it  yield  honey  finely  when 
sown  the  first  of  August.  The  ground 
should  be  very  finely  pulverized,  for  the 
seeds  are  very  small.  It  is  sown  broadcast, 
three  pounds  of  seed  to  the  acre.  There  is  a 
steady  and  good  demand  for  the  seed,  for 
feeding  canary  birds,  as  well  as  for  the  man- 
ufacture of  oil.  Bee-keepers  should  contrive 
to  induce  seedsmen  to  have  all  these  seeds 
raised  near  them,  or  on  their  own  grounds. 
Dealers  in  bird-seed  should  also  be  furnished 
in  the  same  way,  for  these  things  are  often 
raised  in  large  quantities,  where  there  are 
few,  if  any,  bees  to  gather  the  honey. 
From  what  I  have  said  on  Polleist,  you 
will  understand  that  both  parties  would  be 
benefited  by  the  arrangement. 


HASFBISRRV.  Where  this  fruit  is 
raised  largely  for  the  market  it  is  quite  an 
important  honey-plant ;  but  it  would  hardly 
be  advisable  to  think  or  raising  it  for  honey 
alone.  The  bees  work  on  it  closely  in  our 
locality,  and  its  quality  is  of  the  very  finest. 
If  bee-keepers  and  growers  of  small  fruits 
could  locate  near  each  other  it  would  proba- 
bly be  a  benefit  to  both.  Langstroth  says  of 
the  raspberry  honey  :  "In  flavor  it  is  supe- 
rior to  that  from  white  clover,  while  its  deli- 
cate comb  almost  melts  in  the  mouth. 
When  it  is  in  blossom,  bees  hold  even  white 
clover  in  light  esteem. Its  drooping  blos- 
soms protect  the  honey  from  moisture,  and 
they  work  upon  it  when  the  M'eather  is  so 
wet  they  can  obtain  nothing  from  the  up- 
right blossoms  of  the  white  clover." 

In  our  locality  it  comes  in  bloom  just  aft- 
er fruit  blossoms,  and  just  before  clover,  so 
that  large  fields  of  it  are  a  great  acquisition 
indeed.  The  red  varieties  (especially  the 
Cuthbert)  are  said  to  furnish  most  honey. 

RECORD -KEEPING  OP  HIVES.  Al- 
most every  apiarist  has  a  plan  of  his  own, 
whereby  he  can  record  the  condition  of  the 
hive  at  the  time  of  the  examination,  so  that, 
in  future,  without  depending  on  memory,  he 
may  tell  at  a  glance  what  its  condition  was 
when  last  examined.  There  are  several 
good  systems,  but  I  will  describe  only  two 
or  three  of  the  best. 

Many  of  the  large  honey-producers.  Dr. 
Miller  among  them,  have  what  they  call  a 
"record-book."  This  book  has  a  page  for 
each  colony,  the  number  of  the  page  cor- 
responding with  the  number  of  the  colony. 
The  book  should  be  small  and  compact, 
just  about  right  to  carry  in  the  hip-pocket, 
and  securely  bound.  It  should  always  be 
carried  when  at  work  among  the  bees.  On 
each  page  is  supposed  to  be  a  record  of  each 
colony's  doings  within  a  year — when  it  be- 
came queenless,  when  it  had  cells  or  brood, 
when  it  swarmed,  and,  toward  winter, 
strength  and  quantity  of  stores  it  had  when 


KECORD-KEEPmG  OF  HIVES.  277 


EECORD-KEEPING  OF  HIYES. 


last  examined.  The  page  may  contain  a 
very  few  memoranda,  but  nothing  else 
should  be  put  on  that  page. 

There  is  an  advantage  in  the  book  meth- 
od—that is,  the  book  can  be  consulted  in  the 
house,  and  the  work  can  be  mapped  out  be- 
forehand for  the  day.  If  the  record  book  be 
for  an  out-apiary,  the  work  can  be  planned 
while  riding  to  the  yard  ;  and  upon  arrival, 
the  plans  formulated  can  be  executed.  We 
will  know  in  advance  just  where  we  are 
going  to  get  cells  to  give  to  queenless  colo- 
nies; just  what  colonies  mil  be  likely  to 
have  laying  queens ;  what  ones  may  cast 
swarms,  and  what  ones  will  be  likely  to 
need  more  room  in  the  way  of  sections  or 
surplus  combs.  There  is  an  objection  to 
the  record-book,  however.  It  is  liable  to  be 
lost,  or  to  be  left  out  in  the  rain  ;  for  if  the 
book  is  lost,  the  whole  knowledge  of  the 
apiary,  except  so  far  as  the  apiarist  can  re- 
member, is  gone.  Another  thing,  only  one 
can  use  the  book  at  a  time.  If  there  are  two 
in  the  yard  this  will  sometimes  be  quite  an 
inconvenience. 

KECORD  -  KJEEPIXG  WITH  SLATE  TABLETS. 

The  plan  Ave  prefer  is  to  attach  the  record 
right  on  the  hive  itself,  or,  what  is  better,  to 
a  slate*  belonging  to  the  hive.  These  are 
made  expressly  for  the  purpose,  and  cost 
only  $1.25  per  100,  and  they  are  large  enough, 
if  the  records  are  abbreviated,  to  give  the 
history  of  the  colony  for  a  year.  Still  fur- 
ther,  the  position  that  these  slates  occupy 
on  the  cover  or  on  the  side  of  the  hive  indi- 
cates at  a  distance  the  general  condition  of 
the  colony,  without  so  much  as  even  reading 
the  record  on  the  slate.  These  slates  are  2f 
by  If  inches,  and  they  have  a  hole  punched 
near  one  end,  so  as  to  admit  of  their  being 
hung  on  the  side  of  the  hive.   The  accom- 


out  a  little  too  easily  by  the  rain,  so  we  pre- 
fer, as  a  general  thing,  a  lead-pencil,  which 
does  not  erase,  except  when  the  slate  is  rub- 
bed with  moistened 


fingers.  By  tilting 
it  a  little  to  the 
light,  the  marks 
show  quite  plainly. 

  In  the  slate  above  I 

have  given  an  example  of  the  records  we  put 
on.  Perhaps  it  may  not  appear  very  intelli- 
gible to  the  reader.  Cell  6/19  means  that,  on 
the  19th  of  June,  a  cell  from  a  best  imported 
was  given.  "  Ht  22 means  that  the  queen 
hatched  on  the  22d  of  that  month.  .July  2d 
she  was  laying,  and  August  loth  she  was 
found  to  be  a  pure  tested  Italian  queen. 
A  large  9  inscribed  over  the  whole  will  be 
noticed.  This  means  that,  on  the  9th  of  Sep- 
tember, the  queen 
was  sold.  The  ac- 
companying cut  il- 
lustrates still  anoth- 
er record,  which,  in- 
terpreted, signifies 
that,  on  the  18th  of 
Jime,  a  best  imported  queen  was  caged.  On 
the  20th  she  was  out  and  laying  ;  and  on  the 
10th  of  the  following  month  she  was  sold. 

Every  apiarist  can  formulate  a  system  of 
short  longhand  that  will  be  intelligible  to 
himself  and  workmen.  It  takes  too  much 
time  to  m'ite  the  whole  history  of  the  affair, 
so  it  is  better  to  use  a  system  of  abbrevia- 
tions ;  and,  besides,  it  saves  room. 

In  order  to  economize  time  in  running  up 
to  a  slate  to  see  what  it  says,  it  is  desirable 
to  indicate,  so  far  as  possible,  the  last  record 
on  the  slate  by  its  position  on  the  cover. 

The  accompanying  diagram  shows  a  few 
of  the  positions  that  may  be  used  ;  and  this 


1 

1 

1     1^  li 

1 

1  _ 

.  1  . 

■ 

1  ■ 

r,      1      T       1      .       1  , 

1 
1 
i 

POSITION  OF  SLATE  TO  mDICATE  THE  CONDlTIOlsr  OF  THE  COLONY. 

1.  Queenless;  2.  Cell;  3.  Hatched  virgin;  4.  Laying  queen;  5.  Tested  queen;  6.  Caged  queen  to  be  introduced;  7.  Caged  queen 
out;  8.  Something  wrong;  9.  Hive  needs  supers  and  more  room :  10.  No  slate— hive  with  empty  combs,  ready  for  a  swarm. 


panying  cut  shows  one  of  these  little  slates. 
For  writing  the  records,  a  slate-pencil,  a 
common  lead-pencil,  or  a  red  lead-pencil, 
may  be  used.   The  slate-pencil  marks  wash 


*  A  g-ood  many  use,  instead  of  a  slate,  pieces  of  sec- 
tions, which  are  about  the  size.  A  tack  pierces  the 
strip  into  tlie  hive-cover  to  l^eep  it  from  blowing- 
away.  This  can  be  u.sed  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
slate  ;  moreover,  they  are  cheap  (every  bee-keeper 
has  hundreds  of  them),  and  are  easy  to  wiite  on. 


number  may  be  extended  indefinitely  by 
putting  the  slate  cornerwise,  endwise,  etc., 
in  the  different  positions  shown.  But  it  is 
desirable  not  to  have  too  many,  or  else  you 
or  your  help  will  be  confused. 

The  code  above  is  one  we  use  in  our  apia- 
ry, and  it  is  one  that  can  be  used  in  most 
yards.  To  make  it  really  valuable,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  memorize  the  meaning  of 


RECORD-KEEPING  OF  HIVES.      278       RECORD-KEEPING  OF  HIYES. 


each  position.  In  the  diagram  given,  10 
positions  are  shown ;  and  these  have  been 
proved  by  actual  practice  to  answer  our  re- 
quirements. To  aid  the  memory  we  will  | 
make  use  of  a  simple  analogy.  We  have  ' 
heard  about  cross-grained  people— people 
who  are  always  out  of  sorts,  and  with  whom 
something  is  always  wrong.  For  conven- 
ience we  will  call  a  colony  not  in  its  normal 
condition,  "cross-grained."  A  colony  that 
is  queenless  is  apt  to  be  crosser  than  one 
having  a  queen.  Such  a  colony,  as  a  rule, 
never  does  as  well  as  one  that  has  a  queen,  i 
It  is  true,  also,  to  a  lesser  extent,  that  a  col-  ; 
ony  having  a  virgin  queen  is  not  doing  as  | 
well  as  one  having  one  that  is  laying.  Well,  ; 
now  we  start  with  No.  1,  in  the  diagram  as 
above.  The  slate  is  put  across  the  grain,  in 
the  center  of  the  hive.  This  means  that  it 
is  queenless.  No.  2,  the  slate  is  still  across 
the  grain,  but  near  the  edge  of  the  hive  ;  but 
this  one  has  a  cell.  No.  3,  the  cell  is  hatch- 
ed, and  has  a  virgin  queen  ;  but  as  the  colo- 
ny has  not  yet  reached  its  normal  condition, 
the  slate  is  still  laid  across  the  grain  at  the 
end  of  the  cover.  In  eight  or  ten  days,  if  all 
goes  well,  the  virgin  will  be  laying,  and 
then  we  turn  the  slate  parallel  with  the 
grain,  as  shown  at  4.  If  the  virgin  queen 
should  be  lost,  the  slate  is  put  back  as  showai 
in  No.  1— across  the  grain.  But  we  will 
suppose  that  our  queen  is  laying,  and  in  a 
month's  time  she  proves  to  be  tested,  and  an 
Italian.  The  condition  of  the  colony  has 
improved,  as  regards  the  value  of  the  queen, 
so  the  slate  is  moved  to  the  center  of  the 
hive,  parallel  with  the  grain. 

So  far  the  first  five  positions  w.ould  cover 
the  time  of  queen-rearing.  But  suppose  we 
wish  to  introduce  a  queen— how  shall  we  in- 
dicate it  ?  The  colony  with  a  caged  queen 
is  neither  queenless  nor  is  it  possessed  of  a 
queen,  because  they  may  take  a  notion  to 
kill  her  as  soon  as  she  is  released.  To  carry 
out  the  figure,  the  colony  is  about  half  way 
between  the  normal  and  abnormal  condi- 
tion. So  we  turn  the  slate  to  a  diagonal. 
Position  6  means  that  the  colony  has  just 
had  a  queen  caged.  No.  7  means  that,  a 
day  or  two  afterward,  she  was  found  to  be 
out.  A  few  days  later,  if  she  is  laying, 
the  slate  is  put  in  position  4.  But,  suppose 
she  is  missing.  Then  the  slate  is  turned  in 
the  position  of  8.  In  general,  position  8  sig- 
nifies that  there  is  something  radically  wrong 
with  the  colony.  It  may  mean  that  it  has  a 
fertile  worker,  or  that  it  is  very  short  of 
stores,  and  will  require  to  be  fed  at  once. 

We  have  so  far  covered  the  history  of  a 


colony  as  touching  the  rearing  and  intro- 
ducing of  queens.  When  honey  is  coining 
in,  it  is  desirable  to  know  by  the  slates 
which  ones  will  be  likely  to  need  supers 
soon.  In  9,  again,  the  slate  is  parallel  wi  h 
the  cover.  This  means  that  it  is  overflow- 
ing with  bees  and  honey,  and  will  need,  in  a 
day  or  two,  if  not  immediately,  more  room 
in  the  shape  of  sections  or  surplus  combs. 
No.  10,  without  any  slate  on  the  hive,  means 
that  the  hive  in  question  is  empty,  having 
only  frames  of  foundation  or  empty  comb, 
and  is,  therefore,  ready  for  the  reception  of 
a  swarm. 

One  great  feature  of  having  slates  on  the 
top  of  the  hive  to  indicate  its  condition  is 
that,  just  as  soon  as  we  go  out  into  the 
apiary,  we  can  single  out  colonies  that  need 
attention  first ;  and  that,  too,  without  hunt- 
ing for  them.  For  instance,  to-day,  June 
19, 1  noticed  that  the  bees  were  hanging  out 
of  a  large  chaff  hive.  "I  wonder  whether 
they  will  swarm,"  I  thought.  The  hive  was 
perhaps  thirty  yards  from  w^here  I  stood. 
Glancing  at  the  top  of  the  hive,  the  slate 
across  the  grain,  on  the  edge  of  the  cover, 
showed  that  the  colony  had  only  a  queen- 
cell,  and  there  was  not  much  danger  that  it 
w^ould  cast  a  sw^arm  that  day.  By  standing 
upon  one  of  our  hives  I  can  read  the  condi- 
tion of  every  colony  in  our  apiary  of  some 
450  queen-rearing  colonies,  and  that  without 
moving  a  step. 

Some  bee-keepers,  instead  of  using  slate 
tablets,  Write  with  a  lead-pencil  on  the  top 
of  the  cover;  then  as  the  cover  is  to  be 
painted  about  every  two  years,  the  records 
are  obliterated,  and  new  ones  are  started. 

QUEEN-REGISTER  CARDS. 

Another  system  of  record-keeping  that  is 
popular  with  some  is  what  are  called  regis- 
ter-cards.  The  accompanying  plan  shows 


123456789 
10 

31  11 
30  12 
29  O  13 

28  14 

27  15  TESTED 

26  16 

25  24  23  22  21 20 19  18  17    SELECT  Tested 


Queen  l^egistet'. 

EGGS. 

iVo...._  

MISSING.  BROOD. 

O  CELL. 

Hatched. 


MARCH. 
OCT.  APRIL. 
SEPT,    O  MAY. 
AUG.  JUNE. 
JULY. 


LAYING. 


DIRECTIONS.— Tack  the  card  on  a 
conspicuous  part  of  the  hive  or  nu- 
cleus; then,  with  a  pair  of  pliers,  force 
a  common  pin  Into  tlie  center  of  each 
circle,  after  which  it  is  bent  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  head  will  press  se- 
curely on  any  figure  or  word. 


how  they  are  used.  To  indicate  the  date, 
the  pin-points  are  revolved  so  as  to  point  to 


EEYEESmG. 


279 


REYEESmG. 


the  proper  place.  There  is  no  writing,  and 
nothing  to  do  except  to  turn  the  pointers  to 
Ihe  right  place.  This  is  preferred  by  W.  Z. 
Hutchinson  and  others. 

ZUESVERSirrCr.  TWs,  as  the  term  sig- 
nifies, is  the  process  of  inverting,  or  turning 
over,  the  combs :  and  this  may  be  accom- 
plished by  inverting  individually  the  several 
frames  or  the  whole  hive  at  one  operation. 
The  subject  began  to  be  discussed  in  1884  ; 
nnd  for  three  or  four  years  following  there 
was  much  said  on  the  subject.  Reversible 
frames  and  reversible  hives  were  invented 
by  the  dozen.  Some  of  them  were  quite  in- 
genious, and  others  were  clumsy  and  im- 
practical. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  fact  that 
the  bees  store  their  honey  just  immediately 
over  the  brood,  and,  as  a  consequence,  their 
combs  at  this  point  would  be  much  better 
filled  out,  certain  bee-keepers  conceived  the 
idea  of  tm-ning  the  combs  upside  down  at 
certain  intervals.  Why,''  said  they,  ''when 
the  combs  are  reversed,  and  the  bottom-bars 
are  uppermost,  the  combs  will  be  built  clear 
out  to  the  bottom-bars,  and  the  honey  now 
in  the  bottom  of  the  combs  will  be  carried 
up  into  the  supers,  just  where  it  is  wanted." 
This  seemed  to  be  very  nice  in  theory,  and 
in  practice  it  seemed  to  be  partially  carried 
out ;  for  a  good  many  bee-keepers  reported 
that,  when  the  combs  were  reversed,  the 
bees,  rather  than  have  the  honey  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  combs,  near  the  entrance,  and  ac- 
cessible to  robbers,  would  uncap  it  and  take 
it  up  into  the  sections.  But  the  result  was, 
that  often  poor  and  dark  honey  went  up 
above  ;  but  more  often,  I  believe,  the  bees 
allowed  the  honey  to  stay  in  the  bottom  of 
the  hive,  and  the  only  real  advantage  seciu'- 
ed  was  getting  the  combs  filled  clear  up  to 
the  bottom-bars,  then  at  the  top. 

A  very  few  claimed  that  reversing,  when 
done  at  the  proper  time,  would  destroy 
queen-cells,  and  that  destrcying  queen-cells 
would  control  swarming  But  it  did  not 
destroy — at  least  it  never  did  in  our  case.  | 

After  all.  the  real  and  direct  advantage  of  ' 
reversing  is  in  the  matter  of  getting  combs 
filled  out  in  brood -frames  as  solid  as  a 
board.  In  hruiting  queens  it  is  much  easi-  , 
er  to  find  one  when  there  is  no  horizontal 
space  between  the  bottom  of  the  comb  and 
the  bottom-bar,  and  no  holes  through  which 
she  can  hide.  Then,  of  course,  having  combs 
filled  out  solid  gives  a  better  fastening  to  the 
frame  and  increases  the  capacity  of  the  hive, 
just  in  proportion  as  there  is  more  comb  ' 


after  reversing  than  before.  Xearly  every 
frame  that  is  not  reversed  is  liable  to  have  a 
space  of  i  inch  or  | ;  and  this  is  certainly  a 
waste  of  space  that  ought  to  be  utilized  if 
possible.  To  a  certain  extent  this  space  can 
be  filled  in  non-reversing  frames  by  having 
sheets  of  foundation  reach  from  bottom- 
board  to  top-bar,  and  wired  in  with  perpen- 
dicular wires,  but  such  combs  do  not  begin 
to  be  as  well  filled  as  those  reversed. 

There  were  several  good  reversible  frames 
that  were  proposed;  but  I  would  never  think 
of  adopting  any  one  of  them  unless  it  should 
have  some  points  of  merit  outside  of  the  one 
exclusive  feature  of  reversing.  A  reversible 
frame  that  is  not  a  good  one  for  all-aroimd 
use  would  be  very  unprofitable. 

One  of  the  first  practical  reversing  frames 
was  the  YanDeusen,  having  metal  corners 
or  ears.  This  is  essentially  a  standing  frame, 

THE  TAX  DETTSEX  REVERSIBLE  FRA3IE. 

and  can  be  used  just  as  well  one  side  up  as 
the  other.  The  frames  are  spaced  apart  by 
the  spacing-ears,  and  these  very  ears  offer 
some  distinctive  advantages  in  the  way  of 
handling  the  frame.  This  frame  is  used 
very  largely  by  perhaps  the  most  extensive 
bee-keeper  in  the  world,  Capt.  .J.  E.  Hether- 
ington  (see  biographies) ;  also  by  his  brother 
in  Michigan,  and  outside  of  its  reversing 
featirre  it  olfers  one  very  decided  advan- 
tage ;  namely,  the  facility  with  which  it  can 
be  handled,  about  as  the  leaves  of  a  book. 
By  taking  out  one  or  two  frames  the  rest 
can  be  thumbed  over  without  lifting  them 
out  of  the  hive. 


daxzenbaker's  reversible  frame. 


Two  other  very  excellent  reversible  frames 
are  the  Danzenbaker  and  the  Heddon  (see 
Hives),  either  one  of  which  can  be  used  as 


ROBBING. 


280 


ROBBING. 


well  one  side  up  as  the  other ;  in  fact,  any 
closed  end  standing  frame  can  be  used  as  a 
reversible  frame.  Where  one  can  get  the 
advantage  of  reversing  without  its  costing 
any  thing,  it  is  certainly  advisable  to  reverse 
the  frames  at  least  once  in  order  to  get  the 
combs  completely  filled  out. 

B.OBBXSrCr.  Paul  says,  "The  love  of 
money  is  the  root  of  all  evil."  I  should  be 
inclined  to  state  it  in  this  way :  The  disposi- 
tion to  get  money  without  rendering  an 
equivalent  is  the  root  of  all  evil.  Well,  the 
I'oot  of  a  great  many  evils  in  bee-keeping 
is  the  disposition  of  the  bees  to  gain  honey 
without  rendering  any  equivalent.  Some 
one  of  our  ABC  class  has  said  that  he  found 
bees  making  visits  to  over  100  clover-heads 
before  they  obtained  a  load  suflficient  to  car- 
ry to  their  hives.  I  think  it  very  likely,  that 
during  a  great  part  of  the  season  a  bee  will 
be  absent  a  full  hour,  or,  it  may  be,  during 
unfavorable  spells,  as  much  as  two  hom's,  in 
obtaining  a  single  load.  Is  it  at  all  strange 
that  a  bee,  after  having  labored  thus  hard 
during  the  fore  part  of  the  day,  should,  in 
the  afternoon,  take  a  notion  to  see  if  it 
could  not  make  a  living  in  some  easier  way? 
Would  it  be  very  much  worse  than  many 
types  of  humanity?  Well,  as  it  passes 
around  to  other  hives  it  catches  the  per- 
fume of  the  clover  honey  they  have  gathered 
in  a  like  manner,  and,  by  some  sort  of  an  op- 
eration in  its  little  head,  it  figures  out  that, 
if  it  could  abstract  some  of  this,  unper- 
ceived,  and  get  it  safely  into  its  own  hive, 
it  would  be  so  much  the  richer.  I  presume 
it  has  no  sort  of  care  whether  these  other 
folks  die  of  starvation  or  not.  That  is  none 
of  its  concern. 

With  all  of  their  wonderful  instincts,  I 
have  never  been  able  to  gather  that  the  bees 
of  one  hive  ever  have  any  spark  of  solicitude 
as  to  the  welfare  of  their  neighbors.  If,  by 
loss  of  a  queen,  the  population  of  any  hive 
becomes  weak,  and  the  bees  too  old  to  de- 
fend their  stores,  the  very  moment  the  fact 
is  discovered  by  other  colonies  they  rush  in 
and  knock  down  the  sentinels,  with  the  most 
perfect  indifference,  plunder  the  ruined  home 
of  its  last  bit  of  provision,  and  then  rejoice 
in  their  own  home,  it  may  be  but  a  yard 
away,  while  their  defrauded  neighbors  are 
so  weak  from  starvation  as  to  have  fallen  to 
the  bottom  of  the  hives,  being  only  just  able 
to  feebly  attempt  to  crawl  out  at  the  en- 
trance. Had  it  been  some  of  their  own 
flock,  the  case  would  have  been  very  differ- 
ent indeed ;  for  the  first  bee  of  a  starving  col- 
ony will  carry  food  around  to  its  comrades. 


as  soon  as  it  has  imbibed  enough  of  the  food 
furnished  to  have  the  strength  to  stagger  to 
them. 

Well,  suppose  the  bee  mentioned  above,  in 
prowling  around  in  the  afternoon  or  some 
other  time,  should  find  a  colony  so  weak  or 
so  careless  that  it  could  slip  in  unobserved, 
and  get  a  load  from  some  of  the  unsealed 
cells ,  and  get  out  again.  After  it  has  passed 
the  sentinels  outside  it  will  usually  run  but 
little  danger  from  those  inside,  for  they  seem 
to  take  it  for  granted  that  every  bee  inside 
is  one  of  their  number.  There  is  danger, 
though  ;  for  should  it  betray  too  great  haste 
in  repairing  to  the  combs  of  honey  they  will 
often  suspect  something;  so  it  assumes  an 
indifference  it  is  far  from  feeling,  and  loi- 
ters about  very  much  as  if  it  were  at  home, 
and  finally,  with  a  very  well-assumed  air  of 
one  who  thinks  he  will  take  a  lunch,  it  goes 
to  the  cells  and  commences  to  fill  up.  Very 
often,  when  it  gets  pretty  well"  podded  out  " 
with  iis  load,  some  bee  approaches,  appar- 
ently to  see  if  all  is  right.  When  the  robber 
once  gets  its  head  into  a  cell,  however,  it 
seems  to  have  lost  all  sense  or  reason;  and  if 
it  is  discovered  at  this  stage  to  be  a  stranger 
and  a  thief,  it  is  often  pounced  upon  and 
stung  with  very  little  ceremony.  How  do 
they  know  a  stranger  from  one  of  their  own 
number,  where  there  are  so  many?  It  is 
said  they  know  by  the  sense  of  smell ;  this 
may  be  the  principal  means,  perhaps,  but  I 
think  they  depend  greatly  on  the  actions  and 
behavior  of  a  bee,  much  as  we  do  when  judg- 
ing of  the  responsibility  of  a  man  who  asks 
to  be  trusted.  We  can  give  a  very  good  guess, 
simply  by  his  air  or  manner,  or  even  by  the 
sort  of  letter  he  writes.  If  a  robber  is  sus- 
pected, and  a  bee  approaches  for  the  purpose 
of  satisfying  itself,  it  is  a  very  critical  mo- 
ment, and  one  becomes  intensely  interested 
in  watching  the  performance.  The  robber 
will  stand  its  ground,  if  it  is  an  old  hand, 
and  permit  himself  to  be  looked  over  vnth  a 
wonderful  indifference;  but  one  who  has 
watched  such  scenes  closely  will  detect  a 
certain  uneasiness,  and  a  disposition  to  move 
slowly  toward  the  entrance,  that  it  may  be 
the  better  able  to  get  out  quickly,  when  it 
discovers  things  to  be  too  hot  for  it  inside. 
If  the  bee  that  first  suspects  it  concludes 
it  is  an  interloper,  it  begins  to  bite  it, 
and  grab  hold  of  its  wings  to  hold  on  until 
others  can  come  to  help.  The  thief  has  now 
two  chances  to  escape,  and  sometimes  it 
seems  meditating  which  to  adopt ;  one  is.  to 
brave  it  out  until  they  shall  perhaps  let  it 
alone,  and  then  slip  out  unobserved.  The 


ROBBING. 


281 


ROBBIXG. 


other  is.  to  break  away  and  trust  to  its  heels 
and  wings.  The  latter  plan  is  the  one  gen- 
erally adopted,  unless  it  is  a  very  old  and 
hardened  sinner"  in  the  business.  One 
who  has  been  many  times  in  such  scrapes 
will  usually  get  away,  by  the  latter  plan,  by 
an  adroit  series  of  twists,  tiu'ns.  and  tum- 
bles, even  though  three  or  foiu'  bees  have 
hold  of  it  at  once.  Some  of  these  fellows, 
by  a  sudden  and  unexpected  dash,  will  liber- 
ate themselves  in  a  manner  that  is  also  won- 
derful, and  then,  as  if  to  show  their  audaci- 
ty, will  wheel  about  and  come  back  close  to 
the  noses  of  their  retainers  of  a  minute  be- 
fore. 

But  in  case  the  bee  gets  its  load,  and 
makes  its  way  out  unobserved.it  gets  home 
very  quickly,  you  may  be  stu-e.  and.  under 
the  influence  of  this  new  passion  for  easily 
replenishing  its  hive  with  the  coveted 
sweets,  it  rushes  out  with  a  vehemence  nev- 
er known  under  any  other  circiunstances. 
Back  it  goes  and  repeats  the  operation,  with 
several  of  its  comrades  at  its  heels.  Does 
it  tell  them  where  to  go  ?  I  wish  to  digress 
enough  here  to  say  that  I  do  not  believe  in 
a  so-called  language  among  bees,  or  animals 
in  general,  further  than  certain  simple 
sounds  which  they  utter,  and  which  we  may 
learn  to  interpret  almost  if  not  quite  as  well 
as  they  do.  When  a  bee  comes  into  the  hive 
in  such  unusual  haste,  podded  out  with  its 
load  in  a  way  also  rather  unusual  where  it  is 
obtained  from  ordinary  stores,  its  comrades 
at  once  notice  it.  and.  either  from  memory  or 
instinct,  they  are  suddenly  seized  with  the 
same  kind  of  passion  and  excitement.  Those 
who  have  had  experience  at  the  gambling- 
table,  or  in  wild  speculations  of  other  kinds, 
can  understand  the  fierce  and  reckless  spirit 
that  stirs  these  little  fellows.  Patent  hives 
illustrate  the  matter  very  well.  A  man  who 
afterward  became  editor  of  a  bee  -  journal 
once  held  up  before  my  untutored  eyes  a 
right  to  make  a  patent  hive,  saying  : 

"Mr.  Boot,  I  get  So.OO  for  these  rights,  and 
they  do  not  cost  me  more  than  the  paper 
they  are  printed  on— less  than  half  a  cent 
apiece.'- 

The  idea  that  So.OO  bills  could  be  picked 
up  in  that  way.  compared  with  the  slow  way 
I  was  in  the  habit  of  earning  them,  so  im- 
pressed itself  on  my  mind  that  I  could  hard- 
ly sleep  nights ;  but  after  I  had  taken  that 
amoimt  from  several  of  my  friends  and 
neighbors  for  the  "right,"  I  concluded  that 
money  without  a  clear  conscience  is  not  just 
the  thing  after  all.  Can  we  blame  the  poor 
bees  for  being  so  nearly  human?  Well,  the 


bees,  when  they  see  a  comrade  return  in  the 
way  mentioned,  seem  to  know,  without  any 
verbal  explanation,  that  the  plimder  is  stol- 
en. Anxious  to  have  "  a  finger  in  the  pie." 
they  tumble  out  of  the  hive,  and  look  about, 
and  perhaps  listen,  too.  to  find  where  the 
spoil  is  to  be  had.  If  they  have,  at  any  for- 
mer time,  been  robbing  any  particular  hive, 
they  will  repair  at  once  to  that ;  but  if  it  is 
foimd  well  guarded,  those  used  to  the  busi- 
ness ^vill  proceed  to  examine  every  hive  in 
the  apiary. 

IXTELLIC^EXCE   OF   THE  HOXET-BEE. 

One  afternoon  the  door  of  the  honey-house 
was  left  open,  and  the  bees  were  doing  a 

land-oifiee"  business,  before  the  mischief 
was  stopped.  After  closing  the  door  until 
they  had  clustered  on  the  windows  in  the 
room,  it  was  opened,  and  the  process  re- 
peated until  all  were  out ;  but  all  the  rest  of 
the  afternoon  they  were  hovering  about  the 
door.  Toward  night  they  gradually  disap- 
peared: and  when  I  went  down,  about  sun- 
down, to  try  a  new  feeder,  not  a  bee  was  near 
the  door.  I  put  the  feeder  in  fi-ont  of  a  hive 
where  the  bees  were  clustered  out :  and  as 
soon  as  a  few  bees  had  got  a  taste,  and  filled 
themselves,  they  of  course  went  into  the 
hive  to  imload.  I  expected  a  lot  to  come 
out.  as  soon  as  these  entered  with  their  pre- 
cious loads,  but  was  much  astonished  to  see 
an  eager  crowd  come  tumbling  out.  as  if 
they  were  going  to  swarm,  and  still  more 
when  they  rushed  right  past  the  feeder  and 
took  wing  for —  where  do  you  suppose  ?  the 
honey-house  door,  of  coiu^se.  How  shoidd 
they  reason  otherwise,  than  that  it  had  again 
been  left  open,  and  that  was  where  these  in- 
comers had  foimd  their  rich  loads"?  On  find- 
ing it  closed,  back  to  the  hive  they  came,  to 
repeat  themanoeu^Te  over  and  over. 

As  another  evidence  of  the  wonderful  in- 
telligence and  almost  reasoning  power  of 
the  honey-bee.  I  will  make  an  extract  from 
Gleanwgs  in  Bee  Culture.  This  item  was 
I  written  by  A.  I.  Root. 

On  The  12th  of  September  a  shipment  of  honey 
came  in.  and  two  60-pound  cans  had  been  damag-ed  so 
that  the  contents  had  leaked  ovit  and  run  through 
the  floor  of  the  box  car.  The  railroad  company  had 
agreed  to  take  the  car  away  at  half -past  ten:  and  as 
the  weather  was  cool  the  bees  had  not  discovered  it 
at  that  time.  Unfortunately  the  eompaziy  failed  to 
move  the  car  as  agreed,  and  I  knew  nothing  of  it  till 
I  was  apprised  something  was  wrong  by  the  unusual 
number  of  bees  swarming  around  the  windows  and 
doors  of  the  factory.  Then  T  made  a  little  row  in 
the  camp.  We  carrried  a  hose  over  to  the  leaky  car 
and  washed  away  the  honey,  cleaning  it  from  the 
,  gearing,  ironwoi'k,  and  underside  of  the  car  until 


EOBBING. 


282 


ROBBING. 


the  bees  were  pretty  well  satisfied  there  was  nothing 
more  to  get,  althougrh  they  were  hanging  around  in 
great  numbers.  To  prevent  the  bees  from  getting 
the  honey  inside  the  car,  our  boys  covered  the  floor 
pretty  well  with  sawdust.  About  three  o'clock  the 
engine  came  around  and  pulled  the  car  away.  A 
little  after  four,  some  men  who  were  loading  wheat 
informed  us  our  bees  were  making  them  a  great 
deal  of  trouble.  I  at  once  jumped  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  company,  instead  of  taking  the  car  en- 
tirely away,  as  agreed,  had  only  removed  it  to  an- 
other location  in  the  yard,  and  that  the  sticky  car 
was  still  enticing  our  bees.  I  went  over,  saw  the 
sawdust  on  the  floor  on  which  they  were  dumping 
bags  of  wheat,  and  concluded  it  was  the  honey-car; 
but  while  I  was  puzzling  my  head  to  account  for  the 
fact  that  the  ironwork  under  this  car  showed  no 
trace  of  honey  or  water  either,  a  man  called  to  me 
and  pointed  to  another  csiV  in  still  another  location, 
just  swarming  with  bees  around  its  door,  inside  and 
out.  Then  I  "  caught  on."  Do  you  see  the  point, 
friends?  There  was  not  a  pat  tide  of  honey  in  or 
around  either  of  the  two  cars  I  was  looking  at. 
After  the  honey-car  had  been  pulled  clear  out  of 
town,  the  bees,  not  willing  to  give  up,  proceeded  to 
"  leave  no  stone  unlurned,"  and  were  investigating 
every  car  having  an  open  door  that,  in  their  judg- 
ment, might  be  the  one  that  had  been  pulled  away. 
When  they  found  one  with  sawdust  spread  over  the 
floor  thej^  naturally  concluded  that  was  the  car,  and 
got  down  on  their  hands  and  knees  (figuratively) 
searching  in  the  sawdust  for  the  honey.  The  other 
bees,  seeing  them  thus  employed,  naturally  con- 
cluded this  was  the  place.  Others,  having  learned 
that  one  box  car  contained  so  rich  a  find,  concluded 
that  a  search  through  all  the  cars  in  the  yard  might 
possibly  reward  them  for  their  investigation;  and 
it  was  only  in  the  cool  of  the  evening  that  they  were 
willing  to  stop  digging  in  that  sawdust,  and  be  con- 
vinced there  were  no  more  honey-cars  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. 

Now,  friends,  it  may  not  be  true  that  bees  recog- 
nize colors,  but  they  certainly  do  take  in  the  general 
makeup  of  objects.  They  are  not  only  able  to  rec- 
ognize a  hive,  but  they  know  a  box  car  at  sight;  and 
even  if  you  move  it  to  a  different  location  they  take 
in  its  general  appearance  so  that  they  know  pretty 
well  how  to  find  it  in  case  of  removal.  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  prove  that  they  read  the  letters  ' '  Big  Four ' ' 
on  the  side  of  that  car,  nor  that  they  remembered 
there  was  an  enormous  figure  4  printed  in  white  on 
the  red  door  of  the  car  they  wanted;  but  I  tell  you 
they  came  pretty  close  to  it. 

Of  course,  bees  have  particular  notes, se?  as 
of  joy,  sorrow,  anger,  despair,  etc.,  which  are 
produced  by  the  wings,  usually  when  on  the 
wing,  but  I  am  quite  sure  they  are  unable  to 
communicate  to  each  other  more  than  a  sin- 
gle idea.   In  other  words,  they  have  no  fac- 
ulty of  telling  their  fellows  that  a  lot  of  hon- 
ey is  to  be  had  in  a  feeder  at  the  entrance, 
and  that  it  would  better  be  brought  in  quick- 
ly, or  other  bees  may  find  it.   A  bee  goes 
out  in  the  spring,  and,  by  smelling  around  j 
the  buds,  discovers  honey  and  pollen;  when  j 
it  comes  into  the  hive,  the  others  see  it  and  | 
start  out,  and  hunt  it  up  in  a  similar  way.  ' 


For  further  inforuiation  on  this  subject,  see 
Swarming. 

If  you  will  turn  back  and  read  Anger  of 
Bees,  you  will  get  a  very  good  idea  of  the 
causes  that  start  bees  to  robbing.  Read,  al- 
so. Bee-hunting,  Feeding,  etc.  As  a  gen- 
eral thing,  bees  will  never  rob  so  long  as 
plenty  of  honey  is  to  be  had  in  the  fields. 
During  a  bountiful  flow  I  have  tried  in  vain 
to  get  bees  to  take  any  notice  of  honey  left 
around  the  apiary.  At  such  times  we  can 
use  the  extractor  right  in  the  open  air,  close 
to  the  sides  of  the  hives,  if  need  be.  On  one 
occasion  I  remember  leaving  a  comb  of  un- 
sealed honey  on  the  top  of  a  hive,  from  morn- 
ing until  noon,  and  not  a  bee  had  touched 
it.  It  seems  they  preferred  to  go  to  the  clo- 
ver-fields, in  the  regular  way,  rather  than  to 
take  several  pounds  from  the  top  of  a  neigh- 
boring hive.  I  can  readily  suppose  that  they 
did  not  have  to  visit  anything  like  a  hundred 
blossoms  at  this  time,  and  perhaps  they  se- 
cured a  load  in  going  to  not  more  than  a 
half  -  dozen.  Such  a  state  of  alf  airs  is  not 
very  usual  in  our  locality.  We  have  very 
few  days  during  the  season  when  it  would 
be  safe  to  use  the  extractor  for  a  whole  day 
in  the  open  air ;  the  bees  will  generally  learn 
to  follow  the  freshly  uncapped  combs  about, 
and  that  it  is  easier  than  going  to  the  fields. 
The  first  indication  of  robbing  which  you 
will  have,  will  probably  be  the  cool  and 
wicked  way  of  stinging  that  I  have  de- 
scribed in  Anger  of  Bees. 

After  the  season  begins  to  fail,  you  may 
expect  that  every  colony  in  your  apiary  will 
be  tried.  As  a  rule,  any  fair  colony  will 
have  sentinels  posted  to  guard  the  entranT?e, 
as  soon  as  there  is  a  need  of  any  such  pre- 
cautions. The  bee  that  presumes  to  think 
it  may  enter  for  plunder  will  be  led  off  by 
"  the  ear,"  if  I  may  so  express  it,  and  this 
will  be  repeated  until  it  learns  that  there  is 
no  chance  for  speculation  at  that  house.  At 
the  close  of  the  honey  harvest  we  should  be 
sure  that  there  are  no  feeble  hives  that  may 
be  overpowered,  for  one  such  may  start  the 
fashion  of  robbing,  and  make  it  a  much 
harder  matter  to  control  this  propensity. 
An  apiary,  like  a  community,  may  get  so  de- 
moralized that  thieving  becomes  a  univer- 
sal mania.  "A  stitch  in  time  will  save"  a 
great  many  more  than  nine,  in  this  case.  Be 
sure  that  each  colony  has  the  entrance  con- 
tracted, and,  in  fact,  the  space  occupied  by 
the  bees  also,  in  proportion  to  their  num- 
bers. Give  them  only  so  many  combs  as 
they  can  cover,  if  you  wish  them  to  defend 
them  properly  from  either  moths  or  robbers. 


ROBBENG. 


283 


ROBBING. 


Colonies  without  either  queen  or  brood  are 
not  apt  to  fight  for  their  stores  very  vigor- 
ously, so  it  will  be  well  to  see  that  they  have 
either  one  or  both,  should  there  be  an  attack 
made  on  them.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  re- 
peat what  has  been  said  about  Italians  be- 
ing better  to  defend  their  stores  than  the 
common  bees.  A  few  Italians  will  often 
defend  a  hive  better  than  a  whole  swarm  of 
black  bees. 

HOW  TO  KXOW  ROBBER-BEES. 

It  sometimes  puzzles  beginners  exceed- 
ingly to  know  whether  the  bees  that  come 
out  are  robbers,  or  the  ordinary  inmates 
of  the  hive. 

A  robber-bee.  when  it  approaches  a  hive, 
has  a  sly,  guilty  look,  and  flies  with  its  legs 
spread  in  a  rather  unusual  way,  as  if  it 
wanted  to  be  ready  to  use  its  heels  as  well 
as  wings,  if  required.  It  will  move  cau- 
tiously up  to  the  entrance,  and  quickly  dodge 
back,  as  soon  as  it  sees  a  bee  coming  toward 
it.  If  it  is  promptly  grabbed  for  as  soon 
as  it  attempts  to  go  in,  you  need  have  but 
little  fear.  If  a  bee  goes  in  and  you  can  not 
well  tell  whether  it  was  a  robber  or  not.  you 
must  keep  a  close  watch  on  the  bees  that 
come  out.  This  is  a  very  sure  way  of  telling 
when  robbers  have  got  a  start,  even  at  its 
very  commencement.  A  bee,  in  going  to  the 
fields,  comes  out  leisurely,  and  takes  wing 
with  but  little  trouble,  because  it  has  no 
load.  Its  body  is  also  slim,  for  it  has  no 
honey  with  it.  A  bee  that  has  stolen  a 
load  is  generally  very  plump  and  full.  and.  as 
it  comes  out,  it  has  a  hurried  and  "guilty 
look;""  besides.it  is  almost  always  wiping  its 
mouth,  like  a  man  who  has  just  come  out  of 
a  beer- shop.  Most  of  all,  it  finds  it  a  little 
difficult  to  take  wing,  as  bees  ordinarily  do, 
because  of  the  weight.  In  Bee-httn^tixg  I 
related  how  a  bee,  laden  with  thick  imdilut- 
ed  honey,  would  stagger  several  times  under 
its  load  before  it  could  take  wing  for  its 
final  trip  home.  Well,  the  bee,  when  it 
comes  out  of  the  hive  with  the  honey  it  has 
very  likely  just  uncapped,  feels  instinctively 
that  it  will  be  quite  apt  to  tiunble  unless  it 
can  take  wing  from  some  elevated  position, 
and  therefore  it  crawls  up  the  side  of  the 
hive  before  it  launches  out.  When  it  first 
takes  ^ving  it  falls  a  little  by  the  weight  of 
its  load,  before  it  has  its  wings  fully  under 
control,  and  therefore,  instead  of  starting  out 
as  a  bee  ordinarily  does,  it  takes  a  down- 
ward curve,  coming  quite  near  the  ground 
before  it  rises  safely  and  sm'ely.  TVith  a 
little  practice  you  can  tell  a  robber  at  a 
glance  by  its  way  of  coming  out  of  the  hive, 


particularly  by  that  fashion  of  running  up 
the  side  of  the  hive  before  taking  wing,  in 
the  way  I  have  mentioned. 

HOW  TO  TELL  WHERE  THE  ROBBERS  BE- 
LONG. 

If  you  are  a  bee-hunter  you  will  probably 
line  them  to  their  hive  without  anv  trouble ; 
but  if  you  are  not,  you  can  easily  find  from 
which  hive  they  come  by  sprinkling  them 
with  flour  as  they  come  out  of  the  hive  being 
robbed.  Xow  watch  the  other  hives,  and  see 
where  you  find  the  floured  bees  going  in.  I 
can  generally  tell  in  a  very  few  minutes,  by 
the  excited  actions  of  the  robbers,  already 
mentioned. 

HOW  TO  STOP  ROBBING. 

As  to  the  best  mode  of  procedure,  a  good 
deal  will  depend  on  circumstances.  If  the 
bees  in  the  whole  apiary  are  robbing  in  a 
wholesale  way  fi'om  the  honey -house,  or 
from  any  place  where  a  supply  of  honey  or 
syrup  is  kept,  the  obvious  remedy  is  to  shut 
the  door  of  the  dwelling  or  cut  off  the  sup- 
ply. If  the  bees  have  got  into  a  barrel 
through  a  bunghole.  the  chances  are  we 
shall  find,  after  the  head  of  the  barrel  is 
taken  out,  that  there  is  a  peck  or  more  of 
bees  swimming  around  in  the  honey.  If 
robbing  were  very  bad  I  would  drive  the 
bimg  into  the  barrel,  and  then,  after  the  up- 
roar has  quieted  dov^-n,  remove  the  bung 
and  run  the  honey  through  a  strainer  from 
the  bunghole. 

The  bees  shortly  will  stop  robbing  if  all 
sweets  within  their  reach  are  removed,  or  so 
protected  that  they  can  not  get  at  them  ; 
but  even  then  the  apiary  will  be  out  of  bal- 
ance for  the  rest  of  the  day,  and  more  or 
less  for  two  or  three  days  following,  because 
the  bees  will  be  trying  to  find  where  they 
can  find  more  sweets. 

Sometimes  robbing  is  started  by  some  one 
in  the  neighborhood  making  sweet  pickles, 
canning  fruit,  or  doing  any  thing  that  causes 
a  strong  odor  of  sweet  or  sour  during  its 
preparation :  and  the  only  thing  the  bee- 
keeper can  do  is  to  have  the  house  screen- 
ed ;  or  if  the  case  is  very  bad.  and  the  bees 
keep  on  ••sticking  their  noses  into  other 
people's  business,''  I  would  recommend 
smoking  the  entrances  of  all  the  hives  with 
tobacco  smoke.  Half  a  dozen  whiffs  of 
smoke  should  be  blown  into  each  entrance, 
one  after  the  other.  In  half  an  hour  the 
dose  should  be  repeated.  This  will  cause 
the  bees  to  quiet  down  until  such  time  as 
the  canning-work  or  the  pickle-making  is 
over  at  the  house  where  the  bees  are  •'  mak- 
ing themselves  too  familiar."' 


ROBBING. 


284 


ROBBmG. 


Tlie  best  treatment  for  a  general  robbing 
throughout  the  apiary  is  prevention.  The 
screen  doors  and  other  doors  of  the  honey- 
house  should  be  self-closing.  Unless  they 
are,  some  one  will  be  almost  sure  to  forget 
and  leave  one  of  them  open.  If  the  doors 
are  not  self-closing,  then  all  the  honey  that 
is  stored  in  the  building  should  be  put  into 
hives,  shipping-cases,  cans,  or  barrels,  or 
any  receptacle  where  the  bees  can  be  kept 
from  helping  themselves ;  then  if  perchance 
the  door  is  left  open  no  harm  will  be  done. 

ROBBING  or  NUCLEI  OR  WEAK  COLONIES. 

But  there  is  another  kind  of  robbing  that 
is  much  more  common,  and  which  is  apt  to 
perplex  the  beginner  more  than  any  thing 
else,  and  that  is  the  onslaughts  that  are  oft- 
en made  on  weak  colonies  or  those  that  are 
disinclined  to  make  a  defense.  Nuclei  with 
large  entrances  are  especially  subject  to  the 
attacks  of  bees  from  strong  stocks,  and  will 
very  often  be  cleaned  out  entirely  before 
the  apiarist  discovers  the  mischief.  By  that 
time  the  whole  apiary  will  be  in  a  perfect 
uproar :  and  as  soon  as  the  supply  of  honey 
has  been  exhausted  in  the  one  nucleus 
the  robbers  will  hover  around  all  other  en- 
trances, and  if  they  find  one  poorly  defended 
they  will  get  in  more  bad  work  later.  Dur- 
ing a  dearth  of  honey  there  are  always  some 
bees  that  make  a  business  of  smelling  around, 
and  it  is  a  wise  precaution  always  to  have 
the  entrances  of  nuclei  contracted  down  to 
a  width  where  one  or  two  bees  can  pass  at  a 
time.  But  we  will  suppose  that  a  hive  has 
been  overpowered,  and  that  its  own  bees  are 
making  no  defense,  realizing,  probably,  that 
resistance  is  useless.  If  any  thing  is  done 
to  save  the  colony  it  must  be  done  quickly. 
Grab  up  a  handful  of  long  grass,  strew  it 
closely  around  the  entrance,  and  then  spray 
or  sprinkle  a  dipperf  ul  of  water  on  the  grass. 
Scatter  more  grass  over  the  entrance,  and 
spray  again.  The  invaders  will  not,  as  a 
rule,  crawl  through  wet  grass  to  get  into 
the  hive,  while  on  the  other  hand  those  that 
have  already  gotten  into  the  hive  will  get 
out,  and  will  return  to  their  homes.  In  the 
mean  time  the  regular  inmates  of  the  hive, 
as  soon  as  they  are  given  a  little  assistance, 
will  begin  to  set  up  a  defense.  The  grass 
should  be  kept  wet  for  at  least  an  hour  or 
two,  and  possibly  till  sundown  ;  but  before 
strewing  the  grass  on  the  entrance  I  would 
advise  contracting  it  down  so  that  only  one 
or  two  bees  can  pass  at  a  time.  Never  dose 
the  entrance  vp  entirely,  no  matter  how  bad 
the  bees  are  robbing.   If  it  is  a  hot  day  the 


large  number  of  robbers  in  the  hive,  together 
with  the  regular  inmates,  would  be  almost 
sure  to  smother  to  death  ;  but  if  the  en- 
trance is  contracteGl  down  so  that  one  or 
two  bees  can  pass  at  a  time  when  the  hive 
becomes  exceedingly  warm,  the  bees  can 
escape,  and  thus  relieve  the  situation.  If 
it  is  a  very  bad  case  of  robbing,  in  place  of 
clear  water  for  strewing  on  the  grass  use  a 
mixture  of  carbolic  acid  and  water  —  500 
parts  of  water  to  one  of  acid ;  but  as  a  gen- 
eral rule  there  will  not  be  time  to  get  the 
acid,  and  so  clear  water  will  have  to  be  used 
at  once,  and  afterward  use  the  mixture  if  it 
can  be  obtained. 

Another  good  way  to  stop  robbing  is  to 
put  a  bee-tent  or  screen  over  the  hive,  as 

i  described  further  on.  This  should  be  an- 
chored to  the  ground,  and  then  the  robbers, 
as  fast  as  they  come  out  of  the  hive,  will 
escape  into  the  tent.  In  the  mea.n  time  no 
more  can  get  in,  because  the  hive  is  closed 
to  all  outside  bees.  In  half  an  hour  or  so 
the  tent  should  be  lifted  for  a  moment, 
turned  upside  down,  when  the  robbers  will 

I  immediately  fly  for  home. 

But,  better  still,  I  would  recommend 
making  a  hole  in  the  peak  of  the  tent.  If 
there  are  one  or  two  holes  it  will  do  no 
harm.  The  robbers  will  gradually  work  up 
toward  the  peak,  and,  traveling  along,  will 
discover  the  opening  and  return  home  :  but, 
on  the  principle  of  the  bee-escape,  not  one 
of  them  will  think  of  going  back  to  the  hole 
whence  it  came,  but  will  make  a  dive  for 
the  front  of  the  entrance,  which  is  barred 
by  the  mosquito-netting.  In  lieu  of  the  tent 
a  large  piece  of  mosquito-netting  could  be 
thrown  over  the  hive,  and  then  held  down 
by  means  of  a  few  bricks  and  stones  around 
its  edges.  As  a  rule  we  prefer  the  use  of 
the  bee-tent,  because  one  may  rest  assured 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  watch  the  colony 
closely  after  that.  It  should  be  left  on  the 
hive  until  nightfall ;  then  the  colony  may 
be  examined ;  and  if  the  brood  has  not  been 
destroyed,  and  there  is  a  sufficient  number 

I  of  bees  left  to  make  a  defense,  the  entrance 

I  may  be  contracted  down  to  a  space  so  that 
but  one  bee  can  pass.  In  the  morning  be  on 
hand  early,  and  see  what  kind  of  defense  the 
bees  are  making.  It  they  are  not  equal  to 
the  occasion,  then  put  the  tent  over  and 
leave  it  on  all  day  or  until  such  time  as  they 
shall  have  gotten  over  their  demoralization. 

Sometimes  when  a  colony  has  been  almost 
completely  robbed  out  it  is  better  to  let  the 
robbers  finish  up  the  job  ;  for  it  is  a  fact 
that  when  the  entrance  is  closed  or  when 


BOBBING. 


285 


ROBBING. 


further  ingress  to  the  hive  has  been  shut  oft 
by  means  of  a  tent  or  otherwise,  those  same 
robbers  will  then  pounce  on  other  nuclei  in 
the  immediate  vicinity,  because  the  use  of 
the  tent  or  the  wet  grass  does  to  a  certain 
extent  change  the  appearance  of  the  hive, 
causing  the  robbers  to  conclude  they  have 
made  a  mistake,  and  that,  therefore,  the 
hive  they  have  been  robbing  is  one  next  to 
or  near  it.  It  is  Dr.  Miller  and  a  number  of 
other  prominent  bee-keepers  w^ho  believe 
that,  when  a  colony  has  been  almost  com- 
pletely robbed,  it  should  be  left  alone.  As 
soon  as  all  the  honey  is  gone,  and  there  is 
nothing  more  for  the  robbers  to  get,  they 
will  quietly  withdraw,  go  back  home  satis- 
fied, concluding  that  they  have  taken  all  the 
honey;  but  if  the  supply  is  shut  off  suddenly 
those  same  bees  hnow  there  must  be  more, 
and  conclude  there  must  be  a  way  to  get  it, 
and  so  they  keep  up  the  search  for  some 
other  colony  that  may  have  a  supply  just  as 
available. 

Well,  we  will  say  the  colony  has  been  almost 
cleaned  out,  night  has  come  on,  and  things 
in  the  apiary  have  assumed  their  natural 
order.  If  there  are  not  enough  bees  left  to 
make  up  a  colony  or  even  a  fair  nucleus,  take 
away  all  the  old  combs,  sw^eep  out  all  the 
dead  bees,  and  give  them  a  frame  with  a 
very  little  honey  in  it ;  contract  the  entrance 
down  to  one  bee-passage,  and  then  watch 
them  the  next  morning  to  see  whether  they 
will  put  up  a  defense.  As  a  further  precau- 
tion it  might  be  well  to  throw  a  little  wet 
grass  in  front  of  the  entrance.  As  a  general 
rule,  bees  that  are  given  a  little  rest,  and  a 
chance  to  recover  from  theii'  demoralization, 
will  fight  just  as  hard ;  and  probably  the  sec- 
ond time  after  they  have  been  helped  a  little 
they  will  be  able  to  maintiin  their  rights. 

In  trying  to  people  our  house-apiary  in  the 
fall,  when  it  was  first  built,  I  had  trouble 
with  one  certain  colony.  In  fact,  if  any  rob- 
bing was  going  on  anywhere  it  was  sure  to 
be  these  hybrids  who  were  at  the  bottom  of 
the  mischief.  After  I  had  tried  every  plan  I 
had  heard  recommended,  and  still  these  fel- 
lows would  persist  in  pushing  into  every 
new  colony  I  started,  the  idea  occurred  to 
me  that,  on  the  principle  that  it  takes  a  rogue 
to  catch  a  rogue,  it  would  be  well  to  try  to 
see  how  they  w^ould  repel  robbers.  I  simply 
took  the  greater  part  of  the  combs  from  the 
robbers,  bees  and  all,  and  carried  them  into 
the  house-apiary,  and  put  them  in  place  of 
the  colony  w^hich  they  had  been  robbing. 
The  effect  was  instantaneous.  Every  laden 
robber-bee  that  came  home  with  its  load,  on 


finding  the  queen  and  brood  gone,  at  once 
showed  the  utmost  consternation,  and  the 
passion  for  robbing  was  instantly  changed  to 
grief  and  moaning  for  the  lost  home.  The 
weak  colony  which  they  had  been  robbing, 
and  which  had  only  a  queen-cell,  was  placed 
with  them,  and  they  soon  took  up  with  it, 
and  went  to  work.  The  robbers  newly  dom- 
iciled in  the  house-apiary  repelled  all  invad- 
ers with  such  energy  and  determination  that 
the  rest  seemed  to  abandon  the  idea  w^hich 
they,  doubtless,  had  previously  formed;  viz., 
that  the  house-apiary  was  a  monster  hive  but 
ill  garrisoned,  and  I  had  but  little  trouble 
afterward.  Before  I  swapped  them,  as  I 
have  mentioned,  I  had  serious  thoughts  of 
destroying  the  queen,  simply  because  they 
were  such  pests;  but  the  year  afterward, 
this  colony  gave  me  in  the  house-apiary  over 
100  lbs.  of  comb  honey. 

FOLDmG  BEE-TENT. 

One  of  the  almost  indispensable  articles 
in  a  well-regulated  apiary  is  some  sort 
of  bee  -  tent  or  large  cage  covered  with 
mosquito-netting  which  one  can  put  over 
himself  and  hive  while  he  is  making  the 
necessary  examination.  It  should  be  light 
so  it  may  be  easily  handled  ;  should  be  at 
least  six  feet  high  inside,  and  long  enough 
and  wide  enough  to  take  in  the  hive  and  the 
bee-keeper  comfortably  while  he  is  working. 
In  our  apiary  we  use  two  forms  of  tent— one 
a  regular  square  house  made  of  wire  cloth, 
and  another  one  which  can  be  folded  as 
shown  in  the  illustration,  when  not  in  use. 
With  either  one  of  these,  preferably  the  lat- 
ter, one  can,  during  the  robbing  season, 
even  when  bees  are  acting  their  very  mean- 
est, perform  all  the  necessary  work  with  the 
hive,  such  as  cutting  out  queen-cells,  intro- 
ducing, etc.,  without  a  robber  being  able  to 
get  at  the  combs.  Of  course,  the  bees  in 
the  hive  will  fly  out,  bump  their  heads 
against  the  mosquito  -  netting,  and  finally 
reach  the  roof  of  the  tent;  but  as  s^on  as 
the  bees  find  they  are  caged  they  will  imme- 
diately try  to  get  out  through  the  hole  in  the 
top,  where  they  will  very  soon  make  their 
escape. 

HOW  TO  MAKE. 

Take  four  basswood  sticks,  about  Si  feet 
long,  and  fasten  them  together  like  let- 
ter X's,  with  a  good  strong  screw  where 
they  cross  A  piece  of  good  strong  tar- 
red twine,  or  small  rope,  makes  the  ridge- 
pole, as  seen  in  the  engraving,  and  this 
same  twine  unites  the  sticks  at  their  tops. 
The  mosquito-bar  is  sewed  into  a  sort  of 
bag,  having  the  same  strong  twine  all  round 


ROBBING. 


286 


BOBBING. 


its  lower  edges,  and  down  each  of  the 
four  corners.  At  these  corners  are  also 
sewed  metal  rings,  and  these  rings,  when 
pulled  down  strongly,  will  loop  over  screw- 
heads,  near  the  lower  ends  of  the  four  sticks. 
When  thus  looped  over,  the  sticks  are  bent, 
or  bowed,  so  as  to  give  room  in  the  top  of 
the  tent.  The  whole  structure  weighs  less 
than  five  pounds,  and  yet  it  gives  room  inside 
for  a  hive,  and  to  do  all  necessary  work. 
The  basswood  sticks  are  1  x  f  at  the  lower 
end,  and  tapered  to  1  x  I  at  their  upper  end, 
with  the  corners  taken  off,  to  make  them  as 


without  frames;  a  bottom-board  is  nailed  on  the 
bottom,  and  a  three-inch  hole  bored  in  each  side 
and  end  near  the  bottom.  A  short  wire-cloth  cone 
is  pushed  into  each  hole,  and  nailed;  a  %  hole  is 
made  in  the  apex  of  each  cone,  and  a  West  cell- 
protector  screwed  on  to  finish  out  the  cone.  The 
cover  is  made  of  two  sheets  of  wire  cloth,  one  nail- 
ed on  each  side  of  a  frame  the  size  of  the  top  of  the 
hive.  This  is  to  prevent  the  robbers  inside  from 

i  passing-  the  honey  used  as  a  bait  througii  the  wire 
cloth,  to  the  robbers  outside.   I  hang  a  frame  of 

j  honey  inside  for  bait.  It  is  necessary  to  have  plen- 
ty of  light  above  to  draw  the  bees  away  from  the 

I  cones  below;  but  the  hot  sun  should  not  be  allow- 

'  ed  to  shine  in  on  the  bees,  for  it  will  kill  them.  By 
setting  this  trap  out  in  the  apiary  with  a  lighted 


light  as  possible.  Where  the  bend  comes, 
they  are  scraped  a  little  thinner. 

In  the  small  cut  below  at  A  is  shown  the 
way  the  ring  is  looped  over  the  screw-heads, 
and  just  below  is  seen  the  end  of  a  2i-inch 
wire  nail,  bent  so  it  can  be  (when  turned 
with  the  point  downward)  used  as  an  anchor 
to  keep  the  tent  from  blowing  over.  If  the 
sticks  are  spread  a  little  when  the  anchors 
are  pushed  into  the  ground,  the  tent  stands 
very  securely. 

HOAV   TO   TRAP  KOBBERS. 

Mr.  Mclntyre,  of  California,  and  some 
others  who  have  reported  in  Gleanings  in 
Bee  Culture,  use  a  robber-trap.  Mr.  Mcln- 
Intyre  describes  his  and  its  manner  of  use 
as  follows  : 

Last  season,  after  the  honey-flow  I  reared  and  in- 
troduced over  300  queens ;  and,  being  much  annoyed 
by  a  band  of  educated  robbers  that  had  learned 
enough  to  go  wherever  the  smoker  was,  I  deter- 
mined to  try  to  trap  them.  The  plan  of  keeping 
them  busy  by  slow  robbing  had  not  come  out  yet. 
After  trying  several  devices,  and  failing,  I  finally 
hit  on  one  that  was  successful.  It  is  made  of  an 
ordinary  10-frame  Langstroth  extracting -super. 


smoker  on  it  I  soon  caught  all  the  robbers,  that 
were  in  the  habit  of  following  the  smoker,  and 
killed  them.  I  would  not  kill  bees  in  the  spring  or 
any  other  time  if  they  were  of  any  value ;  but  these 
old  hairless  robbers  were  of  no  value  at  that  time. 
At  other  times  I  catch  the  robbers  and  keep  them 


ROBBER-TRAP. 


(  imprisoned  until  dusk,  when  they  are  glad  to  get 
i  home  and  quit.  After  I  had  quit  working  -with  the 
j  bees  in  the  fall  I  went  out  to  the  apiary  one  day  and 

1     '''Our  artist  has  shown  the  bottom  fringe  of  the 
i  tent  as  common  cloth;  it  is  nothing  but  a  continua- 
tion of  mosquito  bar. 


EOBBLN^G. 


287 


ROBBING. 


found  a  weak  colony  overpowered.  The  rohbers  ' 
were  just  Tumbling-  over  each  other,  and  the  whole 
apiary  was  in  an  uproar.  My  honey-house  has  bee- 
escapes  on  the  windows,  so  I  just  carried  the  hive 
inside  that  was  being  robbed,  and  placed  the  trap 
on  the  stand  where  the  hive  was.  In  a  short  time 
I  had  nearly  all  the  robbers  in  the  trap.  I  kept 
them  there  until  about  dusk  in  the  evening-,  when 
they  were  glad  to  go  home,  and  next  day  all  was 
quiet.  J.  F.  McIxttre. 

Fillmore,  Cal. 

WHAT  HAPPEXS  IF  ROBBIXG  IS  XOT  STOP- 
PED. 

AVell.  when  the  work  is  under  real  head- 
way, the  honey  of  a  strong  colony  will  disap- 
pear in  from  2  to  12  hoiu'S :  the  bees  will  then 
starve  in  the  hive,  or  go  home  with  the  pil- 
lagers, or  scatter  about  and  die.-^-^  This  is  not 
all :  when  the  passion  is  fnlly  aroused  they 
will  not  hesitate  to  attack  the  strongest 
stocks,  and  you  will  find  your  bees  stung  to 
death  in  heaps,  before  the  entrances.  This 
may.  after  a  spell,  put  a  stop  to  it.  but  I  have 
seen  them  push  ahead  until  every  hive  in  the 
apiary  Avas  in  an  uproar,  and  it  seemed  as  if 
every  bee  had  gone  crazy,  sure.  At  such 
times  the  robbers  will  attack  passers-by  in 
the  streets,  and  even  ventmre  an  attack  on 
cats.  dogs.  aye.  and  hens  and  tm^keys  too.  , 
Like  the  American  Indians  when  infuriated 
at  the  sight  of  blood,  every  bee  seems  to 
have  a  demoniacal  delight  in  selling  its  life 
by  inflicting  all  the  torments  it  possibly  can. 
and  feels  sad  because  it  can  not  do  any  more 
mischief. 

The  account  below,  taken  from  Gleanings 
in  Bee  Cidtinw  illustrates  very  vividly  what 
I  have  tiied  to  describe. 

I  send  you  a  paper,  the  VaUeij  Herald,  published  at 
our  county  seat,  which  has  a  little  article  on  "  Bees 
on  a  Rampage."  I  should  be  glad  to  hear  your  views 
on  the  subject.   What  caused  those  bees  to  act  so,  - 
etc.?  John  W.  HooDE>rpvLE. 

Looney's  Creek.  Tenn. 

BEES  ON  A  RAMPAGE. 

Mr.  Elisha  Tate,  who  lives  some  fifteen  miles  from 
this  place  on  the  head  of  Battle  Creek,  met  with 
quite  a  singular  misfortune  on  the  19th  inst.  He 
has.  or  did  have  at  that  time,  about  twenty  hives  of 
bees,  and  on  that  day,  while  all  were  away  fi-om  the 
house  except  a  daughter  and  the  baby,  the  bees  be-  . 
came  mad  from  some  cause  or  other,  left  the  hives  in 
large  swarms,  and  commenced  to  sting  every  living 
thing  on  the  place.  They  attacked  the  daughter, 
who  fled  from  the  house,  lea-^^ing  the  babe  on  the 
bed.  A  fine  jack  was  stung  to  death  in  the  stable; 
all  the  chickens  were  killed,  and  a  sheep,  that  was 
around  the  house,  was  stung  so  badly  on  the  nose 
that  that  organ  swelled  to  huge  dimensions,  catising 
death  by  suffocation.  The  cries  of  the  daughter 
brought  Mr.  Tate  to  the  house,  and  he  proceeded  to  j 
rescue  his  babe,  which  he  found  literally  covered  ; 
with  bees;  and  we  understand  that  it  was  with  great  [ 


difficulty  that  its  life  was  saved.  Mr.  T.  attempted 
to  destroy  the  bees  at  night  by  piling  fodder  on  the 
hives  and  setting  fire  to  it.  but  it  only  served  to 
again  arouse  them,  and  they  attacked  the  family 
and  compelled  them  to  abandon  their  house  and  go 
to  a  neighbor's. 

No  one  can  account  for  the  strange  occurrence. 
Some  think  that  a  snake  must  have  visited  the 
hives,  as  it  is  known  that  bees  have  the  greatest  an- 
tipathy toward  snakes. 

In  all  probability  the  account  is  consider- 
ably exaggerated,  as  such  things  usually  are 
before  they  get  into  the  papers,  but  it  affords 
an  excellent  lesson,  nevertheless,  on  the  re- 
sults of  letting  bees  get  into  a  haljit  of  rob- 
bing each  other,  or  of  finding  honey  scattered 
about  the  premises.  I  tried,  in  Axger  of 
Bees,  to  illustrate  it,  but  the  above  d^^es  it 
still  better.  The  worst  season  seems  to  be 
after  basswood  is  over,  and  the  bees  seem  to 
get  especially  crazy,  if  they  even  get  a  smeU 
of  this  aromatic  honey  left  carelessly  about 
the  hives.  One  who  has  ne^-er  seen  such  a 
state  of  affairs  can  have  but  little  idea  of 
the  furious  way  in  which  they  sting  every 
thing  and  everybody.  The  remedy  is  to  get 
a  good  smoker  and  put  in  enough  chips  or 
planer  shavings  to  make  a  big  smoke ; 
with  one  hand  work  the  smoker  bellows, 
and  with  the  other  proceed  to  close  every 
hive  that  shows  any  symptoms  of  being 
robbed.  Shut  up  every  bit  of  honey  where 
not  a  bee  can  get  at  it,  and  do  voiu"  work 
well :  for  at  such  times  they  will  wedge 
into  and  get  thi-ough  cracks  that  would 
make  one  think  inch  boards  were  hardly  pro- 
tection enough.  Just  before  dark  let  all  the 
robbers  go  home,  and  be  up  betimes  next 
morning  to  see  that  all  entrances  are  close 
and  small,  and  that  all  the  hives  are  bee- 
tight.  An  experienced  hand  will  restore 
peace  and  quietness  in  a  very  short  time,  in 
such  a  demoralized  apiary.  Black  bees  are 
much  worse  than  Italians,  for  the  latter  will 
usually  hold  their  stca'es  against  any  numljer 
of  assailants:  good,  strong,  well-made  hives. 
fiUed  with  Italians,  with  plenty  of  brood  in 
each,  y^-ill  be  in  little  danger  of  any  such 
••raids,"  although  we  have  seen  the  wounded 
and  slain  piled  up  in  heaps,  before  robbei's 
would  desist  and  give  up  trying  to  force  an 
entrance. 

The  love  of  honey,  my  friends,  is  by  far 
more  potent  than  ••  snakes  "  in  ilemoralizing 
an  apiary.  I  do  not  think  bees  have  any  par- 
ticular enmity  to  them.i*<5 

There  is  one  more  point :  If  in  uncapping 
drone  brood,  or  in  cutting  out  brood  to  rear 
queens,  you  leave  the  cappings  or  bits  of 
comb  scattered  about,  the  bees  will  get  a 


ROBBING. 


288 


KOBBmG. 


taste  of  the  milky  fluid  and  juices  of  the 
brood,  and  it  seems  to  craze  them  worse  than 
honey  even,  if  that  is  possible.  Below  is  a 
letter  illustrating  it, 

CROSS  BEES. 

I  had  some  of  the  Grossest  bees  this  summer  that 
were  ever  heard  of.  They  would  fight  the  top  of  a 
stovepipe  that  runs  up  through  a  shed  roof  ;  there 
would  be  50  or  100  bees  at  once,  just  whacking 
against  that  pipe,  and  very  many  fell  into  it,  and 
burned  to  death.  They  would  dive  into  my  smoke- 
pan,  and  burn  up  in  that,  and  sting  folks  along  the 
road.  What  the  cause  was  I  could  not  imagine,  but 
at  last  I  happened  to  think.  I  had  been  destroying 
drone  brood,  and  when  it  was  in  a  milky  state  I 
could  not  shake  it  out  of  the  combs;  the  bees  would 
eat  it  and  it  just  made  them  crazy  and  ugly.  Well, 
I  always  want  to  be  sure  about  anything,  so  1  left  it 
off  for  awhile  and  they  became  peaceable  again.  On 
again  giving  them  access  to  the  milky  brood,  the 
same  result  followed. 

Carson  City,  Mich.  D.  Gardner. 

WORKING  WITH  BEES  BY  LAMPLIGHT  WHEN 
ROBBERS  ARE  TROL^BLESOME  DL"R- 
mO  THE  DAY. 

I  believe  I  have  before  mentioned  my 
troubles  in  trying  to  people  the  house-apiary 
in  the  fall.   Queens  were  already  hatched  in 
the  lamp  nursery,  and,  unless  the  colonies 
were  divided  at  once,  so  as  to  make  use  of 
them,  all  would  be  lost.   The  surplus  combs 
for  making  these  late  swarms  were  in  the 
upper  stories,  and  the  robbers  knew  it;  for 
no  sooner  was  a  cap  raised  than  they  were  on 
hand;  and  before  I  could  get  the  brood-combs 
to  go  with  them  (I  found  that  the  bees  would 
not  adhere  even  to  their  own  combs,  unless 
some  of  them  contained  unsealed  brood),  a 
smart  traflic  would  be  under  way.   It  came 
night,  and  my  hives  and  queens  were  in  all 
sorts  of  bad  shapes.   I  was  glad  to  have  it 
come  night,  I  assure  you,  for  I  longed  for 
the  time  when  the  robbers  would  be  com- 
pelled, by  the  gathering  darkness,  to  go 
home.   I  presume  many  of  you  have  had  | 
cause  to  repent  trying  to  work  with  bees  j 
when  it  began  to  grow  dark,  but  I  got  the  : 
idea  into  my  head  that,  with  some  good  : 
lamps  with  nice  shades  on  them,  I  could  do  | 
my  work  in  the  evening.   I  went  at  once  and 
got  a  lamp,  and  walked  around  the  apiary  | 
viewing  the  inmates  of  the  diiferent  hives  | 
that  were  clustered  out  at  the  entrances,  j 
humming  merrily,  I  presume  in  remem- 
brance of  the  rich  loads  they  had  but  an  hour  j 
before  snatched  from  me.   Scarcely  a  bee  j 
took  wing,  and  I  then  ventured  to  open  a  { 
hive.   With  the  lamp  on  one  of  the  posts  of 
the  trellis,  I  found  I  could  handle  the  bees 
almost  as  well  as  in  daylight,  and,  to  my  in- 
tense relief,  not  a  bee  would  leave  its  hive, 


no  matter  how  many  combs  were  held  tempt- 
ingly under  their  very  noses.  I  went  to 
work,  divided  my  hives,  caught  the  queens, 
and  even  handled  vicious  hybrids,  with  less 
stings  than  I  could  possibly  have  got  along 
with  in  the  daytime.* 

LIKE   CURES   LIKE  ;       OR,  HOW^  TO  PRE- 
VENT EXCESSIVE   ROBBING  BY  SLOW 
ROBBING. 

Before  or  after  the  honey  season,  the  bees 
are  quite  apt  to  be  poking  their  noses  into 
the  combs  of  honey  when  the  hives  are  open. 
These  bees  are  usually  some  of  the  old  in- 
veterate robbers  that  have  become  skilled 
in  the  art  of  stealing.  AVhat  shall  we  do 
with  them  ? 

Satan  finds  some  mischief  still 

For  idle  hands  to  do. 

This  suggests  the  remedy;  namely,  give 
these  bees  something  to  do.  In  a  word,  we 
allow  them  to  rob  slowly.  This  is  done  by 
tiering  up  several  hives  containing  combs 
with  more  or  less  honey.  The  hives  are 
stacked  up  four  or  five  high,  upon  an  ordi- 
nary bottom-board,  and  covered  with  an 
ordinary  cover.  But  it  is  desirable  to  afford 
a  little  extra  ventilation  at  the  top  ;  hence 
we  put  on  a  wke-cloth  screen,  as  shown  un- 
der Moving  Bees,  and  over  this  the  cover 
raised  up  about  an  inch  high  on  four  blocks. 
jSTow,  then,  if  we  have  not  previously  done 
so,  we  contract  the  entrance  at  the  bottom 
of  the  whole  tier,  to  a  space  that  will  just 
allow  one  bee  to  p^tss  at  a  time. 

BORROWING. 

Before  closing  this  subject  of  robbing 
there  are  a  few  more  points  to  be  mentioned. 
There  is  a  kind  of  pillaging  called  borrow- 
ing, where  the  bees  from  one  hive  will  go 
quietly  into  another,  and  carry  away  its 
stores  as  fast  as  gathered ;  but  this  usually 
happens  where  the  robbed  stock  is  queenless, 
or  has  an  unfertile  queen.  As  soon  as  they 
have  eggs  and  brood,  they  begin  to  realize 
what  the  end  of  such  work  will  be.  This 
state  of  affairs  seldom  goes  on  a  great  while. 
It  either  results  in  do^wight  robbing,  or  the 
bees  themselves  put  a  stop  to  it. 

Caution  to  Beginners  :  —  The  first  year  I 
kept  bees  I  was  in  constant  fear  that  they 
would  get  to  robbing,  as  I  had  read  so  much 
about  it  in  the  books.  One  afternoon  in 
May  I  saw  a  large  number  of  bees  passing 
rapidly  out  and  in,  at  a  particular  hive,  and 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  we  have  found  that 
a  good  lantern  is  preferable  to  a  lamp.  The  latter 
is  apt  to  be  affected  by  light  breezes,  and  is  often 
blown  out.  The  former,  while  not  open  to  this 
objection,  will  receive  rougher  handling.  During 
the  season  of  1886  we  used  the  lantern  in  the  apiary 
with  entire  success. 


ROCKY-MOUXTAIX  BEE-PLAXT.    289    ROCKY-MOUXTAIX  BEE-PLAXT. 


the  more  I  examined  them  the  more  I  was 
persuaded  that  they  were  being  robbed.  I 
contracted  the  entrance,  bnt  it  seemed  to 
make  little  difference.  I  finally  closed -it  al- 
most entirely,  compelling  the  bees  to  squeeze 
out  and  in.  in  a  way  that  must  have  been 
quite  uncomfortable,  at  least.  After  awhile 
they  calmed  down,  and  we  had  only  the  or- 
dinary nimiber  of  bees  going  out  and  in. 
"  There,"  thought  I.  if  I  had  not  read  the 
books  and  known  how.  I  might  have  lost  my 
bees."*  and  I  presimie  I  felt  very  wise  if  I 
did  not  look  so.  On  turning  my  head,  behold, 
the  robbers  were  at  another  colony,  and  they 
had  to  be  put  through  the  same  programme; 
then  another,  and  another:  and  I  concluded 
a  host  of  robbers  had  come  from  somewhere, 
and  made  a  raid  on  my  apiary,  and  that,  had 
I  not  been  on  hand,  the  whole  of  them  would 
haA'e  been  ruined.  I  had  got  very  nervous 
and  fidgety,  and,  when  I  found  the  whole 
performance  repeated  the  next  day.  I  began 
to  think  bee  culture  a  very  trying  pursuit. 
Well,  in  due  course  of  time  I  figured  out 
that  there  was  no  robbing  at  all.  but  that  it 
was  just  the  young  bees  taking  their  after- 
noon playspell. 

ROCKY  -  MOUNTAIN  BEE  -  PLANT 
( Cleomp  IntegrifoUa).  This  is  a  beautiful  plant 
for  the  flower  -  garden,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  honey  it  produces.  It  grows  from  tAvo 
to  three  feet  in  height,  and  bears  large  clus- 
ters of  bright  pink  flowers,  as  shown  in  the 
cut. 

It  is  a  near  relative  of  the  Spider-plaxt. 
which  see.  It  grows  naturally  on  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  in  Colorado,  where  it  is  said 
to  furnish  large  quantities  of  honey.  Al- 
though it  succeeds  easily  under  cultivation, 
in  our  locality  I  can  not  learn  that  it  has  ever 
been  a  success  pecuniarily.  With  this,  as 
well  as  with  all  other  plants,  it  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that,  to  yield  honey  enough  to  give 
it  a  fair  test,  acres  are  needed,  instead  of  lit- 
tle patches  in  the  garden.  The  seed  has  been 
offered  for  sale  for  several  years  past,  as  a 
plant  to  be  cultivated  for  honey ;  even  if  it 
does  not  pay  for  honey,  it  will  pay  to  have  a 
bed  of  it  on  account  of  its  beauty. 

The  engraving  was  copied  from  a  larger- 
sized  picture,  in  Prof.  Cook's  '-Manual  of 
the  Ap  ary."  During  the  season  of  1>7h  we 
had  a  nimiber  of  the  plants  growing  in  our 
ho  ley-ga.d-n.  It  whs.  however,  so  much 
ii  ferior  i;i  looks,  as  well  as  in  the  amount  of 
honey  produceil,  to  the  spider-plant,  that 
we  did  not  take  the  pains  to  save  any  of 
the  seed.  The  two  plants  very  much  resem- 
ble each  other,  but  the  latter  is  a  much 
10 


stronger  and  finer-looking  plant,  and  has  a 
rank  luximance  of  growth  that  the  Rocky- 
Mountain  bee-plant  has  not. 

To  have  them  do  well  in  our  gardens,  that 
is.  give  us  a  good  yield  of  honey,  the  seeds 
would  better  be  planted  in  a  box  indoors, 
say  in  February  or  March.  Set  them  out 
when  all  danger  of  fi'ost  is  past,  and  give 
them  good  rich  soil,  with  about  the  same 
cultivation  you  would  give  your  cabbages. 

The  Michigan  Agricultural  College  exper- 
imented, in  1S91,  with  several  acres  of  the 
plants,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  testing  their 


KOCKY-MOrXTAIX  BEK-PLAXT. 


honey-producing  qualities.  They  found  it 
exceedingly  diliicult.  however,  to  get  a  good 
stand  of  plants.  In  f.ict.  I  do  not  know  how 
a  perfect  stand  can  be  obtained  without 
transplanting;  and  as  this  makes  the  ex- 
pense equivalent  to  a  field  of  cabbrges  or 
strawberries,  of  course  the  honey  produced 
did  not  come  anywhere  near  paying  ex- 
penses. Some  of  our  seed  catalogues  have 
described  it  in  growing  terms,  and  greatly 
exaggerated  its  honey-producing  qualities. 
Flaming  colored  prints  of  the  flower  covered 
with  honey  have  also  been  given,  and  I  sup- 
pose many  people  have  been  deluded  into 
the  belief  that  these  plants  could  thus  be 
grown  in  small  patches  so  as  to  produce 
honey  profitably.  It  has  been  advertised 
under  various  fanciful  names,  such  as  ••  The 
Great  Mexican  honey-plant."*  etc. 

ROTAI.  JELLY.  See  Axatomy  of  the 
Bee  ;  also  Queexs. 


s. 


SACrE  [Salvia).  This  plant  also  belongs 
to  the  great  family  of  Lahiatce,  or  the  mint 
family.  Labiate  means  lip-shaped ;  and  if 
yon  look  closely  yon  will  see  that  plants  be- 
longing to  this  family  have  blossoms  with  a 
sort  of  lip  on  one  side,  something  like  the 
nose  to  a  pitcher.  Many  of  this  family,  such 
as  Catnip,  MoTHERAYORT,  Fig  WORT,  Gill- 
OYER-THE-GROUND,have  already  been  men- 
tioned as  honey  -  plants,  and  the  number 
might  be  extended  almost  indefinitely.  The 
sage  we  have  particularly  to  do  with  is  the 
white  mountain  sage  of  California ;  and  I 
do  not  know  that  I  should  be  far  out  of  the 
way  in  calling  this  one  of  the  n^.ost  impor- 
tant honey-plants  in  the  world.  The  crops 
of  honey  secured  from  it  within  the  past  ten 
years  have  been  so  immense  that  the  sage 
honey  is  now  offered  for  sale  in  almost  all 
the  principal  cities  in  the  world,  and  a  nice 
sample  of  well  -  ripened  California  honey, 
whether  comb  or  extracted,  is  enough  to  cal] 
forth  exclamations  of  surprise  and  delight 
from  any  one  who  thinks  enough  of  some- 
thing good  to  eat,  and  pleasant  to  the  taste, 
to  commit  himself  so  far.  I  well  remem- 
ber the  first  taste  I  had  of  the  mountain- 
sage  honey.  Mr.  Langstroth  was  visiting  me 
at  the  time,  and  his  exclamations  were  much 
like  my  own,  only  that  he  declared  it  was  al- 
most identical  in  flavor  with  the  famed  hon- 
ey of  Hymettus,  of  which  he  had  received  a 
sample  some  years  ago.  Well,  this  honey  of 
Hymettus,  which  has  been  celebrated  both 
in  poetry  and  prose  for  ages  past,  was  gath- 
ered from  the  mountain  thyme,  and  the  bot- 
any tells  us  that  thyme  and  sage  not  only  be- 
long to  the  same  family,  hut  are  closely  re- 
lated. Therefore  it  is  nothing  strange  if 
Mr.  Langstroth  was  right,  in  declaring  our 
California  honey  to  be  almost  if  not  quite 
identical  in  flavor  with  the  honey  of  Hymet- 
tus. This  species  of  sage  grows  along  the 
sides  of  the  mountain,  and  blossoms  success- 
ively as  the  season,  advances ;  that  is,  the 
bees  first  commence  work  on  it  in  the  val- 


leys, and  then  gradually  fly  higher  up,  as  the 
blossoms  climb  the  mountain  -  side,  giving 
them  a  much  longer  season  than  we  have  in 
regions  not  mountainous. 

John  H.  Martin,  of  California,  under  the 
nom  de  'plumc  of  "Rambler,-'  who  has  trav- 
eled extensively  in  California,  has  this  to 
say  of  the  mountain  sages.  The  manner  in 
which  the  bee  has  learned  how  to  open  the 
trapdoor  is  particularly  interesting. 

The  first  sag-e  to  come  into  blossom  is  that  vari- 
ousjj'  called  black  sage,  button  sage,  and  boiled 
sage.  Upon  these  buttons,  or  bolls,  the  little  flow- 
er-tube appears,  and  is  much  like  the  flower-tube  in 
the  red-clover  blossom.  The  button  develops  flow- 
ers from  the  outer  edgre  of  the  button  for  several 
weeks.  The  bush  is  about  five  feet  in  height,  bear- 
ing a  large  number  of  button-stalks,  with  several 
buttons  to  the  stalk,  the  largest  button  being-  a  lit- 
tle over  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  diminishing-  in 
size  toward  the  tip  of  the  stalk.  A  little  drop  of 
nectar  can  be  squeezed  from  the  little  tube,  just  as 
-we  can  sqeeze  it  from  the  tube  of  red  clover.  When 
the  flOAvering-  season  is  past,  the  buttons  turn  to 
nearly  a  black  hue,  and  cling-  to  the  bush  until  the 
next  season. 


Tlie  habit  and  appearance  of  the  white  sage  are 
entirely  different.  The  woody  portion  and  the 
leaves  are  nearly  white,  which  gives  it  its  name. 
The  flowering-  stalk  makes  a  rapid  growth  of  sever- 
al feet  in  one  season,  and  the  plant  throAVS  up  a 
dozen  or  more  of  these  stalks,  all  the  way  from 
three  to  eight  feet  in  height.  Each  stalk  is  loaded 
with  racemes  of  buds,  which  continue  to  produce 
flowers  for  several  weeks. 

The  description  of  the  white  sage  is  not  complete 
without  giving-  the  way  in  which  the  bee  sips  the 
nectar  from  the  white-sage  blossom.  The  opening- 
in  the  corolla  is  nearly  large  enough  for  the  bee  to 
thrust  its  head  into;  but,  as  if  jealous  of  its  trea- 
sured sweets,  the  flower  is  provided  with  a  long  pro- 
jecting lip  that  curls  up  not  unlike  a  letter  S,  and 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  close  effectually  the.  en- 


SAGE. 


292 


SMOKE  SMOKERS. 


trance.  When  I  first  saw  a  white-sage  blossom,  it 
was  with  much  interest  I  speculated  upon  how  the 
bee  gained  access  to  the  nectar.  Soon  a  busy  work- 
er darted  in  among  the  flowers,  and,  alighting  upon 
the  projecting  portion  of  the  S-shaped  lip,  it  bent 
down  under  the  weight  of  the  bee,  opening  the  door 
to  its  treasure-house,  which  the  bee  soon  relieved  of 
its  contents.  Upon  the  departure  of  the  bee,  the 
door  immediately  closed  again,  to  be  opened  and 
reopened  by  the  successive  foragers.  If  the  rain- 
fall has  been  light,  the  white  sage  will  not  bloom 
so  profusely;  and,  furthermore,  the  lip  of  the 
flower  is  stunted  and  so  short  that  the  bee  can  not 
find  standing-room  upon  it;  and,  after  vainly  striv- 
ing to  gain  an  entrance,  it  reluctantly  seeks  an- 
other flower  with  well-developed  flowers.  The  lip 
readily  yields  to  the  bee,  and  the  load  is  secured  as 
quickly  from  this  flower  as  from  the  simple  tube  of 
the  button  sage.  It  is  when  the  sages  are  in  blos- 
som, in  May  and  June,  that  the  bee-keeper  has  to 
hustle  in  order  to  keep  his  dish  right  side  up. 


possess  this  same  propei-ty  here,  while  un- 
ripened  honey,  of  any  kind,  is  much  disposed 
to  candy  at  the  approach  of  cool  weather.  I 
believe  some  effort  has  been  made  to  culti- 
vate this  plant ;  perhaps  a  soil  that  raises 
pennyroyal  naturally  would  suit  it,  as  they 
are  nearly  allied,  and  I  have  been  told  that 
pennyroyal  yields  considerable  quantities  of 
honey  on  the  waste  lands  of  Kelley's  Island, 
in  Lake  Erie. 

It  has  been  said,  that  one  soon  tires  of  this 
beautiful  aromatic  flavor  of  the  mountain 
sage,  and  that,  for  a  steady  diet,  the  white- 
clover  honey  of  the  Western  Reserve  far  out- 
rivals it.  This  may  be  so  ;  for,  as  a  general 
thing,  I  believe  people  usually  tire  of  these 
strong  and  distinct  flavors  in  honey,  like 


MAKING  ST?tAAV  SKEFS  IX  BNGJ.AND.—  firitlsll  Bee  Jouma'. 


A  peculiarity  of  this  honey  is,  that  it  is 
not  inclined  to  candy,  but  remains  limpid, 
during  the  severest  winter  weathei'.  I  have 
taken  a  sample  so  thick  that  the  tumbler 
containing  it  might  be  turned  bottom  up- 
ward without  its  running  at  all,  and  placed 
it  out  in  the  snow,  in  the  dead  of  winter,  and 
failed  to  crystallize  it.  This  is  a  very  valua- 
ble quality  of  it,  but  it  does  not  invariably 
remain  clear.  I  presume  tlie  honey  should 
be  fully  ripened  in  the  hive,  to  have  it 
possess  this  property,  as  it  is  well  known 
that  perfectly  ripened  clover  honey  will  often 


those  of  basswood  and  mountain  sage.  For 
all  that,  dear  reader,  if  you  have  never  tast- 
ed mountain-sage  honey,  and  are  a  lov- 
er of  honey,  there  is  a  rich  treat  in  store 
for  you  when  you  do  come  across  some. 

We  have  tried  raising  the  plant  on  our 
honey-farm,  but  it  seems  to  need  a  little 
coaxing  in  our  climate,  and  I  have  not  been 
able  to  discover  that  the  blossoms  furnish 
more  honey  here  than  many  other  plants. 
The  secret  of  the  immense  yields  from  it  in 
California  is  probably  on  account  of  the 
vast  areas  that  it  covers.  The  large  cut  on 


SMOKE  AND  SMOKERS. 


293  SMOKE  ANI>  SMOKERS. 


the  pa^e  preceding  this  subject  shows  an- 
other variety  of  the  California  sage. 
SIZE  OP  FRAMES.  See  Hives. 

SECTIONS  See  Comb  Honey  and  Hive- 
making. 

SELF- SPACING  FRAMES.  See  Fixed 
Frames  and  Hives. 

SEPARATORS.  See  Comb  Honey. 

SEEP.  The  term  "skep"  is  often  used 
by  old  fashioned  bee-keepers  to  refer  to  col- 
onies of  bees  in  any  kind  of  hive ;  but  more 
properly  it  applies  to  box  hives  and  straw 
skeps— the  last  named  rarely  seen  in  this 
country.  In  England  and  in  many  of  the 
countries  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  the 
old  straw  skep  is  still  used  quite  largely. 


Lumber  is  expensive  and  straw  cheap,  and , 
as  a  consequence,  one  will  see  quite  a  few 
hives  of  the  latter  material  in  those  coun- 
tries ;  but  movable  frames  are  never  used  in 
these  hives.  The  bees  are  allowed  to  build 
the  combs  just  the  same  as  mentioned  under 
the  head  of  Box  Hives,  which  see.  On  the 
top  of  these  skeps,  in  many  cases,  modern 
supers  containing  sections  are  used.  The 
making  of  straw  skeps  for  some  cottagers  is 
quite  a  little  business  of  itself — requiring  a 
certain  degree  of  skill,  as  one  will  see  by 
glancing  at  the  picture  at  the  left.  I  do  not 
know  what  these  skeps  are  sold  for,  but  I 
am  told  that  they  are  sold  at  a  much  less 
price  than  the  modern  movable-frame  hives. 

Straw  skeps  are  never  used  in  this  country 
— at  least  at  the  present  time  ;  and  if  it  were 
not  for  the  familiar  pictures  of  ye  olden 
times"  we  Americans  would  know  but  little 
about  them. 

SMARTWEED.  See  Heartsease. 

SMOKE  Am>  SMOKERS.  We  can 

drive  cattle  and  horses,  and,  to  some  extent, 
drive  even  pigs,  with  a  whip;  but  one  who  un- 
dertakes to  drive  bees  in  any  such  way  will 
find  to  his  sorrow  that  all  the  rest  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom  are  mild  in  comparison,  espe- 
cially as  far  as  stubbornness  and  fearlessness 
of  consequences  are  concerned.   You  may 


kill  them  by  thousands ;  you  may  even  bum 
them  up  with  fire,  but  the  death  agonies  of 
their  comrades  seem  only  to  provoke  them 
to  new  fury,  and  they  push  on  to  the  com- 
bat with  a  relentlessness  which  I  can  com- 
pare to  nothing  better  than  to  a  nest  of  yel- 
low- jackets  that  have  made  up  their  minds" 
to  die,  and  to  make  all  the  mischief  they  pos- 
sibly can  before  dying. It  is  here  that  the 
power  of  smoke  comes  in ;  and  to  one  who 
is  not  conversant  with  its  use,  it  seems 
simply  astonishing  to  see  them  turn  about 
j  and  retreat  in  the  most  perfect  dismay  and 
fright,  from  the  effects  of  a  puff  or  tw^o  of 
smoke,  from  a  mere  fragment  of  rotten 
wood.  What  w^ould  we  bee-keepers  do  with 
bees  at  times,  were  no  such  potent  power  as 
smoke  known  V 

There  have  been  various  devices  for  get- 
ting smoke  on  to  the  bees,  such  as,  for  in- 
stance, a  common  tin  tube  with  a  mouth- 
piece at  one  end,  and  a  removable  cap  with 
a  vent  at  the  other  end,  for  the  issue  of 
smoke.  By  blowing  on  the  mouth-piece, 
smoke  can  be  forced  out.  Otheis,  again, 
have  used  a  tin  pan  in  which  was  some 
burning  rotten  wood.  This  is  put  on  the 
windward  side  of  the  hive,  so  as  to  blow 
smoke  over  the  frames.  All  of  these,  how- 
ever, were  miserable  makeshifts  in  compari- 
son with  the  smokers  of  to-day. 


BENGHAM  SMOKER. 


It  is  to  the  credit  of  Moses  M.  Quinby  for 
first  giving  us  a  bellows  bee-smoker.  This 
was  a  great  step  in  advance  over  the  old 
methods  of  introducing  smoke  among  the 
bees.  In  principle  his  original  smoker  did 
not  dilfer  essentially  from  the  Bingham  or 
the  L.  C.  Root,  that  were  introduced  later. 
It  had,  however,  one  serious  defect ;  and 
that  was,  it  would  go  out,  the  tire-pot  not 
being  properly  ventilated  to  insure  a  good 


SMOKE  AND  SMOKEES. 


294 


SMOKE  AND  SMOKERS. 


draft.  Some  years  after,  Mr.  T.  F.  Bing- 
ham, of  Abronia,  Mich.,  and  Mr.  L.  C. 
Root,  son-in-law  of  Quinby,  then  of  Mo- 
hawli,  N.  Y.,  but  now  of  Stamford,  Ct., 
introduced  bee-smokers  to  the  world  on 
the  principle  of  the  original  Quinby  bel- 
lows smoker,  but  with  several  decided  im- 
provements. The  fire-cups,  at  the  same  time, 
were  made  rather  larger,  and  were  venti- 
lated in  such  a  way  that  a  continuous  draft 
could  be  maintained,  even  when  the  smoker 
was  not  in  use,  thus  preventing  them  from 
going  out  like  the  old  original  Quinby. 

Of  the  two  smokers  the  Bingham  is  the 
better— more  reliable  and  more  substantial- 
ly made.  While  the  L.  C.  Root  smoker  is 
not  now  made,  the  Bingham  has  a  very 
large  sale.  It  has  recently  been  improved 
by  the  addition  of  a  detachable  curved  snout 
to  prevent  fire  dropping,  and  a  safety  device 
(a  wire  handle)  by  which  the  top  can  be  re- 
moved for  replenishing  without  burning  the 
fingers. 

Both  smokers  employ  what  is  known  as 
the  hot-blast  principle— that  is,  the  blast  of 
air  from  the  bellows  is  blown  through  the  fire. 
This  makes  a  heavy  volume  of  smoke- 
volume  enough  with  the  proper  kind  of  fuel 
to  subdue  the  worst  kind  of  hybrids. 

The  Bingham  is  an  excellent  smoker,  but 
has  one  defect — a  comparatively  weak  blast. 
To  overcome  this  objection  the  smoker  be- 
low was  brought  out. 


THE  CRAISrjE  S3IOKER. 

In  1891  Mr.  J.  E.  Crane,  of  Middlebury, 
Yt.,  introduced  what  is  known  as  the  Crane 
smoker,  the  principal  feature  of  which  is  an 
ingeniously  devised  check-valve  designed  to 
prevent  smoke  from  passing  back  into  the 
bellows,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  give  a 
strong  blast.   When  the  smoker  is  not  in 


use,  the  valve  closes  and  makes  a  draft  into 
the  fire-cup ;  but  the  moment  the  bellows  is 
pressed,  the  valve  closes  all  outside  connec- 
tion, making  a  continuous  and  almost  air- 
tight passageway  from  the  bellows  into  the 
fire- cup.   This  enables  the  Crane  to  give  a 


CORXEIL  SMOKER. 

blast  equal  to  that  of  the  Clark,  and  yet  the 
smoke,  for  pungency  and  subduing  qualities, 
is  equal  to  that  coming  from  a  Bingham. 
There  is  only  one  defect  in  the  Crane ;  and 
that  is,  that  the  check- valve  sometimes  be- 
comes a  little  clogged  with  creosote ;  but 
this  is  only  after  the  smoker  has  been  used 
continuously  for  a  considerable  length  of 
time ;  and  if  one  only  has  patience  he  can 
remove  the  valve,  clean  it,  and  put  it  back. 

Another  smoker  that  was  introduced  two 
or  three  years  afterward,  and  somewhat  sim- 
ilar to  the  Crane  in  general  appearance,  is 
the  Cornell.  It  receives  the  air  fi'om  the 
bellows  into  the  fire-cup  in  much  the  same 
manner  as  the  Bingham,  but  takes  advan- 
tage of  a  well-known  principle  by  which  in- 
duced air-currents  are  made  to  strengthen 
the  blast  of  the  smoker. 

The  Cornell  is  a  very  popular  implement, 
and  is  used  very  largely  by  many  of  the  most 
practical  bee-keepers  in  the  land.  Both  the 
Crane  and  the  Cornell  make  use  of  a  hinged 
curved  snout  by  which  it  is  possible  to  re- 
plenish the  smoker  very  easily.  A  slight 
tap  of  the  hand  against  the  snout  causes  it 
to  fly  back,  when  the  cup  can  be  easily  re- 
plenished with  fuel.  Another  flip  of  the  fin- 
gers will  cause  the  top  to  fly  into  position, 
when  the  smoker  is  ready  for  use. 

The  object  of  the  curved  nozzle  on  all 
three  of  the  leading  hot  blast  smokers  is 
to  prevent  fire  dropping.  In  the  old-style 
smokers  it  was  necessary  in  blowing  smoke 
to  tip  the  barrel  almost  upside  down,  or  at 


SOLDEKLN^G. 


295 


SOLDERING. 


such  an  angle  that  fire-embers  would  some- 
times fall  on  the  brood-frames  and  the  bees. 
The  new  cmwed  nozzle  permits  one  to  use 
the  smoker  almost  right  side  up.  and  yet  a 
stream  of  smoke  can  be  poured  on  the  combs. 

COLD-BLAST  SMOKEKS. 

All  the  foregoing  are  of  the  hot-blast 
tyi^e— that  is.  the  blast  is  forced  through  the 
fuel.  Cold-blast  smokers  are  constructed 
somewhat  on  the  principle  of  an  ejector: 
that  is.  air  is  conducted  directly  from  the 
bellows  by  means  of  a  tube,  to  a  point  in- 
side of  the  fire-box.  akead  of  the  fire,  not 
through  it :  the  result  is  a  blast  of  cold  air 
charged  with  smoke.  In  other  words,  the 
blast  of  air  that  is  forced  through  the  noz- 
zle sucks  with  it  the  smoke  just  back  of  it, 
from  the  burning  fuel.  This  principle  was 
invented  almost  simultaneously  in  187^)  by  J. 
G.  Corey,  of  Santa  Paula.  Cal..  and  Xorman 
Clark,  of  Sterling,  111.,  each  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  other.  Of  the  two  smok- 
ers, the  Clark  has  the  better  construction. 

RELATIVE  3IERITS  OF  THE  HOT  AXD  COLD 
BLAST  SMOKERS. 

For  a  large  volume  of  dense  smoke,  the 
hot-blast  smokers  are  away  ahead.  There 
was  a  time  when  the  cold-blast  bid  fair  to 
run  out  the  hot-blast.  The  former  have  the 
advantage  of  being  cheaper,  using  the  fuel 
more  slowly,  and  sending  a  cold  blast  of 


CLARK  COLD-BLAST  S3IOKER. 


air  upon  the  bees.  But  I  am  not  sure 
that  this  last  feature  is  an  improvement 
after  all.  Cold-blasts  are  used  principally 
by  bee-keepers  having  few  colonies,  the 
more  extensive  ones  finding  the  hot-blast 
preferable. 

FLEL  FOR  S3I0KERS. 

It  will  be  imnecessary  to  give  directions 
how  to  use  these  hot  or  cold  blast  smokers, 
as  printed  directions  accompany  all  smokers 
sent  out  by  each  manufacturer  :  but  it  may 


be  well  to  aUude  to  the  different  kinds  of 
fuel  that  have  been  used.  Eotten  wood  is 
good,  and  accessible  to  all.  but  it  burns  out 
too  rapidly.  In  the  Clark  we  prefer  a  kind 
of  stringy  sawdust  packed  solid  that  comes 
from  the  hand-holes  made  in  making  hives. 


COLD-BLAST  PRIXCIPLE  ILLLSTRATED. 

Mr.  Bingham  recommends  sound  hard 
wood  for  his  smoker.  Dr.  Miller  and  some 
others  prefer  turning-lathe  hard- wood  shav- 
ings, or.  if  these  are  not  available,  planer 
shaA;ings.  In  certain  localities  peat  can  be 
obtained  very  cheaply,  and  it  makes  an  ex- 
cellent fuel.  In  some  parts  of  the  South, 
dry  pine  needles  are  used.  Your  locality  as 
well  as  your  own  notions  will  decide  what 
fuel  you  will  use.  You  want  something 
that  will  give  good  smoke,  and  at  the  same 
time  be  lasting. 

HOW  TO  LIC^HT  A  S3I0KER. 

To  save  time  in  lighting  the  smoker,  our 
boys  use  an  ordinary  spring-top  oiler.  This 
is  filled  with  kerosene.  After  putting  the 
fuel  into  the  smoker  we  send  a  few  spiuts  of 
oil  on  the  fuel,  light  it.  and  then  we  soon 
have  a  blazing  fire. 

Dr.  Miller  uses  prepared  rotten  wood  or 
cotton  rags.  These  will  light  readily,  and 
burn  under  circumstances  when  other  ma- 
terial would  go  otit.  His  manner  of  prepar- 
ing is  as  follows : 

In  a  gallon  of  water  he  dissolves  a  poimd 
of  saltpeter.  Into  this  he  drops  some  dried 
rotten  wood  or  cotton  rags,  which  are  allow- 
ed to  soak  full.  Then  this  material  is  taken 
out  and  dried.  This  leaves  the  saltpeter  in 
the  fiber  of  the  material,  which  in  conse- 
quence is  made  quite  inflammable.  The 
doctor  then  drops  into  the  smoker  some  of 
the  saltpeter  wo:>d  r^v  rags.  tou:-hes  a  match 
to  it.  and  witliruit  waiting  for  it  to  bum  up 
fil^s  hi>  smcik-rr  wi.h  dry  cl'ips  from  the 
chip-yard,  planer  shavings,  greasy  cotton- 
waste,  or  other  fuel,  when  with  lively  blow- 
ing a  good  smrjke  is  almost  immediately 
iroduced. 


SOUKWOOD. 


296 


SOURWOOD. 


SOLAR  WAX-EXTRACTOR.  See 

Wax. 

SOURWOOD  {Oxydendrum  Arboreum.) 

This  is  considered  a  great  honey-bearing 
tree  in  some  localities,  especially  in  the 
Sonth ;  but  as  I  have  had  no  personal  expe- 
rience with  it,  I  submit  a  description  from 
one  of  our  friends  who  has  furnished  us 
with  the  specimen  of  the  leaves  and  flowers 
from  which  our  engraving  was  made. 

The  sourwood,  sometimes  called  the  sorrel,  is  a 
fine  tree  from  40  to  60  feet  in  height,  and  about  a 
foot  in  diameter;  although  it  sometimes  reaches  70 
feet  in  height  and  a  foot  and  a  half  through.  The 
popular  name,  sourwood,  is  derived  from  the  odor 
and  the  peculiar  sour  taste  of  the  leaves  and  small 
twigs. 

It  is  entirely  distinct  from  the  black-gum  and 
sour-gum,  or  pepperidge,  with  which  it  has  been  un- 
wittingly classed  by  some  writers  on  honey  -  plants, 
much  to  the  injury  of  sourwood.  The  former  are 
honey  -  producers  to  a  -small  extent,  but  are  not 
worthy  to  be  compared  with  sourwood,  which,  we 
are  convinced  after  living  where  basswood,  poplar, 
clover,  buckwheat,  goldenrod,  persimmon,  and 
aster  abound,  has  not  its  superior  among  the  honey- 
producing  plants  of  America,  either  in  the  amount 
of  yield,  or  in  its  beautiful  appearance.  Basswood 
is  more  important,  only  because  of  its  widely  extend- 
ed growth.  We  write  this  article,  to  call  attention 
more  directly  to  this  tree  as  a  honey-producer,  liee- 
masters  are  familiar  with  other  flora  which  abound 
where  those  who  have  written  our  books  on  bee  cul- 
ture reside,  yet  few  are  aware  of  the  merits  of  sour- 
wood, outside  of  the  regions  where  it  is  found. 

We  are  not  familiar  with  the  extent  of  its  growth, 
but  know  this  much:  It  abounds  in  the  native  for- 
ests from  Southern  Pennsylvania  into  Georgia  and 
Mississippi.  It  seems  to  be  more  abundant  along 
the  whole  mountainous  tract  of  country  on  both 
sides  of  the  Alleghenies  and  the  Blue  Ridge,  reach- 
ing, in  places,  even  as  far  as  the  tide-water  on  one 
side,  and  to  Central  Tennessee  on  the  other.  In 
many  sections  where  poplar  abounds  and  much 
t)uckwheat  is  raised,  sourwood  is  considered  the  hon- 
«y^lant,  and  yields  the  largest  amount  of  surplus 
honey.  It  seems  to  flourish  best  on  high,  dry  soil, 
and  often  abounds  on  poor  woodland  ridges,  which 
can  be  purchased  at  a  nominal  price:  though  the 
forests  along  the  rivers,  in  rich  cultivated  soil,  are 
often  beautifully  checkered  with  the  white  blossoms 
in  July.  Being  a  tree,  the  growth  is  tall  and  gener- 
ally spare  of  branches  along  the  trunk,  except  when 
it  grows  in  the  edges  of  fields,  where  it  yields  the 
greatest  amount  of  honey.  The  trunk  preserves  its 
uniformity  of  size  for  some  distance  up  from  the 
ground.  The  wood  is  white,  with  straight  grain, 
which  splits  nicely.  It  is  brittle  and  quite  fine- 
grained, and  is  used  for  posts  by  cabinet-makers. 

The  flowers  (see  engraving)  are  produced  on 
spikes  five  or  six  inches  long,  which  hang  in  clusters 
on  the  ends  of  branches.  Many  of  these  flower- 
bearing  spikes  are  thrown  out  from  one  central 
spike,  and  are  all  strung  with  white,  bell -shaped 
flowers,  rich  in  honey.  The  flower  is  midway  in 
size  and  appearance  between  the  whortleberry  blos- 
som and  the  lily  of  the  valley.  Unless  there  is  a 
failure  of  the  blossom,  the  honey-yield  is  sure  to  be 


abundant ;  for,  being  in  the  woods  with  good  roots, 
the  flow  is  not  checked  by  ordinary  droughts,  nor  do 
the  rains  wash  out  the  honey  from  the  pendant,  cup- 
shaped  flowers.  Often  have  we  regaled  ourselves, 
while  riding  along  the  road,  by  breaking  a  bunch  of 
the  blossoms,  shaking  out  the  honey  in  the  hand, 
and  licking  up  the  delicious  nectar.  It  bears  no 
fruit;  but  each  flower,  as  it  dries  up,  produces  a 
brown  seed-pod  about  the  size  of  a  large  grain  of 
wheat,  which  separates,  when  ripe,  into  five  parts, 
and  permits  the  very  fine  seed  to  fall  to  the  earth. 


SOURWOOD  LEAF,  FLOWERS,  AND  SEED-PODS. 

We  omitted  to  state  that  the  tree  commences  to 
bloom  the  latter  part  of  June,  and  the  harvest  from 
this  source  lasts  until  the  middle  of  July. 

We  are  inclined  to  think  that  the  tree  would 
thrive  in  our  more  northern  latitudes  ;  perhaps 
anywhere  in  our  land.  It  is  found  abundantly  in 
many  parts  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains,  where  it  is 
very  cold,  the  thermometer  often  indicating  several 
degrees  below  zero.  James  W.  Shearer. 

Liberty  Corner,  N.  J. 

The  following  is  from  Feb.  ^o.  of  Gle^n- 
ings  in  Bee  Culture  : 

SOURWOOD  HONEY,  ETC. 

I  send  you  to-day  a  sample  of  sourwood  honey. 
Examine  it  and  let  us  know  what  you  think  of  its 
quality.  I  get  more  of  it  than  of  any  other  kind.  I 
took  about  800  B)s.  last  year  from  the  poplar,  and 
something  more  thanl20(J  from  the  sourwood,  all  ex- 
tracted. 

Now,  Mr.  Novice,  nearly  all  of  you  bee  -  men  up 
North  say  that  all  pure  honey  will  candy  in  cold 
weather;  and  I  want  you  to  keep  the;  sample  I  send 
you  through  the  winter,  and  report  if  cold  weather 
candies  it.  I  know  you  have  colder  weather  than 
we  have  down  here,  but  I  don't  believe  it  will  get 
cold  enough  to  candy  sourwood  honey. 

Lincoln,  Tenn.,  J.  F.  Montgomery. 

Thanks.  You  will  see  under  Extracted 
Honey  and  Sage  that  I  do  not  claim  that 
all  pure  honey  will  candy.  If  sourwood 
honey  never  candies,  it  will  be  a  great  point 
in  its  favor,  and  I  would  pay  a  good  price 
for  a  barrel  of  it  now,  just  on  account  of  this 
one  peculiarity.  The  sample  is  at  hand,  and, 
although  it  is  not  as  light  as  our  clover  and 
basswood,  the  color  is  fair,  and  the  flavor  is 


SPACING  FRAMES. 


297 


SPANISH  NEEDLE. 


beautiful.  Its  aroma  is  delightful,  and  has 
a  suggestion  of  timber  and  forest-trees. 

SF AGING-  FRAMES.  In  nature 
we  find  combs  spaced  all  the  way  fi'om  If, 
1^,  If.  and  sometimes  up  to  two  inches 
apart,  from  center  to  center.  Dzierzon.  the 
first  one  to  conceive  the  idea  of  a  movable 
comb,  gave  U  as  the  right  distance  until 
Wyprecht  made  accurate  measurements  on 
straw  hives  having  straight  combs  built  in 
them.  Out  of  49  measm'ements.  the  average 
distance  was  scant  If  inches.  Baron  von 
Eerlepsch.in  49  other  measurements,  veri- 
fied this  result.  In  the  United  States,  prom- 
inent apiarists  have  found  the  distance  of 
natural- built  combs  averaged  li  inches  from 
center  to  center.  It  has  been  observed,  that, 
in  the  center  of  the  brood-nest,  the  combs 
are  spaced  more  closely  than  those  on  the 
outside,  the  latter  ranging  anywhere  from 
11  to  1'  inches  apart. 

It  has  been  urged  that  we  follow  nature 
in  the  spacing  cf  oiu'  brood-frames.  But  it 
seems  to  me  that  nature  is  a  very  poor 
guide,  inasmuch  as  we  find  such  a  diversity 
of  measurements.  The  bee-keeper  should 
adopt  that  spacing  which  will  give  him  the 
best  results— the  most  brood  and  the  most 
honey  in  the  surplus  arrangements.  Quite 
a  number  of  bee-keepers  are  using  H  spac- 
ing for  their  frames.  The  reason  for  this  is. 
principally,  because  they  happened  to  start 
with  this  spacing.  But  those  who  have  given 
special  attention  to  the  matter,  trying  both 
spacings,  agree  almost  uniformly  that  the 
ri^ht  distance  is  If,  or,  if  any  thing,  a  trifle 
scant.  Many,  indeed,  who  had  fixed-dis- 
tance frames  adapted  for  H  inches,  have 
gone  to  the  enormous  expense  of  changing 
over  to  If.  The  advantages  of  this  latter 
spacing  are  so  evident  that  very  few  deny 
that  better  results  may  be  obtained  with  it. 
Brood  comb  is  found  to  be,  on  an  average. 
I  inch  thick :  capped  brood,  one  inch  thick. 
On  If  spacing,  this  will  allow  i  inch  be- 
tween uncapped  comb  and  f  between  the 
capped  comb. 

The  following  paragraph  I  take  from  an 
article  published  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Cidture. 
page  673.  ^^ol.XYIIL.^Titten  by  Mr.  Julius 
Hoffman.   It  applies  right  here  exactly : 

If  Ave.  for  instance,  space  The  comics  from  center  to 
center  so  as  to  measure  1)^  instead  of  l^s  inches,  then 
we  liave  an  empty  space  of  ?»  inch  between  two 
comhs  of  hrood  instead  of  f .  as  it  ought  to  he :  and  it 
will  certainly  require  more  bees  to  fill  and  keep 
warm  a  than  a  |  space.  In  a  f-inch  space,  the 
breeding-  bees  from  two  combs  facing-  each  other  will 
join  with  their  backs,  and  so  close  up  the  space  be- 
tween the  two  brood-combs ;  if  this  space  is  widened. 


however,  to  ?s',  the  bees  can  not  do  this,  and  more 
bees  will  be  required  to  keep  up  the  needed  brood- 
ing- temperature,  "^^'hat  a  drawback  this  would  be  in 
cool  spring-  weather,  wlien  our  colonies  are  weak  in 
numbers  yet,  and  breeding  most  desirable,  can  read- 
ily be  understood. 

Where  wider  spacing  is  adopted,  there  is 
apt  to  be  more  honey  stored  in  the  combs, 
and  less  of  worker  brood,  but  more  drone 
brood.  Close  spacing,  on  the  contrary  (If  ), 
tends  to  encourage  the  rearing  of  more 
worker  brood,  the  exclusion  of  drone  brood, 
and  the  storage  of  less  honey  below.  This 
is  exactly  as  we  would  have  it.  I  said,  there 
is  i  inch  between  the  uncapped  brood.  The 
bees  need  a  little  more  room  in  backing  in 
and  out  of  the  cells  for  the  purpose  of  feed- 
ing the  larvae  than  they  do  after  these  cells 
are  capped  over  into  sealed  brood.  Sealed 
brood,  requiring  less  attention  from  the 
bees,  and  less  heat  from  the  cluster,  is  spaced 
f  apart,  and  this  is  ample.  For  further 
hints  on  this  subject,  see  Eixed  Fra3ies, 

HlTE-MAKIXG.  also  HlVES. 

SFAMiSB  KEEDLE.  This  plant 
yields  immense  quantities  of  honey  along 
the  low  bottom -grounds  of  the  Mississippi 
and  Illinois  Rivers.  The  following  from 
Gleanings,  p.  162.  Vol.  XYI=,  is  from  the 
Hon.  J.  M.  Hambaugh.  and  tells  all  about 
the  plant,  and  the  immense  quantities  of 
honey  that  are  often  produced  by  it. 

Something  over  a  year  ago  I  -wrote  a  letter  for 
Gleaxi>'GS.  claiming  that  the  honey  gathered  from 
this  plant  is  superior  to  that  produced  from  other 
fall  flowers,  and  that  it  should  rank  among  the 
very  best  grades,  and  command  the  same  price  in 
the  markets  as  clover  and  linden  honey.  My  pecul- 
iar location  has.  fortunately,  placed  me  in  a  posi- 
tion to  understand  pretty  thoroughly  the  nature  of 
this  plant,  and  the  quality  of  the  honey  it  produces. 
Located  at  the  foot  of  the  bluffs  of  the  Illinois  Riv- 
er, there  is  a  broad  expanse  of  low  marshy  lands  to 
the  east  and  south,  from  three  to  five  miles  in-«-idth. 
These  lands  are  subject  to  overflows  from  the  river 
once  a  year,  which  usually  take  place  in  early 
spring.  This  renders  a  large  portion  of  the  soil  un- 
fit for  tilling  purposes;  and  the  consequence  is,  the 
Spanish  needle  has  secured  a  permanent  foothold, 
almost  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  plants;  and 
early  in  September  they  begin  to  open  their  beauti- 
ful petals,  and  in  a  short  time  whole  districts  are 
aglow,  and  their  dazzling  brilliancy  reminds  one  of 
burnished  sheets  of  gold.  It  is  now.  should  the 
weather  prove  favorable,  that  the  bees  revel  in 
their  glory,  and  the  honey  comes  piling  in:  and  the 
beauty  about  this  kind  of  honey  is,  it  needs  but  lit- 
tle •"boiling  down,"'  and  the  bees  no  sooner  fill  their 
cells  than  they  are  cured  and  ready  to  seal.  This  is 
one  great  advantage,  and  saves  the  bees  lots  of  la- 
bor, and  makes  the  storage  of  honey  more  rapid. 
I  had  one  colony  of  bees  that  :?tored  63';  Ir'?.  of  iK  'n- 
ey  in  six  days:  another  one,  S6  lbs.  in  nine  days, 
and  43  producing-  colonies  netted  me  2^21  lbs.  in  ten 
days— an  average  of  47  lbs.  to  the  colony.   This  lion- 


V 


SPIDEE-rLOWER. 


298 


SPIDEE-^LOV^^ER. 


ey,  tboug-h  not  quite  as  clear  as  clover  or  linden,  is 
of  a  golden  hue,  exquisite  flavor,  and  very  fine 
body,  weighing  fully  13  lbs.  to  the  gallon,  and,  as 
previously  stated,  I  can  not  see  why  it  should  not 
rank  in  grade  and  price  on  the  market  with  clover 
and  linden  honey. 

So  far  as  my  market  is  concerned,  there  is  no  hon- 
ey so  universally  liked  by  the  consumers  as  my 
"golden  coreopsis;"  in  fact,  not  one  word  of  com- 
plaint has  ever  come  back  to  me  from  this  honey, 
save  one.  A  neighbor  ceased  buying  it;  and  when 
questioned  as  to  why,  he  stated,  "  My  children  eat 
it  up  too  fast."  I  am  now  running  a  peddling-wag- 
on, and  my  salesman  states  he  can  sell  more  honey 
going  over  territory  he  has  previously  canvassed 
than  to  hunt  up  new  routes.  This  certainly  speaks 
well  for  this  kind  of  honey.  I  have  sold  over  4000 
lbs.  in  my  home  market  this  season,  and  the  de- 
mand seems  to  be  on  the  increase;  and  I  believe  if 
apiarists  will  locate  their  bees  so  as  to  get  the  bene- 
fit of  these  large  areas  of  coreopsis  they  will  not 
only  be  conferring  a  boon  on  their  fellow-man,  but 
will  reap  a  financial  reward  for  themselves.  An- 
other word  in  favor  of  the  coreoi^sis  honey:  It  is 
less  inclined  to  granulate;  and  at  this  date  tliere  is 
but  little  sign  of  granulation,  while  my  two  barrels 
of  linden  honey  is  as  hard  as  New  Orleans  sugar. 

J.  M.  Hambaugh. 

Spring,  Brown  Co.,  111.,  Jan.  21,  1889. 

In  1891  Mr.  Hambaugh  wrote  another  ar- 
ticle on  the  subject,  from  which  we  make 
the  following  extract : 

The  "golden  coreopsis,"  or  Spanish  nee- 
dle, stands  at  the  head  of  all  the  honey- 
producing  plants  with  which  1  have  had 
any  experience.  It  is  not  only  the  richest 
in  nectar,  but  the  quality  is  par  excellence,, 
and  sells  in  my  home  market  equal  to,  if 
not  better  than,  clover  honey.  Its  weight 
is  fully  12  lbs.  to  the  gallon,  and  it  seems 
to  need  little  if  any  curing  by  the  bees 
when  gathered.  I  have  never  yet  seen 
any  crude  or  unripe  Spanish-needle  honey, 
notwithstanding  I  have  extracted  it  from 
the  same  supers  three  times  in  two  weeks, 
and  on  one  occasion  twice  in  five  and  six 
days.  One  colony  netted  73  lbs.  in  5  days, 
and  the  apiary  of  43  producing  colonies, 
in  8  days,  produced  2033  lbs.,  being  upward 
of  47  lbs.  per  colony;  and  this  is  not  true  of 
that  particular  year  only,  but  it  has  prov- 
en the  surest  honey-producing  plant  we 
have  in  this  locality.  Nothing  short  of 
cold  rainy  weather  will  spoil  the  harvest 
from  this  plant. 

SFIDBK-FIiO  WEB.  ( Gleome 
Pimgens).  This  belongs  to  the  same 
family  as  the  Rocky  -  Mount ain 
Bee-plant,  which  it  much  resem- 
bles. 

Early  in  1878,  Mollie  O.  Large, 
of  Pine  Hill  Apiary,  Millersville, 
HI.,  sent  rae  some  seeds,  which  I  had  start- 
ed in  a  flower-pot,  in  the  house,  but  trans- 
planted them  to  the  garden  some  time  in 
May.   Aug.  16th  they  were  in  full  bloom. 


and  the  bees  were  at  work  upon  them; 
but,  strange  to  say,  the  blossoms  opened 
only  at  about  sunset;  accordingly,  after  the 
time  when  the  bees  have  usually  stopped 
flying,  they  were  seen  eagerly  hovering  over 
this  strange  but  beautiful  plant. 

The  petals,  which  are  of  a  lovely  deep 
pink,  are  all  on  one  side  of  the  blossom ;  and 
on  the  other  side  we  see  what  resembles 
the  long,  sprawling  legs  of  the  spider.  The 
foliage  is  also  quite  ornamental. 

In  September  of  the  same  year,  Mrs. 
Large  wrote  as  follows: 

Our  experience  with  the  spider-plant,  this  season, 
is  this:  It  commenced  to  bloom  about  the  25th  of 
June,  and  the  bees  have  worked  on  it  every  fit  day 
since.  They  commence  about  5  o'clock  p.  m.,  and 
work  until  dark.  I  used  to  think  bees  went  home 
with  the  sun,  but  I  have  heard  them  on  this  plant 
when  too  dark  to  see  them  at  any  distance,  and 
found  them  again  in  the  morning  as  soon  as  it  was 
light,  and  for  a  while  after  sunrise.  If  you  tie  a 
piece  of  mosquito-bar  over  a  bunch  of  the  flowers, 
in  the  afternoon,  and  examine  it  about  sundown, 
you  can  see  the  honey  for  yourself. 

Mollie  O.  Large. 

Pine  Hill  Apiary,  Millersville,  111.,  Sept.  11, 1878. 

Acting  upon  her  suggestion,  we  tied  a 
piece  of  lace  over  one  of  the  blossoms  on 
our  plants,  to  keep  the  bees  from  it,  and  the 


SPIDER  -  PLANT.* 

drop  of  honey  that  collected  was  so  large 
that  I  had  a  fair  taste  of  it. 


*The  picture  above  was  reproduced  from  W.  Atlee 
Burpee's  catalogue. 


SPIDER-FLOWER. 


299 


SPIDER-FLOAVER. 


One  day  as  late  as  the  1 1th  of  October  I 
got  up  before  6  o'clock.  As  I  came  near  the 
garden,  I  was  surprised  to  hear  a  loud  hum- 
ming so  early.  It  was  not  robbing,  but  it 
was  a  hum  of  rejoicing.  How  strange  it  is. 
that  bees  will  make  this  happy  hum  over  the 
honey  from  the  flowers,  but  never  over  syi'up 
from  any  kind  of  a  feeder  !  The  sound  led 
me  to  the  spider-plant.  It  had  been  bearing 
lioney  a  couple  of  months,  at  night  and  ear- 
ly in  the  morning,  but  I  had  no  idea  that 
they  ever  made  so  much  noise  over  it  as  now. 
I  approached  leisurely,  but  was  startled  to 


EXLARGED  VIEW  OF  SPIDEE-PLAXT 

find  that  each  floweret  contained  a  large 
drop  of  some  liquid,  so  large,  in  fact,  I 
thought  it  must  be  dew,  and  not  honey.  I 
touched  my  tongue,  and.  behold,  it  was  fair 
honey,  of  a  beautiful  limpidity  and  taste, 
and  then  I  imderstood  the  hiunming.  As  a 
bee  alighted,  and  made  its  way  down  be- 
tween the  stamens.  I  watched  until  it  spread 
out  that  delicate,  pencil-like  tongue,  and  be- 
gan to  draw  in  the  nectar.  Surely  no  bee 
can  take  in  so  large  a  ckop:  and  so  it  proved. 
It  lapped  as  long  as  it  could  and  then  rest- 
ed awhile  :  again  it  sipped  the  "  sparkling 
ambrosia.**  and  again  it  stopped. 

It  finally  spread  its  wings,  and  essayed 
to  fly ;  but  its  greed  had  been  too  great:  and 
when  it  bumped  against  a  Simpson-plant, 
which  is  now  out  of  bloom,  down  it  went  on 
its  back  in  the  dirt. 

This  plant  is  strikingly  like  the  Rocky- 
Mountain  bee-plant,  of  which  I  have  given 
you  a  picture  already.  Our  engraver  has 
given  you  a  picture  of  the  blossom  and  leaf 
of  the  spider-plant.  The  picture  scarcely 
needs  explanation.  On  one  side  is  the  beau- 
tiful leaf  of  the  plant :  on  the  other,  one  of 
the  flower-stalks,  of  which  there  are  from  12 


to  20  to  each  plant.  As  the  flowerets,  shown 
in  the  center,  keep  blossoming  each  evening, 
the  stem  grows  out  in  the  center,  until  it  be- 
comes, finally,  two  feet  long  or  more,  and 
lined  with  seed-pods  its  whole  length.  These 
seed-pods,  when  ripe,  break  open,  and  the 
seed  must  be  gathered  daily,  or  it  is  lost. 
Each  floweret  opens  twice,  but  the  honey  is 
yielded  only  from  the  first  blooming.  Our 
plants  are  on  ground  made  by  piling  up  the 
sods  taken  from  where  the  f actoiy  stands  i 
this  may.  in  part,  account  for  the  great  yield 
of  honey. 

MORE  AEOUT  THAT  WOXDEE- 
FUL  SPIDER- PLAXT. 

One  evening  ^ve  made  obser- 
vations by  lamplight :  and.  be- 
fore nine  o'clock,  the  globules 
of  honey  were  of  the  size  of 
large  shot.   I  was  up  a  little 
after  5  o'clock,  and,  with  the 
aid  of  a  teaspoon.  I  dipped 
honey  enough   from  3  or  4 
plants  to  till  a  2-dram  vial, 
such  as  we  used  in  the  queen- 
cages,  a  little  more  than  half 
fuU.   The  honey  in  some  of 
the  flowerets  had  collected  in 
a  quantity  so  large  that  it 
spilled  out  and  actually 
streamed    on    the  ground. 
With  the  aid  of  a  lamp  I  evaporated  the 
nectar  down  to  thick  honey.    You  can  see 
something  of  what  the  bees  have  to  do. 
when  I  tell  you  that  I  had  in  bulk  only 
about  a  fifth  as  much  as  when  I  commenced. 

After  a  more  extended  and  thorough 
trial  I  will  further  state  that  The  spider- 
plant  does  not  yield  honey  prc^fusely  unless 
it  has  a  deep  rich  soil.  On  our  creek  bottom 
the  stalks  made  a  tremendous  growth,  and 
the  blossoms  were  full  of  nectar :  luit  anoth- 
er plantation,  on  higher  groimd.  yielded, 
comparatively,  but  little  honey  :  and  during 
a  dry  spell,  scarcely  any  nectar  would  be 
found  in  the  blossoms.  The  Simpson  honey- 
plant  has  turned  out  in  much  the  same  way. 

SPRAYING  DESTRUCTIVE  TO  THE 

BROOD    See  Fruit-blossoms. 

SPREADING  BROOD.  As  i-  very  well 
kno\\Ti.  queens  are  inclined  to  lay  their  eggs 
in  circles  in  each  comb,  the  circle  being  larg- 
er in  the  center  combs,  and  smaller  in  the 
outside  ones.  The  whole  bunch  of  eggs  and 
brood  in  several  combs  thus  forms  practic- 
ally a  sphere  which  the  bees  are  able  to 
cover  and  keep  warm.    When  the  queen 


SPREADING  BROOD.  300 


STINGS. 


has  formed  this  sphere  of  brood  and  eggs 
she  will  curtail  her  egg-laying  for  the  time 
being  until  enough  brood  is  hatched  out  to 
increase  the  size  of  the  cluster;  and  when 
that  cluster  has  increased  she  will  gradually 
enlarge  the  circles  of  brood  to  keep  pace 
with  the  ball  oE  bees. 

But  the  queen  very  often  is  overcaref ul— 
that  is,  she  errs  on  the  safe  side  ;  and  when 
warm  weather  has  fully  set  in  she  will  some- 
times lay  fewer  eggs  than  she  ought  to  do, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  apiarist,  and  accord- 
ingly he  inserts  a  frame  of  empty  comb  in 
the  center  of  the  brood-nest.  In  this  comb 
the  queen  will  commence  laying  at  once  to 
unite,  as  it  were,  the  two  halves  of  brood; 
and  when  she  has  filled  this  with  eggs  the 
apiarist  may  insert  another  empty  comb.  If 
the  queen  has  filled  the  first  one  given  she 
will  be  likely,  if  the  weather  is  not  cold,  to 
go  into  the  second  comb  and  fill  it  with  egas 
on  both  sides ;  for  nice  clean  empty  cells  are 
very  tempting  to  her.  In  a  word,  this  ope- 
ration of  inserting  empty  combs  in-the  cen- 
ter of  the  brood-nest  is  called spreading 
brood,"  and  its  object  is  to  increase  the 
amount  of  brood,  and  thus  insure  a  larger 
force  of  workers  when  the  harvest  shall  come 
on.  While  this  spreading  of  the  brood  may 
be  done  by  practical  and  experienced  bee- 
keepers, because  it  stimulates  the  qfueen  to 
greater  egg-laying  capacity,  yet  when  prac- 
ticed by  beginners  and  the  inexperienced  it 
generally  results  in  much  more  harm  than 
good.  An  ABC  scholar  without  previous 
experience  might,  on  a  warm  day  in  early 
spring,  think  it  was  high  time  to  put  in 
empty  comb  in  the  center  of  the  brood-nest. 
The  queen,  we  will  say,  immediately  occu- 
pies it,  filling  it  with  eggs.  This,  of  course, 
requires  a  large  force  of  nurse-bees  to  take 
care  of  the  young  bees  and  hatching  larvae. 
A  cool  spell  of  weather  is  almost  sure  to 
come  on,  with  the  result  that  the  cluster  of 
bees  is  contracted,  leaving  the  brood  that 
was  forced  to  the  outside  by  the  insertion  of 
the  empty  comb,  to  be  left  high  and  dry 
where  it  chills  and  dies.  The  outside  edges 
of  the  cluster,  in  its  effort  to  take  care  of 
this  brood,  is  chilled,  with  the  result  that 
the  colony  suffers  a  check  and  a  setback 
that  is  far  worse  than  if  it  had  been  left  to 
its  own  devices. 

Ordinarily  we  may  say  that  the  spreading 
of  brood  may  be  practiced  safely  only  after 
settled  warm  weather  has  come  on.  The 
beginner,  if  he  desires  to  give  extra  comb 
for  egg  -  laying,  especially  in  the  spring, 
would  do  well  to  put  those  combs  on  the 


outside ;  but  after  settled  warm  weather  has 
come  on,  and  the  temperature  does  not  go 
below  40  degrees  Falirenheit  at  night,  at  any 
time,  he  may  insert  a  frame  of  empty  comb 
in  the  center  of  the  brood-nest. 

But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
spreading  cf  brood  is  a  practice  that  has 
been  largely  abandoned,  even  by  experi- 
enced bee-keepers.  If  the  queen  has  plenty 
of  room  somewhere  in  the  brood-nest  (and 
that  "  somewhere  "  should  be  outside  of  the 
brood  cluster),  the  bees  and  the  queen  will 
ordinarily  rear  as  much  brood  as  they  can 
safely  and  profitably  take  care  of. 

SPRING  DWINDLING.   See  Winter- 

ING. 

STirTG-S.  It  is  true,  that  bees  can  not 
bite  and  kick  like  horses,  nor  can  they  hook 
like  cattle;  but  most  people,  after  having  had 
an  experience  with  bee-stings  for  the  first 
time,  are  inclined  to  think  they  would  rath- 
er be  bitten,  kicked,  and  hooked,  all  togeth- 
er, than  risk  a  repetition  of  that  keen 
and  exquisite  anguish  which  one  feels  as  he 
receives  the  full  contents  of  the  poison-bag, 
from  a  vigorous  hybrid,  during  the  height 
of  the  honey-season.  Stings  are  not  all  alike, 
by  any  means;  and  while  I  can  stand  the 
greater  part  of  them  without  even  wincing, 
or  stopping  my  work,  I  occasionally  get  one 
that  seems  as  if  it  could  not  possibly  be 
borne.  As  I  always  find  myself  obliged  to 
bear  it,  however,  I  try  to  do  so  as  best  I 
can. 

I  have  often  noticed  that  the  pain  is  much 
harder  to  bear  if  I  stop  and  allow  my  mind 
to  dwell  on  it ;  or  after  being  stung,  if  I  just 
think  of  former  times  when  I  have  received 
painful  stings,  at  the  mere  thought  a  sud- 
den pang  darts  along  the  wounded  part.  I 
do  not  know  why  this  is,  unless  it  is  the  ef- 
fect of  the  imagination ;  if  so,  then  it  is  clear 
to  my  mind  that  even  imaginary  pains  are 
very  hard  to  bear.  I  have  sometimes  pur- 
posely, by  way  of  experiment,  allowed  my 
mind  to  dwell  on  the  pain  of  the  sting  the 
moment  it  was  inflicted,  and  the  increase 
would  be  such  that  it  would  almost  make 
me  scream  with  pain.  If  you  doubt  this,  the 
next  time  your  feet  get  very  cold,  just  think 
of  wading  barefooted  in  the  frozen  snow,  at 
a  zero  temperature.  Perhaps  my  imagina- 
tion is  unusually  active,  for  it  sometimes 
makes  the  pain,  when  riding  in  the  cold,  al- 
most unbearable,  while  I  get  along  very  well 
if  thinking  of  something  else.  Well,  if  oth- 
ers have  had  a  similar  experience,  and  I  pre- 
sume you  all  have,  you  can  see  why  I  have 
so  often  given  as  a  remedy  for  stings,  simply 


STINGS. 


801 ' 


STINGS. 


keeping  on  with  your  work,  and  paying  no  at- 
tention to  the  stings  whatever. 

Of  course,  where  stings  swell  on  one  so 
badly  as  to  shut  an  eye.  or  the  like  of  that. 
I  presume  you  might  be  obliged  to  stop  work 
awhile;  but  even  then.  I  would  ad\  ise  pay- 
ing as  little  attention  to  the  matter  as  it  is 
possible  to  do.  and  by  all  means  to  avoid 
rubbing  or  irritating  the  alfected  part.  I 


"  ou-oo-ow-oo-o-u-c-H  1 ! 

"have  known  stings  to  be  made  very  painful ' 
by  rubbing  and  fussing  with  them,  which  I 
have  good  reason  to  think  would  have  given 
little  if  any  trouble  otherwise.  You  all  know 
that  when  you  get  warmed  up  with  hard  ; 
work,  a  bruise,  a  bump,  or  a  slight  tlesh  | 
wound,  gives  little  if  any  pain ;  but  to  sit  \ 
down  calmly  and  cut  into  one's  flesh  gives 
the  most  excruciating  pain.   When  a  lad,  I 


have  repeatedly  cut  great  gashes  in  my  fin- 
gers with  my  jack-knife,  and  felt  but  little 
l)ain  at  the  time;  but  when  it  became  neces- 
sary to  lance  the  flesh  to  get  a  sliver  out  of 
the  foot,  or  to  cut  open  a  stone-bruise,  the 
pain  was  the  most  intense  I  can  imagine. 
To  pare  away  with  the  razor  until  you  get 
tlirough  the  skin,  and  see  the  blood  start- 
why,  it  makes  my  flesh  creep  to  think  of  it 
now ;  but  the  clips  that  came 
unawares  with  the  dull  jack- 
knife  were  scarcely  heeded  at 
all,  more  than  to  tie  up  the 
wound  to  keep  the  blood  from 
soiling  my  work. 

Well,  the  point  is.  we  are  to 
take  stings  just  as  we  used  to 
take  the  cuts  with  those  jack- 
knives,  in  our  boyhood  days. 
Of  course,  we  are  not  to  rush 
needlessly  into  danger  ;  but 
when  it  comes,  take  it  philo- 
sophically. I  would  pull  the 
sting  out  as  quickly  as  possi- 
ble, and  I  would  take  it  out 
in  sucn  a  way  as  to  avoid,  as 
much  as  possible,  squeezing 
the  contents  of  the  poison-bag 
into  the  wound.  If  you  pick 
the  sting  out  with  the  thumb 
and  finger  in  the  way  that 
comes  natural,  you  will  prob- 
ably get  a  fresh  dose  of  poison 
in  the  act.  and  this  will  some- 
times prove  the  most  painful 
of  the  whole  operation,  and 
cause  the  sting  to  swell  when 
it  otherwise  would  not  have 
done  so. 

I  have  sometimes  thought 
it  might  be  nearly  as  well  to 
leave  the  sting  in  the  wound. 
I  have  frequently  found  them 
when  washing,  and  the  pres- 
ence of  the  sting  was  the  first 
indication  I  had  that  I  had 
been  stung ;  but  I  presume  I 
knew  at  the  time  that  a  sting 
had  been  inflicted. 

THE  PROPER  WAY  TO  REMOVE  A  BEE-STIXG. 

The  blade  of  a  knife,  if  one  is  handy,  may 
be  slid  under  the  poison-bag,  and  the  sting 
lifted  out,  without  pressing  a  particle  more 
of  the  poison  into  the  wound.  When  a  knife- 
blade  is  not  handy.  I  would  push  the  sting 
out  with  the  thumb  or  finger  nail  in  much 
the  same  way.  It  is  quite  desirable  that  the 
sting  should  be  taken  out  as  quickly  as  pos- 


STINGS. 


£02 


STINGS. 


sible,  for  if  the  barbs  (to  be  described  fur- 
ther along)  once  get  a  hold  in  the  flesh,  the 
muscular  contractions  will  rapidly  work  the 
sting  deeper  and  deeper.  Sometimes  the 
sting  separates,  and  a  part  of  it  (one  of  the 
splinters,  so  to  speak)  is  left  in  the  wound; 
it  has  been  suggested  that  we  should  be  very 
careful  to  remove  every  one  of  these  tiny 
points  ;  but  after  trying  many  times  to  see 
what  the  elfect  would  be,  I  have  concluded 
that  they  do  but  little  harm,  and  that  the 
main  thing  is,  to  remove  the  part  containing 
the  poison-bag,  before  it  has  emptied  itself 
completely  into  the  wound.  When  I  am  very 
busy,  or  have  something  in  my  other  hand 
making  it  inconvenient  to  remove  the  sting 
with  my  knife  or  finger-nail,  I  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  rubbing  the  sting  out  against 
my  clothing,  in  such  a  way  as  to  push  the 
poison-bag  off  sidewise;  and  although  this 
plan  often  breaks  off  the  sting  so  as  to 
leave  splinters  in  the  wound,  I  have  found 
little  if  any  more  trouble  from  them  than 
usual. 

REMEDIES  FOR  BEE-STINGS. 

For  years  past  I  have  taken  the  ground 
that  remedies  of  all  kinds  are  of  so  little 
avail,  if  of  any  avail  at  all,  that  the  best  way 
is  to  pay  no  attention  to  any  of 
them.  This  has  awakened  a  great 
deal  of  arguing,  I  know,  and  the 
remedies  that  have  been  sent  me, 
which  the  writers  knew  were 
good,  because  they  had  tried 
them,  have  been  enough  to  fill 
pages  of  this  book.  I  have  tried 
a  great  many  of  them,  and,  for  a 
time,  have  imagined  they  "did 
good;"  but  after  giving  them  a 
more  extended  trial,  I  have  been 
forced  to  conclude  that  they  were 
of  no  avail.  Nay,  further :  they 
not  only  did  no  good,  but  if  the 
directions  with  the  remedy  were 
to  rub  it  in  the  wound,  they  did  a 
positive  harm;  for  the  friction 
dilfused  the  poison  more  rapidly 
into  circulation,  and  made  a  pain- 
ful swelling  of  what  would  have 
been  very  trifling,  if  let  alone. 
Please  bear  in  mind  that  the  poi- 
son is  introduced  into  the  flesh 
through  a  puncture  so  minute  that  the  finest 
cambric  needle  could  by  no  manner  of  means 
enter  where  the  sting  did,  and  that  the  fiesh 
closes  over  so  completely  after  it,  that  it  is 
practically  impossible  for  the  remedy  to  pen- 
etrate this  opening;  now,  e^en  if  you  have  a 
remedy  that  v/ill  neutralize  the  poison,  in 


something  the  same  way  that  an  alkali  neu- 
tralizes any  other  acid,  how  are  you  to  get 
it  in  contact  with  the  poison  ?  I  know  of 
no  way  of  doing  it,  unless  we  resort  to  a  sur- 
gical operation ;  and  if  you  will  try  that  kind 
of  "  tinkering"  with  one  bee-sting,  you  will 
probably  never  want  to  try  another.  I  tell 
you,  there  is  no  remedy  in  the  world  like  let- 
ting it  alone,  and  going  on  with  your  work 
without  even  thinking  about  it.  But,  sup- 
pose we  get  a  sting  under  the  eye,  that 
closes  up  that  very  important  organ ;  shall 
we  go  on  with  our  work  still  ?  Well,  I  be- 
lieve I  would  go  on  with  my  work  still,  and 
do  the  best  I  could  do  with  one  eye.  If  both 
were  closed  at  once,  I  do  not  know  but  I 
v/ould  wait  awhile  until  they  should  get 
open  again.  I  would  not  resort  to  medichie 
and  "  tinkering,"  even  then,  but  would  let 
the"  eyes  alone,  until  they  came  open  of 
themselves. 

If  the  wound  is  feverish,  or  if  a  person  has- 
received  a  great  number  of  stings  at  one 
time,  an  application  of  cold  water,  or  cloths 
wet  in  cold  water,  may  prove  a  relief ;  but 
even  in  using  this  simple  means,  I  would  lay 
the  cloth  on  very  quietly,  and  carefully  avoid 
rubbing  or  ii'ritation.   I  have  often  dipped 


GO  'VAY,  YOU  BEE  !  " 

my  hand  in  cold  water  after  having  a  pain- 
ful sting ;  but  as  my  hand  ached  just  as  bad 
under  the  water  (it  really  ached  worse,  be- 
cause I  had  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  stand, 
there  and  think  about  it),  I  soon  dropped  that 
remedy  also.  A  year  or  two  ago  kerosene- 
oil  was  suggested  as  a  remedy,  and  two  of 


303 


STENGS. 


owv  friends  regarded  it  of  such  importance  \ 
that  they  almost  got  into  a  controversy  about 
which  was  entitled  to  the  honor  of  the  dis- 
covery. Well.  I  had  a  very  bad  sting  on  my 
hand,  and  I  went  for  the  oil-can.  and  dropped 
oil  on  the  spot  for  some  time ;  as  kerosene 
will  remove  a  rusty  bolt  or  screw  when  noth- 
ing else  will  avail,  and  as  it  seems  to  have  a 
wonderful  power  of  penetrating  all  cracks 
and  crevices,  I  began  to  have  faith  that  it 
might  follow  the  sting  of  the  bee.  and  in 
some  way  neutrahze  the  poison.  I  had  the 
satisfaction  of  having  one  of  the  most  pain- 
ful and  lasting  stings  I  ever  got;  and,  togeth- 
er with  the  olfensive  smell  of  the  oil,  it  quite 
sickened  me  of  that,  as  a  remedy.  I  pre- 
sume the  oil  made  it  no  worse,  hut  it  really 
seemed  to  me  that  it  must  have  done  so. 

WHAT  TO  DO  WHEN  STUNG  A  GREAT  XU^I- 
BER  OF  TOIES,  ALL  AT  ONCE. 

Severe  cases  of  stinging  are  usually  the 
result  of  carelessness,  either  from  allowing  i 
combs  to  be  scattered,  causing  robbing,  or 
because  a  hive  has  been  bumped  over  by  I 
careless  driving,  or  by  some  animal  allowed  ^ 
the  range  of  the  apiary.   There  are  a  num-  \ 
bsr  of  cases  on  record  where  horses  have 
been  stang  to  death ;  and  it  is  hardly  safe 
to  allow  such  animals  the  freedom  of  the 
apiary,  although  cows  and  sheep  will  cause  ; 
very  little  trouble.   Mr.  Chalon  Fowls,  of  | 
Oberlin,  O.,  left  a  horse  hitched  near  some  i 
hives  of  what  he  thought  were  gentle  Ital- ! 
ians  ;  but  by  some  means  or  other  the  ani-  \ 
mal  bumped  one  of  the  hives,  u-ritating  the  I 
bees,  cansing  them  to  rush  out  and  sting. ! 
The  horse,  of  course,  began  to  plunge  and 
kick,  with  the  result  that  he  demolished 
completely  all  the  hives  within  reach.  Mr. 
Fowls  said  the  horse,  when  he  could  get 
to  him,  was  almost  literally  covered  with  ; 
stings.  He  unhitched  him  and  immediately  | 
called  for  a  boiler  of  hot  water.   This  was  I 
brought  out  as  soon  as  it  could  be  heated. 
Cloths  and  blankets  were  immersed  in  wa- 
ter, almost  boiling  hot,  wTung  almost  dry,  | 
and  laid  over  the  animal,  now  writhing  in  | 
the  severest  agony.  The  moment  Mr.  Fowls 
applied  the  hot  blankets  he  says  the  horse 
quieted  down.  During  the  escapade  he  him- 
self was  terribly  stimg  in  the  face  and  on 
the  hands  ;  and  he  says  that,  as  soon  as  the  ; 
hot  cloths  were  applied  to  his  face,  he  felt 
almost  instant  relief.   The  hot  cloths  were 
applied  to  the  horse  on  every  portion  that 
was  stung,  and  Mr.  Fowls  hail  the  satisfac- 
tion of  knowing  that  he  could  save  his 
horse,  which  was  soon  as  w  ell  as  ever. 


Cases  are  on  record  of  severe  stinging  of 
human  beings  where  cold  applications  were 
used  instead  of  hot.  with  almost  as  good 
results,  apparently.  In  such  cases  the  pa- 
tients are  wrapped  in  a  bed  sheet,  wrung 
from  cold  water,  and  put  to  bed.  and  appli- 
cations renewed  until  relief  followed.  I 
have  never  been  severely  stung  myself:  but 
I  believe  there  is  more  efficacy  in  hot  appli- 
cations than  in  cold;  and  I  would  recom- 
mend that,  in  case  of  severe  stingmg,  such 
be  tried. 

GETTING  HARDENED  TO  THE  EFFECTS  OF 
STINGS. 

When  I  first  commenced  bee  -  keeping, 
stings  swelled  so  badly,  and  were  so  painful, 
that  I  had  either  my  hands  or  eyes  swelled 
np  most  of  the  time,  and  I  seriously  contem- 
plated giving  up  the  business,  just  on  this 
account  alone.  After  I  had  had  a  little  more 
practice,  I  discovered  that  there  was  very 
little  need  of  being  stung  at  all.  if  one  was 
careful  not  to  provoke  the  ire  of  the  little  in- 
sects. Still  further.  I  found  the  swelling  to 
be  gradually  less  and  less  ;  and  before  my 
first  summer  was  over.  I  very  seldom  felt  the 
effects  of  any  sting,  the  day  afterward. 
When  first  commencing,  if  my  eye  was 
swelled  so  as  to  be  closed  by  a  sting,  it  often 
took  until  the  third  day  to  have  it  go  down 
entirely.  The  ABC  class,  almost  without 
exception,  corroborate  this  experience. 

HOW  TO  AVOID  BEING  STL'NG. 

Some  may  imagine,  from  the  foregoing, 
that  it  is  necessary  for  one  who  keeps  bees 
to  submit  to  the  pain  of  being  stung  several 
times  every  day.  A  short  time  ago  a  lady 
said  that  she  could  never  stand  it  to  have 
her  husband  keep  100  colonies,  for  she  got 
stung  four  or  five  times  a  day  with  only  a 
dozen,  and  80  or  40  stings  a  day  would  be 
more  than  she  could  possibly  bear.  Xow, 
my  friends,  I  think  I  can  take  any  one  of  you 
into  an  apiary  of  100  colonies,  and  have  you 
assist  me  all  day  long,  without  your  getting 
a  single  stmg.  Xay.  fiuther :  if  you  are  very 
timid,  and  cannot  bear  a  single  sting,  by  tak- 
ing some  pains  you  may  be  able  to  work  day 
after  day.  without  being  stmig.  The  apiary 
must  be  properly  cared  for.  and  no  robbing 
allowed,  and  you  must  do  exactly  as  I  tell 
you.  See  Anger  of  Bees.  It  may  be  a 
hard  matter  to  tell  you  in  a  book  how  to  be- 
have without  being  stung,  but  I  will  try.  In 
the  first  place,  avoid  standing  right  in  front 
of  any  hive.  I  am  often  very  much  tried 
with  visitors  (some  of  them  bee-keepers,  too, 
who  ought  to  know  better),  because  they  will 
stand  right  before  the  entrance  until  they 


STINGS. 


STINGS. 


have  a  small  swarm  scolding  around  them 
because  they  cannot  get  out  and  in,  and  then 
wonder  why  so  many  bees  are  buzzing  about 
in  that  particular  spot.i^^  If  you  should  go 
into  a  factory,  and  stand  in  the  way  of  the 
workmen  until  a  dozen  of  them  were  blocked 
up  with  their  arms  full  of  boards  and  linish- 
ed  work,  you  would  be  pretty  apt  to  be  told 
to  get  out  of  the  way.  Now,  you  are  to  exer- 
cise the  same  common  sense  in  an  apiary. 
By  watching  them  you  can  tell  at  once 
their  path  through  the  air,  and  you  are  to 
keep  out  of  their  way.   Eight  back  of  any 
hive  is  a  pretty  safe  place  to  stand.  I 
One  of  the  first  things  to  learn  is  to  know  | 
whether  a  bee  is  angry  or  not,  by  the  noise  it  \ 
makes.  It  seems  to  me  you  should  all  know  by  ! 
the  hum  of  a  bee,  when  it  is  gathering  honey 
from  the  heads  of  clover  in  the  fields,  that  it 
has  no  malice  toward  any  living  thing:  it  is 
the  happy  hum  of  honest  industry  and  con- 
tentment.   People  sometimes  jump  when  a 
bee  hums  thus  harmlessly  along,  and  it  j 
seems  to  me  they  should  know  better,  but  I  i 
presume  it  is  because  bees  are  not  in  their  i 
line  of  business,  and  they  don't  know    bee  | 
talk." 

Well,  when  you  go  in  front  of  a  hive,  or 
even  approach  hives  that  are  not  accustomed 
to  being  worked  with,  one  of  the  sentinels 
will  frequently  take  wing,  and,  by  an  angry 
and  loud  buzz,  bid  you  begone. This  note 
is  quite  unlike  that  of  a  bee  upon  the  flow- 
ers, or  of  the  ordinary  laborer  upon  the 
wing ;  it  is  in  a  high  key,  and  the  tone,  to 
me,  sounds  much  like  that  of  a  scolding  wo- 
man, and  one  who  will  be  pretty  sure  to 
make  her  threats  good  if  you  do  not  heed 
the  warning.  When  one  of  these  bees  ap- 
proaches, you  are  first  to  lower  your  head,  or, 
better  still,  tip  do^m  your  hat-brim;  for 
these  fellows  almost  always  instinctively  aim 
for  the  eyes.  It  will  often  be  satisfied,  and 
go  back  into  its  hive  if  you  move  away  a  lit- 
tle ;  but  you  must  be  sure  not  to  give  it  to 
understand  that  you  admit  yourself  a  thief, 
and  that  it  has  frightened  you.  If  it  gets 
very  threatening,  and  you  are  timid,  you 
would  better  go  into  some  building.  I  am 
in  the  habit  of  opening  the  door  of  the  honey- 
house,  and  asking  visitors  to  go  in  there, 
when  an  angry  bee  persists  in  following 
them.  Very  many  times  I  can  hardly  get 
them  to  go  in  as  I  direct,  because  they  can 
not  see  why  the  bee  will  not  follow  them, 
and  thus  have  them  cornered  up  and  a  sure 
prey.  I  do  not  know  why  it  is,  but  a  bee 
very  seldom  ventures  to  follow  one  indoors. 
A  single  bee  never  does,  if  I  am  correct;  but 


a  very  vicious  colony  of  hybrids,  when  fully 
aroused,  may  do  so 

WHAT  TO  DO  WHEN  A  SINGLE  BEE  FOLLOWS 
YOL"  ABOUT  BY  THE  HOUR. 

It  not  unfrequently  happens,  especially 
in  an  apiary  where  there  are  hybrids, 
that  a  single  bee  (of  this  race)  will  fol- 
low you  about  the  apiary  for  hours,  pois- 
ing itself  just  before  your  eyes,  making 
believe  to  sting.  It  does  not  pay  to  be 
humane  with  such  bees.  While  your  of- 
fender is  holding  itself  aloft  before  your 
face  in  a  menacing  manner,  smash  it  be- 
tween your  hands,  or,  with  a  stick,  give  it 
a  smart  rap;  but  take  care  that  you  don't 
miss  it,  or  it  will  stop  its  dallying  and  de- 
liver its  sting.  In  the  use  of  the  stick,  it 
is  quite  useless  to  strike  at  individual  bees 
on  the  wing.  It  is  my  plan  to  take  up  two 
sticks,  or  any  thing  that  is  handy,  say  an 
inch  or  two  wide  and  a  foot  or  two  long. 
With  a  couple  of  these,  one  in  each  hand,  I 
make  a  rapid  wh  r;ing  in  front  of  my  face, 
revolving  the  sticks  back  and  forth.  This 
excites  the  ire  of  the  cross  bec-s,  causing 
them  to  rush  right  out  at  the  rapidly  mov- 
ing objects,  with  the  result  that  they  get 
their  heads  rapped  right  and  left.  I  have 
had  at  various  times  perhaps  a  hundred  bees 
buzzing  about  my  head,  and  yet  I  have  killed 
them  all,  in  the  manner  I  have  explained,  in 
less  time  than  ic  takes  to  tell  it.  Such  bees, 
unless  killed,  will  harrass  one  for  perhaps 
an  hour. 

HOW  TO    SAVE   YOURSELF   FROM  A  STING. 

Sometimes  a  bee  will  be  in  the  act  of  in- 
serting its  sting  in  your  hand.  If  the  other 
hand  is  not  h(  Iding  a  frame,  or  is  not  other- 
wise engaged,  bring  it  to  the  rescue  by 
smashing  the  bee  before  it  succeeds.  If,  as 
is  sometimes  the  case,  the  other  hand  is 
holding  a  frame,  slap  the  hand  which  is  be- 
ing attacked,  against  your  person.  If  you 
do  it  right  you  can  both  smash  the  bee  and 
also  rub  out  the  sting,  if  its  owner  has  suc- 
ceeded in  plunging  it  into  the  flesh.  Never 
slap  the  hand  directly  against  yourself,  but 
give  it  a  sort  of  sliding  motion.  You  will 
thus  accomplish  the  double  purpose.  If  a 
bee  strikes  you  in  the  back  of  the  neck  (and 
you  have  no  veil  on),  lodging  in  your  hair, 
smash  it  by  that  half-^^lap  and  half-rub- 
bing motion.  I  recommend  killing  bees  as 
above,  when  they  have  actually  begun  to  in- 
sert their  sting,  because  they  are  then,  so 
far  as  I  am  able  to  observe,  determined  to 
accomplish  their  purpose  or  die.  If  it  is  m 
my  power,  I  usually  prefer  to  have  them  do 
the  latter ;  for  if  a  bee  is  foiled  after  it  has 


STmG8. 


SOo 


STIXGS. 


got  so  far.  it  Avill  carry  out  the  principle 
most  persistently  of  the  little  adage.  "-If  at 
first  you  don't  succeed."  etc.  See  Axger 
OF  Bees. 

Where  there  has  been  no  robbing  going  on, 
one  has  usually  warning  enough,  and  in  am- 
ple time,  to  take  precautions.  Where  the 
bees  are  quietly  at  work,  that  is.  during  the 
working  season,  there  is  but  little  danger 
from  bees  in  the  air.  When  you  are  work- 
ing with  a  hive,  bending  right  over  the  un- 
covered frames,  you  are  comparatively  se- 
cure from  the  bees  of  other  hives:  for  when 
there  is  no  robbing,  bees  seem  to  have  no 
disposition  to  meddle  or  hang  around  their 
neighbors"  homes.  This  is  one  reason  why 
bystanders,  or  those  who  are  off  at  a  little 
distance,  are  so  much  more  apt  to  be  stung 
than  the  apiarist  who  is  right  among  them. 

JERKIXC-   THE   HAXDS  BACK. 

A  good  many  times,  especially  if  the  bees 
are  inclined  to  be  a  little  cross,  three  or  four, 
as  you  proceed  to  lift  the  frame,  will  strike 
against  the  hands  as  if  about  to  sting.  The 
natural  tendency,  of  course,  is  to  jerk  the 
hand  back.  This  is  the  worst  thing  that 
you  can  do.  You  will  be  almost  sure  to  be 
stung  then,  while,  if  you  hold  your  hands 
motionless,  and  let  the  bees  see  that  the  new 
objects  are  not  afraid  of  them,  they  will 
rarely  if  ever  go  beyond  a  pretense  of  using 
their  weapon.  I  am  sure  that  a  large  num- 
ber of  stings  received  by  beginners  on  the 
hands  are  attributable  to  this  jerking-back 
of  the  hands.  The  same  is  true  with  refer- 
ence to  the  face,  if  not  protected  by  a  veil. 
;Xine-tenths  of  the  bees  which  make  such 
demonstration  will  not  sting,  if  you  can  con- 
trol your  nerves,  letting  your  tormentors 
know  that  you  are  not  to  be  frightened. 

HOW  TO  OPEi^  A  HIVE,    WITHOUT  BEIXG 
STUXG. 

Have  your  smoker  lighted,  and  in  good 
trim,  and  then  set  it  down  near  the  hive  you 
are  going  to  work  with.  Xow,  I  would  nev- 
er use  smoke  with  any  hive  of  bees,  unless 
they  need  it  to  subdue  them:  for  why  should 
we  disturb  and  annoy  the  little  fellows  while 
quietly  going  about  their  household  duties, 
unless  we  are  obliged  toV  I  frequently  open 
hive  after  hive,  with  no  kind  of  use  for 
smoke  at  all,  and  yet  I  often  see  bee-keepers 
drive  the  poor  little  chaps  down  to  the  bot- 
toms of  their  hives  with  great  volumes  of 
smoke,  when  they  have  not  sho^^^l  the  least 
symptom  of  any  disposition  but  the  most 
friendly  one.  It  is  true,  where  the  colony  is 
very  large,  the  bees  sometimes  pile  up  in  the 
wav,  on  the  rabbets  and  ends  of  the  frames. 


so  that  it  becomes  desirable  to  drive  them 
away  for  their  own  safety.  For  this  pur- 
pose, very  little  smoke  is  needed:  and  if  you 
are  in  no  great  hurry,  they  will  clear  out  of 
the  way.  if  you  just  pat  them  on  the  backs 
I  gently  with  a  weed  or  bit  of  grass. If  the 
I  bees  are  disposed  to  be  cross,  and  to  show 
fight,  you  will  readily  discover  it  the  minute 
you  turn  up  the  first  corner  of  the  cloth  cov- 
ering: and  if  it  takes  smoke  to  make  them 
beg  pardon,  give  them  smoke,  but  only  in 
small  quantities  until  you  are  sure  more 
is  needed.   See  Frames.  How  to  Maxip- 

ITLATE. 

WHAT   KIXD   OP  BEES   STIXG  WORST. 

The  general  decision  is.  that  the  pure  Ital- 
ians are.  as  a  mle.  the  most  easily  handled  * 
:Xot  only  do  they  sting  less,  but  as  they  keep 
their  places  on  the  combs  without  getting 
excited,  when  hives  are  properly  opened. 


eyes  full 
rry  for 


they  are  far  less  liable  to  get  under  one's 
clothing  than  the  common  bees.  A  great 
many  stings  are  received  from  bees  that  are 
in  no  way  badly  disposed  at  all.  simply  by 
theii'  getting  pinched  accidentally,  while  on 
the  person  of  the  bee-keeper.  Piu'e  Italians 
may  be  handled  all  day.  with  no  such  mis- 
hap :  but  after  working  among  blacks  or  hy- 
brids. I  often  find  a  dozen  or  more  imder  niy 
coat,  up  my  sleeves,  if  they  can  get  up,  and, 
worst  of  .all.  up  my  trousers,  if  I  have  not 
taken  the  precaution  to  tuck  them  into  my 

*Queenles3  bees  are  almost  always  much  worse; 
it  may  be  because  they  seldom  W(^tk  with  enei'g-y, 
and  have  therefore  no  fresh  accumulation  of  stores, 
that  tend  so  much  to  put  bees  on  their  good  be- 
havior. 


STINGS. 


306 


STINGS. 


boots,  or  stockings  when  I  wear  low  shoes. 
See  Bee-dress.  Well,  I  believe  this  one 
thing  alone  would  decide  me  in  favor  of  the 
Italians,  if  they  were  simply  equal  to  the 
blacks  in  other  respects.  The  hybrids,  as  I 
have  before  stated,  are  much  worse  to  sting 
than  either  of  the  races  when  pure. 

It  may  be  well  to  add,  that  we  find  many 
exceptions  to  these  rules ;  a  hive  of  blacks 
will  sometimes  be  much  easier  to  handle 
than  a  hive  of  Italians  in  the  same  yard,  and 
the  progeny  of  a  queen  that  we  may  have 
every  other  reason  to  call  pure,  may  be  as 
cross  as  the  worst  hybrids.  Still  further :  A 
very  cross  colony  of  bees  may  be  so  educat- 
ed, by  careful  treatment,  as  to  become  very 
gentle,  and  vice  versa.  The  colony  in  front 
of  the  door  of  the  honey-house  was  always  a 
gentle  one,  season  after  season ;  the  explana- 
tion of  it  is,  that  they  become  accustomed  to 
the  continual  passing  and  repassing  of  the 
bee-keeper  in  front  of  their  hive,  and  learned 
to  be  dodging  past  some  one  almost  all  the 
time.  On  the  contrary,  those  bees  that  are 
in  the  remote  corners  of  the  apiary  are  very 
apt  to  sting  you,  if  you  just  come  round  to 
take  a  view  of  their  entrance.  The  Egyp- 
tian bees  are  said  to  be  very  much  worse 
than  any  of  the  other  races ;  and  as  they  do 
not  yield  to  smoke,  as  do  others,  they 
have  been  discarded,  principally  on  account 
of  this  unpleasant  feature.* 

The  Cyprians  and  Syrians  are  more  vin- 
dictive than  Italians,  and  more  nervous  than 
a  cross  between  the  blacks  and  Italians. 
Still,  these  Eastern  races  can  be  handled  if 
rightly  managed. 

THE  BEE-STING  POISON. 

When  bees  are  very  angry,  and  elevate 
that  portion  of  their  bodies  containing  the 
sting,  you  will  often  see  a  tiny  drop  of  some 
transparent  liquid  on  the  point  of  the  sting. 
This  liquid  is  the  poison  of  the  bee-sting.  It 
has  a  sharp,  pungent  taste;  and  when  thrown 
in  the  eyes,  as  often  happens,  it  has  a  sting- 
ing, acrid  feeling,  as  if  it  might  be  a  com- 
pound of  cayenne  pepper,  onion  -  juice,  and 
horseradish  combined;  and  one  who  tastes  it 
or  gets  it  in  his  eyes  concludes  it  is  not  so 
very  strange  that  such  a  substance,  intro- 
duced into  the  circulation,  produces  such  ex- 
quisite pain.  The  poison  of  the  bee-sting 
has  been  shown  to  be  similar  in  composition 
to  that  of  the  viper  and  scorpion ;  but  at  the 
present  writing  I  can  not  learn  that  any 
chemist  has  ever  given  us  an  analysis  that 
would  tell  us  just  what  the  poison  is.  The 

*Carniolans  have  the  reputation  of  being- very 
gentle,  but  I  think  are  no  more  so  than  Italians. 


i  . 


acid  obtained  from  ants  is  called  formic  acid, 
and  I  have  wondered  whether  that  from  bee- 
stings is  not  similar,  if  not  the  same.  It  is 
probably  a  vegetable  acid,  secreted  from  the 
honey  and  pollen  that  constitutes  their  food, 
and  it  is  well  known  that  the  poison  is  much 
more  pungent  when  the  bees  are  working  in 
the  fields,  and  accumulating  stores  largely, 
than  it  is  when  they  are  at  rest  in  the  winter 
months.  It  is  generally  during  basswood- 
bloom  that  we  get  those  severe  stings  which 
draw  the  blood  and  show  a  large  white  spot 
around  the  wound. 

HOW  IT  IS  DONE. 

It  is  quite  an  interesting  experiment  to 
let  a  bee  sting  you  on  the  hand,  and  then 
coolly  observe  the  whole  performance,  with- 
out disturbing  it.  When  a  boy  wishes  to 
jump  across  a  brook,  he  usually  goes  back  a 
few  feet,  and  takes  a  little  run ;  well,  a  bee, 
when  it  introduces  the  point  of  its  sting, 
prefers  to  make  a  short  run  or  dash,  or  it 
may  fail  in  lodging  the  barbs  of  the  sting  se- 
curely in  the  flesh.  I  do  not  believe  a  bee 
can  very  well  get  up  the  necessary  energy  to 
sting  unless  it  is  under  the  influence  of 
some  excitement.  I  have  sometimes,  in  try- 
ing to  see  how  far  I  could  go  with  an  angry 
colony  of  bees  without  the  use  of  smoke,  had 
a  lot  of  them  strike  my  face  with  a  sudden 
dash;  but  as  I  kept  perfectly  still,  they  would 
alight  without  stinging.  Now,  the  slightest 
movement,  even  an  incautious  breath,  would 
result  in  some  pretty  severe  stinging ;  but  if 
I  kept  cool  and  quiet,  and  carefully  walked 
away,  I  might  escape  without  any  stings  at 
all.  Very  often  a  single  bee  will  work  it- 
self up  to  a  sufficient  passion  to  try  to  sting  ; 
but  to  commence  while  standing  still,  I  have 
always  found  to  be  rather  difficult  work  for 
them;  and  although  they  sometimes  prick 
slightly,  and  give  one  a  touch  of  the  poison, 
they  seldom  sting  very  severely,  without 
taking  wing  again.  To  go  back :  After  the 
bee  has  penetrated  the  flesh  on  your  hand, 
and  worked  the  sting  so  deeply  into  the 
flesh  as  to  be  satisfied,  it  begins  to  find  that 
it  is  a  prisoner,  and  to  consider  means  of 
escape.  It  usually  gets  smashed  at  about 
this  stage  of  proceedings,  unless  it  succeeds 
in  tearing  the  sting  —  poison-bag  and  all 
— from  the  body;  however,  if  allowed  to  do 
the  work  quietly  it  seldom  does  this,  know- 
ing that  such  a  proceeding  seriously  maims 
it  for  life,  if  it  does  not  kill  it.  After 
pulling  at  the  sting  to  see  that  it  will  not 
come  out,  it  seems  to  consider  the  matter  a 
little,  and  then  commences  to  walk  around 
it,  in  a  circle,  just  as  if  it  were  a  screw  it 


8TIXG8. 


307 


STIXG8. 


was  going  to  tiu'n  out  of  a  board.  If  you 
will  be  patient  and  let  it  alone,  it  will  get 
it  out  by  this  very  process,  and  fly  off  un- 
harmed. I  need  not  tell  you  that  it  takes 
some  heroism  to  submit  patiently  to  all  this 
manoeuvring.  The  temptation  is  almost  un- 
governable, while  experiencing  the  intense 
pain, to  say, while  you  give  it  a  clip.  ••There, 
you  little  beggar,  take  that,  and  learn  better 
manners  in  future." 

Well,  how  does  every  bee  know  that  it 
can  extricate  its  sting  by  walking  around  it  ? 
Some  would  say  it  is  instinct.  Well.  I  guess- 
it  is;  but  it  seems  to  me,  after  all.  that  it 
" sort  o'  remembers how  its  ancestors  have 
behaved  in  similar  predicaments  for  ages 
and  ages  past. 

ODOR  OF  THE  BEE-STIXG  POISOX. 

After  one  bee  has  stung  you.  if  you  use  the 
hand  that  has  been  stung  among  the  bees  in 
the  hive,  the  smell  of  the  poison,  or  some- 
thing else,  will  be  pretty  sm-e  to  get  more 
stings  for  you,  imless  you  are  very  careful. 
Also  after  one  sting  has  been  inflicterl.  there 
seems  a  much  greater  chance,  when  about 
in  the  apiary,  of  getting  more  stings.  Mr. 
Quinby  has  suggested  that  this  is  owing  to 
the  smell  of  the  poison,  and  that  the  use  of 
smoke  will  neutralize  this  scent.  This  prob- 
ably is  so,  but  I  am  not  fully  satisfied  of  it. 

THE  POISOX  OF  THE  BEE-STIXG  AS  A  REME- 
DIAL AGENT. 

For  some  years  past  there  have  been  run- 
ning through  our  journals  many  reports  in 
regard  to  the  agency  of  bee-stings  m  the 
cure  of  certain  forms  of  diseases,  especially 
rheumatism.  From  the  facts  put  forth.  I 
think  any  candid  reasoner  will  have  to  ad- 
mit that  being  stung  frequently  does  certain- 
ly have  the  effect  of  relieving  certain  forms 
of  rheumatism,  paralysis,  and  perhaps  drop- 
sy. It  is  true,  the  open-air  exercise  may 
have  something  to  do  with  it ;  but  I  believe 
the  poison  of  the  sting  itself  often  gives  al- 
most immediate  relief  in  the  diseases  above 
mentioned.  I  may  add  here,  that  it  is  well 
kno^^Ti  that  homeopathists  use  bee-sting  poi- 
son as  a  remedial  agent,  under  the  name  of 
Ajyis  meUifica.  In  their  hands  it  is  one  of 
the  most  useful  of  all  remedies  in  the  treat- 
ment of  oedematous  and  dropsical  conditions 
of  the  cellular  tissue,  skin,  serous  and  mu- 
cous membranes,  and  the  glandular  system. 
The  late  C.  F.  Muth,  of  Cincinnati,  sold  a 
good  many  colonies  of  live  Italh^ns  to  doc- 
tors, for  the  sole  purpose  of  extracting  the 
poison.  If  I  am  correct,  they  extract  the 
poison  by  means  of  alcohol.  We  have  also 
sold  bees  by  the  pound  foi-  the  same  purpcse. 


During  the  summer  of  1S89  we  furnished 
lO.OCO  stings  to  a  prominent  pharmaceutical 
establishment,  and  have  since  furnished 
stings  in  smaller  lots  for  other  parties. 

DOES  A  BEE  DIE  .*iFTEK  LOSIXG  ITS  STIXG  ? 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  loss  of  the  sting 
results  in  the  death  of  the  bee  within  a  very 
few  hours  :  but  this  can  hardly  be  true.  Col- 
onies have  at  times  become  so  enraged  as  to 
sting  every  thing  within  re  ;cli.  even  plung- 
ing their  little  javelins  into  fence-posts  and 
other  inanimate  objects,  the  result  being 
that  nearly  every  bee  of  the  colonies  in  the 
frac-as  would  lose  its  sting,  and  yet  these 
same  colonies  live  and  prosper.  One  corres- 
pondent in  particular  relates  the  following 
incident : 

Through  a  piece  of  carelessness  he  allow- 
ed a  certain  one  of  his  colonies  to  become 
so  infuriated  as  to  sting  everybody  and 
every  thing  within  their  reach.  He  declar- 
ed, upon  a  subseqtTent  examination,  that 
there  was  scarcely  a  bee  in  that  whole  colo- 
ny which  did  not  show  unmistakable  evi- 
dence of  having  lost  its  sting  in  the  uproar 
just  mentioned.  Now.  the  singular  fact  was 
that  these  bees  actually  lived,  gathered  hon- 
ey, and  prospered. 

That  some  bees  may  die  after  losing  their 
sting,  may  be  trite  ;  but  that  they  universal- 
ly do  so  is  a  myth  that  is  now  thoroughly 
discredited. 

S3I0KE  XOT  AEWAYS  A  PREVENTIVE  OF 
BEE-STI^^GS. 

Although  smoke  is  our  great  reliance  as  a 
security  against  stings  while  working  among 
bees,  there  are  sometimes  colonies,  or  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  I  scarcely  know  which, 
when  one  can  get  along  better  without  it.  I 
remember  trying  to  open  a  colony  of  hybrids 
in  the  fall  of  the  year,  to  shi;>w  them  to  my 
wife.  As  a  safeguard.  I  first  gave  them  a 
good  smoking;  but.  to  my  surprise,  they  got 
into  a  perfect  panic,  and  poured  out  of  the 
hive  and  showed  fight,  in  great  numbers.  It 
is  ti'ue.  I  could  drive  them  down  :  Init  the 
minute  I  ceased  smoking  them,  to  lift  out  a 
comb,  they  became  perfectly  infuriated:  and 
although  driven  down  to  the  bottom  -  board 
repeatedly,  they  were  up  and  ready  for  an 
attack,  almost  as  soon  as  the  smoker  was 
turned  away  fi'om  the  hive.  I  let  tliem  go. 
without  half  making  the  examination  I 
wished.  The  next  day.  in  passing  the  hive 
I  thought  I  would  look  in  and  see  if  they 
were  of  the  same  opinion  still.  I  had  no 
smoker,  and  so  raised  the  corner  of  the  cloth 
over  the  frames  cautiously.    They  kept  on 


STINGS. 


808 


STINGS. 


with  their  work,  and  seemed  to  care  nothing 
about  the  intrusion,  I  took  the  cloth  clear 
off,  lifted  frame  after  frame,  but  not  a  bee 
showed  the  least  sign  of  hostility.  In  sur- 
prise, I  carried  a  frame  with  the  queen  on  it 
into  the  house  and  showed  it  to  my  wife,  and 
told  her  it  was  the  same  swarm  that  acted 
so  wickedly,  just  the  day  before.  The  only 
trouble  seemed  to  be  that  they  very  decided- 
ly objected  to  having  their  hive  deluged  with 
the  offensive  smoke,  and  I  am  sure  it  must 
be  very  painful  to  them  in  its  effects.  I  took 
the  lesson,  and  have  since  often  found  that 
I  could  get  along  even  better  without  smoke. 
Have  your  smoker  in  readiness;  and  if  you 
are  obliged  to  use  smoke,  use  a  very  little,  as 
circumstances  seem  to  decide  best.  Some- 
times the  only  way  seems  to  be  to  use  it  in 
considerable  quantities,  but  I  would  never 
smoke  the  poor  little  fellows  needlessly. 

MECHANICAL  CONSTRUCTION  AND  OPERA- 
TION OF  THE  STING. 

After  a  bee  has  stung  j^ou,  and  torn  it 
self  away  from  the  sting,  you  will  no- 
tice, if  you  look  closely,  a  bundle  of  muscles, 
near  by  and  partly  enveloping  the  poison- 
bag.  Well,  the  curious  part  of  it  is,  that,  for 
some  considerable  time  after  the  sting  has 
been  detached  from^he  body  of  the  bee, 
these  muscles  will  work  with  a  kind  of  pump- 
like motion,  working  the  sting  further  into 
the  wound,  as  if  they  had  a  conscious  ex- 
istence, and  burned  with  a  desire  to  wreak 
vengeance  on  the  party  attacked.  Nay,  fur- 
ther, after  the  sting  has  been  pulled  from 
the  flesh,  and  thrown  away,  if  it  should  stick 
to  your  clothing  in  such  a  way  that  your 
flesh  will  come  in  contact  with  it,  it  will 
commence  working  again,  pulling  itself  into 
the  flesh,  and  emptying  the  poison  into  the 
wound,  precisely  as  if  the  living  bee  were 
itself  working  it.  I  have  been  stung  a  great 
many  times  from  a  sting  without  any  bee 
about  it  at  all.  Without  any  precise  fig- 
ures, I  should  say  a  sting  would  hold  life 
enough  to  give  a  very  painful  wound,  as  long 
as  full  five- minutes ;  and  it  may  be,  in  some 
cases,  even  ten  minutes.*575  This  phenome- 
non is  wonderful,  and  I  have  often,  while 
•  watching  the  sting  sink  into  the  rim  of  my 
felt  hat,  pondered  on  that  wonderful  thing, 
animal  life.  Why  should  that  isolated  sting 
behave  in  this  manner,  when  the  bee  to 
which  it  belonged  was  perhaps  far  away, 
buzzing  through  the  airV  Why  should  this 
bundle  of  fibers  and  muscles  behave  as  if  it 


*  Muscular  contraction  of  the  sting-  has  taken 
place  under  the  field  of  the  microscope  30  minute 
after  being-  detached  from  the  hee. 


had  a  life  to  throw  away?  I  do  not  know. 
This,  however,  I  do  know ;  when  you  i)ull  a 
sting  from  the  wound,  you  should  throw  it 
far  enough  away  so  that  it  will  not  get  back 
on  your  face  or  hands,  or  into  your  hair,  to 
sting  you  again. 

In  giving  the  following  description  of  a 
bee-sting,  I  am  much  indebted  to  the  draw- 
ings and  description  given  by  J.  R.  Bledsoe, 
of  Natchez,  Mississippi,  in  the  American  Bee 
Journal  for  August,  1«70.  I  am  also  in- 
debted to  Prof.  Cook's  excellent  Manual. 
•  Under  the  microscope  the  sting  is  found 
to  be  a  beautifully  fashioned  and  polished 
instrument,  whose  delicate  taper  and  finish 
make  a  most  surprising  contrast  with  any 
instrument  man  has  been  able  to  produce. 


BEE-STING  MAGNIFIED. 


In  shape  it  appears  to  be  round ;  but  it  is, 
in  reality,  egg  -  shaped,  and  is  of  a  dark- 
red  color,  but  transparent  enough  so  that 
we  may  see  the  hollow  that  runs  through 
the  center  of  each  of  its  parts.  These  hol- 
lows are  probably  to  secure  lightness  as 
well  as  strength. 

I  have  given  you  three  views  of  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  sting,  like  letters  represent- 
ing like  parts  in  all.  Bear  in  mind  that  the 
sting  proper  is  composed  of  three  parts— the 
outer  shell,  or  husk,  D,  and  two  barbed  spears 
that  slide  partly  inside  of  it.  In  Fig.  2  I 
have  shown  you  the  spears.   The  barbs  are 


STINGS. 


309 


STINGS. 


much  like  the  barbs  on  a  fish  -  hook ;  and 
when  the  point  of  one  spear,  A,  penetrates 
far  enough  to  get  one  barb  under  the  skin, 
the  bee  has  made  a  hold,  and  has  no  difficul- 
ty in  sinking  the  sting  its  whole  length  into 
the  wound ;  for  the  pumping  motion  at  once 
commences,  and  the  other  spear,  B,  slides 
down  a  little  beyond  A,  then  A  beyond  B, 
and  so  on.  The  manner  in  which  these 
spears  are  worked  is,  as  nearly  as  I  can  make 
out,  by  a  pair  of  something  like  pump-han- 
dles, operated  by  small  but  powerful  mus- 
cles. I  have  shown  you  the  arrangement  of 
these  handles  at  J  and  K,  Fig.  1,  as  nearly 
as  I  could  conjecture  what  it  must  be,  from 
watching  its  workings  under  the  microscope. 
These  muscles  will  work,  at  intervals,  for 
some  time  after  the  sting  has  been  torn  from 
the  bee,  as  I  have  explained.  They  work 
with  sufficient  power  to  send  the  sting 
through  a  felt  hat,  or  into  a  tough  buckskin 
glove.  I  have  often  watched  the  bee  while 
attempting  to  get  its  sting  started  into  the 
hard  cuticle  on  the  inside  of  my  hand.  The 
spears  will  often  run  along  the  surface  diag- 
onally, so  that  you  can  see  how  it  works  down 
by  successive  pumps.  The  hollow  in  these 
spears  is  indicated  at  G  and  F,  in  Figs.  2 
and  3  ;  O,  O,  ducts  leading  from  G  and  F. 

I  am  not  certain  as  to  what  the  real  office 
of  these  ducts,  O,  O,  is.  I  have  sometimes 
thought  that  they  were  for  the  purpose  of 
conducting  the  poison  to  the  wound  from 
the  canals  G  and  F,  the  latter  communicat- 
ing directly  with  the  poison-bag  itself.  In- 
deed, Frank  Cheshire  says  they  afford  the 
only  means  of  exit  for  the  poison,  and  he  is 
probab  y  light. 

Fig.  3  is  a  transverse  section,  sliced  across 
the  three  parts,  at  about  the  dotted  line  D. 
A  and  B  are  the  barbed  spears ;  F  and  G, 
the  hollows  to  give  them  lightness  and 
strength;  H,  H,the  barbs.  It  will  be  ob- 
served that  the  husk,  D,  incloses  but  little 
more  than  i  of  them.  Now,  the  purpose  of 
this  husk  is  to  hold  the  barbs  in  place,  and 
to  allow  them  to  slide  easily  up  and  down, 
also  to  direct  them  while  doing  this  work. 
To  hold  all  together,  there  is  a  groove  like  a 
chopping-knife  in  both  spears,  and  a  corres- 
ponding projection  in  the  husk,  which  fit  each 
other,  as  shown.  This  allows  the  barbs  to 
project  to  do  their  work,  and  yet  holds  all 
together  tolerably  firm.  I  say  tolerably  firm, 
for  these  spears  are  very  easily  torn  out  of 
the  husk ;  and  after  a  sting  is  extracted,  they 
are  often  left  in  the  wound,  like  the  tiny 
splinters  I  have  before  spoken  of.  When 
torn  out  and  laid  on  a  slip  of  glass  they  are 


j  scarcely  visible  to  the  naked  eye ;  but  under 
i  the  microscope  they  show  as  seen  in  Fig.  2. 

Stings  do  not  all  have  the  same  number 
;  of  barbs.   I  have  seen  as  few  as  7  and  as 
;  many  as  9.  The  two  spears  are  held  against 
!  each  other  as  shown  in  Fig.  3,  and  you  will 
observe  that  the  shape  and  the  arrangement 
of  the  3  parts  leave  the  hollow,  E,  in  their 
!  center.  The  hollows  are  the  chaimels  for  this 
I  wonderful  vegetable  poison.   The  working 
of  the  spears  also  pumps  down  poison,  and 
!  quite  a  good-sized  drop  collected  on  the 
I  points  of  the  spears  while  I  saw  them  work- 
ing under  the  microscope.   Friend  Bledsoe 
found  a  valve  that  let  the  poison  out  of  the 
poison-bag  into  this  wonderful  little  pump, 
but  prevented  it  from  returning,    t  have 
not  been  able  to  see  this,  but  have  no  doubt 
'  that  it  is  there.   The  drop  of  poison,  after 
it  has  lain  on  the  glass  a  few  minutes,  dries 
down,  and  seems  to  leave  a  gummy  sub- 
I  stance,  that  crystallizes,  as  it  were,  into 
I  strange  and  beautiful  forms.   I  have  tried 
to  show  it  to  you  in  Fig.  4. 

I  can  not  close  the  subject  of  stings  with- 
out speaking  of  the  wonderful  similarity  be- 
tween the  mechanism  of  the  sting  of  the 
bee  and  the  apparatus  furnished  many  in- 
sects for  sawing  and  boring  into  wood  and 
other  substances,  for  the  purpose  of  deposit- 
ing their  eggs.  Almost  precisely  the  same 
apparatus  is  used,  but  the  barbs  on  the  ex- 
tremities are  saws  instead  of  the  sharp 
hooks.  If  you  will  look  at  the  cut  you  will 
see  that  but  very  little  change  need  be  made 
in  these  barbs  to  convert  them  into  saw- 
teeth, and  then  we  should  have  an  engine 
for  cutting  and  boring  holes,  that  might  eas- 
ily be  patented  if  old  Dame  Nature  were  so 
I  disposed.  Now  listen.  If  the  insect  had 
but  one  saw,  even  though  it  had  strength  to 
draw  it  back  and  forth,  its  light  body  would 
not  give  it  purchase  enough  to  do  much 
execution  with  it.  It  is  true,  it  might  "  dig 
in  its  toe-nails,"  and  hold  itself  do^Ti  so 
that  it  could  work  it  to  some  extent ;  but 
then  it  could  not  change  its  position  ac- 
cording to  its  work,  etc.  When  the  saw  was 
worked,  instead  of  its  cutting  into  the  hard 
timber  its  light  body  would  be  simply  slid 
to  and  fro ;  but  with  two  saws,  like  the 
barbed  spears  of  the  bee-sting,  working  in  a 
sheath  to  hold  them  together,  it  can  stand 
its  ground  and  use  its  enormous  muscular 
^  strength  to  do  rapid  cutting,  even  if  its  body 
i  does  weigh  only  half  a  grain,  or  less, 
i  While  one  saw  goes  forward,  the  other  goes 
I  backward ;  and  the  rapidity  with  which  these 
I  insects  work  them  enables  them  to  make  as- 


SUMAC. 


310 


SWARMING. 


tonisliing  progress,  even  in  substances  so 
hard  that  one  would  not  suppose  they  could 
make  any  impression  at  all.  Now  here 
comes  in  again  the  wonderful  law  I  have 
spoken  of  so  many  times,  on  these  pages. 
The  insect  that  has  the  most  effective  and 
perfect  set  of  tools  will  lay  most  eggs  and 
have  them  most  secure  from  the  depreda- 
tion of  enemies,  and  its  species  will  stand  a 
better  chance  of  survival  than  the  individ- 
ual or  class  with  poorer  tools.  By  giving  a 
constant  preference  to  the  best  workers,  and 
taking  into  account  how  nature  sports  and 
varies,  would  it  be  strange  if,  after  the  lapse 
of  ages,  the  result  should  be  the  beautifully 
finished  work  we  see  through  the  micro- 
scope? I  do  not  know  that  bee-stings  could 
develop  into  saws,  or  saws  into  bee-stings; 
but  if  an  insect  should  be  found  using  its 
ovipositor  as  a  weapon  of  defense,  as  well  as 
for  the  purpose  of  egg-laying,  it  might  look 
as  though  the  thing  were  possible.  I  am 
not  an  entomologist,  and  I  do  not  know  that 
any  such  insect  has  ever  been  discovered. 
Who  will  enlighten  us? 

SUMAC  [Bhus).  This  is  a  sort  of 
shrub,  or  small  tree,  readily  known  by  its 
bunches  of  bright  red  fruit,  having  an  in- 
tensely sour  taste.  The  acid  property,  how- 
ever, seems  to  be  only  on  the  surface  of  the 
fruit,  in  the  red  dust  that  may  be  brushed 
off.  I  have  had  no  experience  with  the  hon- 
ey, which  the  bees  sometimes  get  in  large 
quantities  from  the  small  greenish  flowers, 
but  give  the  following  from  page  96,  Glean- 
ings for  1874 : 

June  32, 1874.—  Contrary  to  expectations,  we  are 
now  in  the  height  of  a  wonderful  flow  of  honey  from 
sumac,  which  of  late  years  has  not  yielded  much. 
Every  thing  in  the  hives  is  filled  full,  and  1  am  kept 
busy  hiving  swarms,  as  it  has  become  too  much  of  a 
job  to  keep  them  from  swarming  by  removing 
frames  of  brood.      Gr.  F.  Mehbiam,  Topeka,  Kan. 

SUIOTLOWISB.  {Helianthus).  This 
plant  embraces  a  very  large  family;  but  the 
principal  ones  for  honey  are  the  common 
sunflower  and  the  Jerusalem  artichoke. 
During  some  seasons  and  in  some  localities 
the  bees  seem  to  be  very  busy  indeed  on 
these  plants,  all  the  day  long.  The  mam- 
moth Eussian  sunflower  bears  flowers  of 
enormous  dimensions;  and  from  the  way 
the  bees  crowd  each  other  about  the  necta- 
ries, one  would  suppose  they  yielded  much 
honey. 5'*^  The  seed,  which  is  yielded  in  large 
quantities,  would  seem  almost  to  pay  the  ex- 
pense of  cultivation.  The  following  is  taken 
from  page  36,  Vol.  III.,  of  Gleanings  : 


My  boy'had  a  small  box  of  sunflower  seeds,  which 
he  kept^s  one  of  his  playthings^Last  spring  he  ac^ 
cidentally  spilt  them  in  the  garden  by  the  fence, 
and,  old  as  they  were,  they  came  up  profusely.  They 
looked  so  thrifty,  I  took  it  into  my  head  to  trans- 
plant them.  I  set  them  all  around  in  the  fence,  out 
of  the  Avay,  where  nothing  else  would  grow  to  advan- 
tage, and,  if  you  will  believe  me,  I  had  an  enormous 
crop.  When  they  blossomed  the  bees  went  at  them 
in  earnest ;  and  after  the  bees  got  through  with  them 
there  were  several  quarts  of  seed.  I  sold  a  dollar's 
worth  to  my  druggist,  and  the  remainder  1  fed  out  to 
my  hens,  and,  as  a  writer  of  old  has  said,  I  found 
nothing  so  good  and  nourishing  for  laying  hens  as 
sunflower  seeds.  Then  I  cut  off  the  empty  heads, 
place  them  near  the  bee-hives,  fill  them  with  sugar 
and  water,  and  that  suits  the  bees  to  a  T.  So  you 
see  I  was  at  no  expense,  and  they  paid  well.  I  write 
this  that  others  may  be  benefited  as  well  as  myself. 

Dr.  R.  Hitchcock, 

South  Norwalk,  Conn.,  Feb.  3,  1875. 

SWARIMEIBTG-.  All  animated  nature 
seems  to  have  some  means  of  reproducing 
its  like,  that  the  species  may  not  become  ex- 
tinct ;  and,  especially  among  the  insect 
tribes,  we  find  a  great  diversity  of  ways  and 
means  for  accomplishing  this  object.  In  the 
microscopic  world  we  find  simple  forms  of 
animal  life  contracting  themselves  in  the 
middle  until  they  break  in  two,  and  then 
each  separate  part,  after  a  time,  breaks  in 
two,  and  so  on.  With  bees  we  have  a  some- 
what similar  phenomenon.  When  a  colony 
gets  excessively  strong,  the  inmates  of  the 
hive,  by  a  sort  of  preconcerted,  mutual  agree- 
ment, divide  themselves  off  into  two  parties, 
one  party  remaining  in  the  old  hive,  and  the 
other  starting  out  to  seek  their  fortunes  else- 
where. 202 

I  have  carefully  watched  this  proceeding, 
with  a  view  of  determining  how  the  matter 
comes  about,  that  is,  whether  it  is  because  a 
part  of  the  bees  become  dissatisfied  with 
their  old  home,  and  seek  to  better  their  con- 
dition, or  because  the  queen  leaves,  for  some 
reason  of  her  own  (because  she  has  not  room 
to  lay  her  eggs,  for  instance),  and  the  bees 
simply  follow  from  a  sort  of  natural  instinct, 
since  she  is  the  mother  of  the  colony,  and 
an  absolute  necessity  to  their  prosperity. 
After  seeing  a  number  of  swarms  issue,  and 
finding  that  the  queen  was  among  the  last  to 
leave  the  hive,  I  concluded  that  the  bees 
take  the  lead,  and  that  the  queen  simply  fol- 
lowed as  a  matter  of  course,  in  the  general 
melee. Suppose,  however,  that  the  queen 
should  not  take  a  notion  to  join  the  new  ad- 
venture. Swarms  do  sometimes  start  out 
with  no  queen  accompanying  them,587  and 
they  usually  go  back  to  the  hive  after  a  time, 
to  try  it  again  next  day.  If  she  does  not  go 
then,  nor  at  the  next  attempt,  they  often 


SWARMING. 


311 


SWARMING. 


wait  until  they  can  rear  a  new  queen,  and 
then  go  off  with  her.  After  I  was  pretty 
well  satisfied  that  this  is  the  correct  idea  of 
their  plan,  a  little  circumstance  seemed  to 
upset  it  all.  A  neighbor,  wanting  to  make 
an  observatory  hive,  drummed  perhaps  a 
quart  of  bees  from  one  of  his  old  hives.  As 
he  had  no  queen,  I  gave  him  a  black  queen 
taken  from  a  hive  purchased  several  miles 
away.  I  mention  this  to  show  that  the  queen 
had  never  been  out  of  the  hive,  in  the  loca- 


HOW  DO  YOU  LIKE  MY  CATCH 


tion  which  it  then  occupied.  After  a  day  or 
two,  this  neighbor  informed  me  that  I  had 
played  a  fine  trick  on  him,  for  my  queen  had 
gone  home,  and  taken  his  quart  of  bees  with 
her.  I  told  him  it  was  impossible,  for  she 
had  never  been  out  of  the  hive,  only  when  I 
carried  her  over  in  the  cage. 

We  went  and  looked  in  the  hive  she  came 
from,  and  there  she  was,  true  enough,  with 


the  bees  she  had  brought  with  her  stung  to 
death,  in  front  and  on  the  bottom-board.  It 
is  possible  that  the  bees  swarmed  out  first ; 
but  even  if  they  did,  they  certainly  followed 
the  queen  in  going  back  to  her  old  home. 
We  also  know  that  bees  sometimes  follow 
a  young  queen  when  she  goes  out  to  take 
her  wedding-flight. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  it  is  neither  the  queen 
nor  the  workers  alone  that  make  the  first 
start,  but  that  all  hands  join  together  and 
act  in  concert. 

WHY  BEES  SWARM. 

If  we  attempt  to  contract  the 
size  of  the  hive  when  honey  is 
coming  in  bountifully,  the  bees 
will  be  very  apt  to  take  measures 
toward  swarming,  about  as  soon 
as  the  combs  are  full  of  brood, 
eggs,  pollen,  and  honey.  They 
will  often  wait  several  days  af- 
ter the  hive  is  seemingly  full, 
and  this  course  may  not  cause 
them  to  swarm  at  all,  but  it  is 
very  likely  to.  As  soon  as  it  has 
been  decided  that  the  hive  is  too 
small,  and  that  there  is  no  feasi- 
ble place  for  storing  an  extra 
supply  of  honey  where  it  can  be 
procured  in  the  winter,  when 
needed,  they  generally  com- 
mence queen-cell&.  Before  do- 
ing this  I  have  known  them  to 
go  so  far  as  to  store  their  honey 
outside  on  the  portico,  or  even 
underneath  the  hive,  thus  indi- 
cating most  clearly  their  wants 
in  the  shape  of  extra  space  for 
their  stores  where  they  could 
protect  them. 

I  believe  want  of  room  is  the 
most  general  cause  of  swarm- 
ing, although  it  is  not  the  only 
cause ;  for  bees  often  swarm  in- 
cessantly when  they  have  a  hive 
only  partly  filled  with  comb. 
First  swarms  usually  come 
about  from  the  cause  I  have 
mentioned ;  but  After-swarm- 
iiSTG  (which  see)  often  gets  to  be 
a  sort  of  mania  with  the  bees,  and  they 
swarm,  apparently,  without  a  reason. 

AT  WHAT  SEASON  BEES  USUALLY  SWARM. 

The  old  adage  runs, — 

"•  A  swarm  of  bees  In  May 
Is  worth  a  load  of  hay; 
A  swarm  of  bees  in  June 
Is  worth  a  silver  spoon ; 
A  swarm  of  bees  in  July 
Is  not  worth  a  fly." 


SWARMING. 


312 


SWARMING. 


There  is  much  truth  m  this,  especially  if 
mauaged  on  the  old  plan ;  but  with  modern 
improvements,  a  swarm  in  July  may  be 
worth  a  silver  spoon,  or  even  a  load  of  hay ; 
possibly,  both  together.  See  After-swarm- 
ing. A  colony  that  was  very  populous  in 
the  fall,  and  has  wintered  finely,  may  cast 
the  first  swarm  in  May,  in  this  latitude ;  but 
sucli  events  were  very  unusual  before  the 
advent  of  Italians.  The  latter  often  swarm 
during  fruit-bloom,  and  in  some  cases  even 
earlier.  In  our  locality,  swarms  do  not  usu- 
ally issue  until  the  middle  or  last  of  June. 
If  the  season  is  a  little  late,  sometimes  the 
greater  part  of  them  will  come  in  July,  and 
we  almost  always  have  more  or  less  swarm- 
ing going  on  during  our  national  holiday. 
At  this  time,  basswood  is  generally  at  its 
height,  and  we  frequently  have  quite  a  yield 
from  clover,  after  basswood  is  gone.  On 
this  account,  swarms  that  come  out  during 
the  first  week  in  July  usually  get  enough  to 
winter,  and  are  therefore  worth  the  price  of 
a  swarm  of  bees  any  way.  I  presume  the  old 
adage  referred,  principally,  to  the  amount  of 
honey  they  would  store ;  if  the  July  swarms 
did  not  secure  enough  to  winter  over,  and 
were  allowed  to  starve,  they  would  not  be 
worth  the  trouble  of  hiving  them,  and  so 
they  might  be  rated  as  of  less  value  than  a 
fly.205  Swarms  that  come  out  in  June  would 
fill  their  hives,  and  perhaps  make  a  surplus 
that,  on  an  average,  would  bring  at  least  a 
dollar,  the  old  price  of  a  silver  spoon ;  while 
those  that  were  so  thrifty  as  to  be  able  to 
start  in  May  w^ould  have  the  whole  season 
before  them;  and  if  they  did  not  get  set  back 
before  white  clover  came  out,  would  very 
likely  make  a  surplus  worth  $5.00,  the  mar- 
ket price  of  a  load  of  hay.  In  some  locali- 
ties bees  seem  to  swarm  in  the  latter  part  of 
July  and  August,  and  reports  seem  to  show 
that  they  do  it  when  little  or  no  honey  is  to 
be  had,  and  when  the  bees  are  disposed  to 
rob ;  but  such  is  certainly  not  the  case  here, 
for  our  bees  give  up  all  preparations  for 
swarming,  some  little  time  before  the  honey- 
crop  has  ceased.  I  do  not  remember  ever  to 
have  seen  a  natural  swarm  issue  here  later 
than  July;  but  in  some  localities,  buckwheat 
swarms  are  a  very  common  thing.  Where 
the  apiarist  has  plenty  of  extra  combs  filled 
with  stores,  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  care  for 
and  make  valuable  stocks  of  swarms  that  is- 
sue at  any  time. 

SYMPTOMS  OF  SWARMIKG. 

Although  we  can  sometimes  tell  when 
bees  are  going  to  swarm,  I  do  not  think  it 
will  be  safe,  by  any  means,  to  assume  that 


we  can  always  do  so.   It  has  been  said,  that 
the  bees  which  have  been  clustering  outside 
will,  all  the  morning  of  the  day  they  are  in- 
tending to  swarm,  go  inside  the  hive  ;  but 
this  can  not  always  be  so,  for  I  have  seen  a 
swarm  issue  while  the  loafers  were  hanging 
on  the  outside  as  usual ;  and  at  the  sound  of 
the  swarming-note,  they  took  wing  and  join- 
I  ed  in.   Where  a  colony  is  intending  to  swarm, 
j  they  will  not  be  working  like  the  rest,  as  a 
;  general  thing ;  and  quite  likely,  on  the  day 
;  they  are  intending  to  swarm,  very  few  bees, 
I  comparatively,  will  be  seen  going  out  and  in 
'  at  the  hive-'-^o*^   With  movable  combs  we  can 
I  generally  give  a  very  good  guess  of  the  dis- 
,  position  to  swarm,  by  opening  the  hive. 
I  Bees  do  not,  as  a  rule,  swarm  until  they  have 
I  got  their  hive  pretty  well  filled  up,  and  have 
;  multitudes  of  young  bees  hatching  out  daily. 
The  presence  of  queen-cells  is  generally  con- 
sidered an  indication  of  the  swarming  fever. 


i 


"  THOSE  PETS." 

Many  think  that  the  clustering  of  the  bees 
on  the  outside  of  the  hives  is  an  indication 
that  they  are  going  to  swarm.  To  a  certain 
extent  this  may  be  the  case,  but  it  is  by  no 
means  an  indication  that  they  are  going  to 
swarm  very  soon.    I  knew  a  colony,  belong- 

!  ing  to  a  neighbor,  that  hung  out  in  great 
masses  nearly  a  month  before  the  bees  came 

i  out.   His  new  hive  was  in  readiness,  and  he 

j  stayed  at  home  and  watched  day  after  day, 
until  clover  and  basswood  both  were  almost 

i  gone,  and  finally  they  cast  a  truly  large,  fine 
swarm. 

JfEVER    ALLOW  BEES  TO    HANG  OUTSIDE 
THE  HIVE. 

This  swarm  had  hung  outside  the  hive 
\  during  the  great  honey-harvest  of  the  sea- 


SWARMING. 


313 


SWARMING. 


son;  and  as  it  is  no  unusual  thing  for  a  colo- 
ny to  store  10  lbs.  a  day,  during  the  height 
of  the  season,  they  may  have  lost  100  lbs. 
of  honey,  for  the  swarm  was  an  unusually 
strong  and  fine  one.  I  think  they  could  eas- 
ily have  secured  this  amount  if  they  had 
worked,  but  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that 
they  could  have  been  made  to  go  to  work 
as  they  did  after  they  swarmed  and  were 
put  into  a  new  hive.  Within  two  or  three 
weeks  after  they  swarmed,  if  I  remember, 
they  filled  their  hive,  and  gave  about  25  lbs. 
of  surplus.  How  shall  we  deal  with  such 
bees  ? 

This  clu'^tering-out  may  be  caused  by  the 
fact  that  the  bees  need  room.  In  that  case, 
obviou-ly,  an  extracting  or  comb  honey  su- 
per should  be  placed  on  top  ;  for  if  the  bees 
get  into  the  habit  of  loafing  it  maybe  a  little 
hard  to  get  them  to  go  up  into  the  supers. 
In  such  c  se  I  would  advise  giving^  the  bees 
a  section  or  t\\  o  of  honey  partly  drawn  out, 
as  previously  explained  under  Comb  Honey. 
I  would  at  the  same  time  also  enlarge  the 
entiance.  If  you  do  not  u-e  a  Danzenba- 
ker  bottom-board,  as  descriWed  under  En- 
trances, set  the  hive  up  on  four  blocks  | 
inch  thick.  This  will  leave  an  open  space 
all  around  the  hive,  but  that  will  do  no 
harm.  If  the  primary  cause  of  the  bees  clus- 
tering out  in  the  first  place  is  la(  k  of  ventila- 
tion, or  too  great  heat,  this  raising  up  of  the 
hive  u  ill  cause  the  bees  to  go  in,  and  possi- 
bly prevent  swarming.  See  Entrances  ; 
also  Comb  Honey. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  SWARMING,  TO  BE  MADE 
BY  THE  BEE-KEEPER. 

Every  apiarist,  even  if  he  have  but  a  cou- 
ple of  hives,  should  make  preparations  for 
swarming,  at  least  to  some  extent ;  for,  even 
though  dividing  (see  Nucleus)  is  practiced, 
and  the  utmost  care  used  to  prevent  any 
other,  there  will  always  be  a  chance  that 
swarms  may  come  out  unexpectedly.  First 
of  all,  and  before  the  swarming  season,  the 
wings  of  all  queens  should  be  clipped,  and 
hives  should  be  in  readiness.  Extra  combs 
should  be  placed  in  the  honey-house  where 
you  can  put  your  hand  on  them  at  any 
minute.  I  would  also  have  some  hives 
where  I  could  get  a  comb  of  unsealed  lar- 
vse,  without  very  much  trouble  ;  that  is, 
make  up  your  mind  what  hive  you  are  to  go 
to,  in  case  you  should  want  such  a  comb  in 
a  hurry.  Bees  will  often  swarm  on  Sunday; 
and  as  we  would  not  wish  to  work  with  our 
bees  on  the  Sabbath  more  than  is  absolutely 
necessary,  it  behooves  us  to  be  at  all  times 
prepared  to  take  care  of  a  swarm,  should  it 


come,  with  very  little  trouble.  I  can  re- 
member having  swarms  on  Sunday,  when  it 
became  necessary  to  hunt  up  a  hive,  decide 
on  its  location,  hunt  up  some  empty  combs, 
and  then  look  over  my  hives  to  see  where 
there  was  one  with  no  surplus  boxes  on,  that* 
I  might  get  at  a  brood  -  comb  with  as  little 
trouble  as  possible,  to  put  in  the  new  hive, 
to  prevent  them  from  decamping.  All  these 
things  take  time,  and  more  than  one  swarm 
have  departed  while  a  hive  was  being  made 
ready  to  receive  them.  If  you  keep  the 
wings  of  your  queens  clipped  as  I  have  ad- 
vised, you  will  need  some  queen-cages  where 
you  can  lay  your  hands  on  them  at  a  min- 
ute's notice,  for  there  are  times  when  you 
need  to  step  about  as  lively  as  you  would  if 
a  house  were  on  fire,  and  you  do  not  want  to 
be  bothered  by  hunting  for  things. 


MILLER  QUEEN-CATCHEK. 


The  best  queen-catcher,  or,  rather,  a  cage 
for  confining  the  queen,  during  the  swarm- 
ing season,  is  the  Miller  introducing-cage,  a 
cut  of  which  will  be  found  under  Introduc- 
ing. We  will  suppose  that  a  swarm  has 
just  issued,  and  that  your  clipped  queen  is 
hopping  around  the  entrance  of  your  hive. 
Your  wife  or  attendant,  feeling  some  hesi- 
tancy about  picking  up  so  delicate  an  object 
by  her  silken  wings,  can  take  a  cage  of  this 
kind  and  place  the  mouth  directly  over  her. 
In  a  moment,  finding  herself  confined,  she 
will  ascend  into  the  cage.  The  little  wood- 
en plug  is  now  inserted,  and  your  captive 
queen  can  be  placed  among  the  fl\  ing  bees, 
and  the  swarm  hived  as  described  next. 
The  cage  is  also  used  for  introducing.  See 
Introducing. 

how  to  hive  a  swarm  with  clipped 
queen;  the  plan  we  prefer. 

Under  the  general  head  of  Queens,  sub- 
head Clipping,  I  have  already  given  inti- 
mation how  swarming  may  be  controlled  to 
a  certain  extent  by  clipping.  The  i)ractice 
has  come  to  be  almost  universal  among 
practic-il  h- >ney-producers  at  the  present 
time,  for  where  queens'  wings  are  clipped, 
or  they  are  prevented  from  leaving  the  hive 
by  the  use  of  Alley  traps  or  entrance-guards 
(see  Drones),  a  great  amount  of  labor  may 
be  saved. 

We  will  assume  that  all  queens  in  the  api- 
ary have  their  wings  clipped.  A  swarm 
comes  forth.   Go  to  the  hive  from  which  it 


SWARMING. 


814 


SVVARMIKG. 


is  issuing ;  and,  while  they  are  coming  out, 
cage  the  queen,  which  will  be  found,  in  all 
probability,  hopping  around  in  the  grass 
near  the  entrance,  vainly  endeavoring  to  fly 
with  the  rest  of  the  bees.  Cage  her,  and 
*then  slip  the  cage  into  a  pocket  or  some  cool 
place,  temporarily.  Remove  the  super  or 
supers  into  which  the  bees  have  already 
started  to  work,  and  set  them  on  the  ground 
near  the  hive.  The  brood-chamber  should 
now  be  removed  just  as  it  is,  to  an  entirely 
new  location.  Put  in  its  place  on  the  old 
stand  a  hive  containing  frames  of  founda- 
tion or  empty  comb,  and  on  top  of  this  a 
queen-excluding  honey-board.  Some  prefer 
having  only  starters  of  foundation.  J^ext 
put  the  supers,  placed  on  the  ground  tem- 
porarily, on  the  new  hive  containing  the 
frames  of  foundation  or  comb.  Now  lay 
the  caged  queen  in  front  of  the  entrance. 

All  of  this  may  be  done  while  the  bees  are 
in  the  air,  and  it  will  not  be  long  before  they 
discover  that  the  queen  is  not  with  them, 
and  return  pellmell  to  their  old  location,  and 
rush  into  the  new  hive.  After  they  are  well 
started  to  going  in,  the  queen  may  be  releas- 
ed, when  she  will  go  with  them. 

The  work  already  begun  in  the  supers  will 
be  pushed  on  and  completed  with  more  vim 
and  energy  than  before,  because  a  new 
swarm  always  works  with  new  energy.  If 
only  frames  containing  starters  are  given 
them,  what  honey  does  come  in  is  forced 
right  into  the  supers,  for  the  bees  have  ab- 
solutely no  place  to  store  it,  or  at  least 
not  until  foundation  below  has  been  drawn 
out;  and  as  soon  as  this  takes  place  it  is  oc- 
cupied immediately  by  the  queen. 

The  old  hive  containing  frames  of  brood 
and  queen-cells  now  in  another  location 
may  cast  forth  a  second  or  a  third  swarm ; 
but  if  queen- cells  are  cut  out,  even  second 
swarming  may,  to  a  very  great  extent,  be 
checked. 

This  method  of  handling  swarms  com- 
mends itself  especially  to  the  women-folks, 
who  are  generally  at  home.   All  they  have  | 
to  do  is  to  hnnt  up  the  clipped  queen,  cage  I 
her,  and  then  put  an  empty  hive  containing  ! 
frames  of  foundation  in  place  of  the  old  one.  ! 
As  it  might  not  be  practical  for  the  women  \ 
to  carry  the  old  hive  to  another  location,  i 
they  can  simply  drag  it  over  to  one  side,  ! 
and  change  the  entrance  so  that  it  will  face 
to  the  rear.    When  the  "  man  of  the  house  " 
returns,  he  can  lift  the  supers  oft  from  the 
old  stand  on  to  the  new  one,  then  take  the  I 
old  brood-nest  over  to  another  location.  ' 
This  can  be  done  any  time  within  a  day ;  or,  ' 


when  preferred,  the  old  stand  can  be  left 
alongside  of  the  new  one,  providing  the  en- 
trance is  reversed. 

If  two  or  more  swarms  come  out  at  the 
same  time,  and  one  of  them  has  a  virgin 
queen,  all  the  bees  will  be  likely  to  unite 
with  the  one  having  the  queen  ;  then,  of 
course,  this  plan  of  bees  returning  will  come 
to  naught.  But  in  a  well-regulated  apiary 
there  w.ll  be  few  such  occurrences  as  this, 
and  ninety  nine  out  of  a  hundred  swarms 
may  be  hived  as  easily  as  this,  without  any 
trouble. 

SWAEMING  -  DEVIOUS,  VARIOUSLY 
OONSTRUOTED. 
\  Every  apiarist  engaged  in  the  production 
of  honey  should  by  all  means  have  the  wings 
of  all  his  queens  clipped.  He  can  not  afford 
not  to,  unless  he  uses  perforated  zinc  (see 
DiiONE^).  It  is  much  more  difficult  to  take 
care  of  swarms  when  queens  are  allowed  to 
go  with  the  swarm.  But  as  there  are  some 
who  dislike  to  "disfigure"  or  "mutilate" 
their  queens  ;  and  as  some  swarms  in  any 
case  will  get  out  with  a  virgin  queen,  I 
have  thought  best  to  describe  the  various 
devices  for  capturing  swarms  with  undip- 
ped queens.  See  Queens,  subhead  Clip- 
ping. 

Almost  every  apiarist  has  his  own  peculiar 
notion  as  to  how  a  swarming-device  should 
be  constructed.  Some  of  these  implements 
are  very  ingenious,  and  valuable  assistants 
during  the  swarm.ing  season.  Their  partic- 
ular use  is  to  remove  a  sv/arm  after  it  has 
clustered,  and  place  it  in  the  hive  where  it  is 
desired  that  the  new  swarm  shall  take  up 
its  new  abode.  The  first  one  to  which  I  call 
attention,  not  because  it  is  the  best,  but  be- 
cause it  is  the  simplest,  is  a  sort  of  butterfly- 
catcher. 


The  hoop  is  made  of  stout  wire,  and  is 
about  20  inches  in  diameter.  The  ends  are 
soldered  into  a  tin  socket  that  will  receive  a 
rake-handle, or,  for  tall  trees,  something  still 
longer.  The  bag  is  to  be  put  up  under  the 
swarm,  and  the  hoop  is  then  made  to  gently 
cut  off  the  cluster  so  that  the  bees  will  fall 
into  the  bag.  It  is  then  turned  edgewise,  so 
as  to  confine  them  while  it  is  taken  down 


SWARMING. 


315 


SWARMING. 


and  carried  to  the  hive.  As  the  bag  is  made 
of  cheese-cloth,  they  have  plenty  of  air.  To 
get  the  bees  out,  turn  it  inside  out.  The 
bag  has  the  same  diameter  as  the  hoop,  and 
is  about  four  feet  long. 

THE  MORTON  HIVING  POLE. 

The  late  Miles  Morton,  the  one  who  used 
fences  in  the  production  of  comb  honey  for 
many  years,  and  concerning  whom  reference 
is  made  in  Comb  Honey,  devised  a  sort  of 
extension-pole  that  will  prove  very  useful  in 
capturing  swarms  that  alight  on  high  trees. 
The  basket  is  very  similar  to  the  Manum ; 

that  is,  it  is  a  wire- 
cloth  cage  in  the  shape 
of  an  inverted  pyramid 
pivoted  at  its  two  op- 
posite corners,  and  sup- 
ported by  means  of  a 
Y  .  The  illustration 
does  not  show  the  bas- 
ket attached  as  it 
should  be,  although 
the  half  tone  engrav- 
ing shows  it  correctly. 

The  machine  con- 
sists of  an  outer  hol- 
low pole  and  an  inner 
one,  both  square.  The 
outer  pole  is  virtually 
a  long  box  about  2  in. 
square  on  the  outside, 
and  12  feet  long.  A 
cross-section  is  shown 
at  2  in  the  cut.  Inside 
this  hollow  square  pole 
another  square  pole  is 
made  of  about  the 
same  length,  and  just 
large  enough  to  slide 
up  and  down  easily. 
A  longitudinal  groove, 
about  I  inch  wide  and 
deep,  running  its  en- 
tire length,  is  cut  on 
one  side,  as  shown  at 
D,  D.  This  groove  is 
to  receive  the  rope  C 
C.  At  each  end  of  the 
outer  pole  are  let  in 
two  ordinary  sash-pul- 
leys, as  at  r,  and  an 
ordinary  clothesline  is  then  passed  through 
the  pulleys.  The  grooved  inner  pole  is  then 
slid  into  the  outer  one,  so  that  the  rope  lies 
in  the  groove.  The  two  ends  of  the  rope  are 
then  fastened  at  one  end,  and  this  is  where 
the  fun  comes  in,"  said  Morton  ;  for  it  is 
quite  a  trick  to  get  the  two  ends  of  the  rope 


fastened,  and  yet  have  the  rope  taut  after 
the  job  is  done."  The  thing  to  be  accom- 
plished is  this :  The  two  ends  of  the  rope  are 
made  to  abut  together  in  the  groove  four  or 
five  inches  from  the  bottom  end.  They  are 
then  stapled  down  securely.  The  rope  may 
then  be  stapled  down  as  at  G,  in  the  draw- 
ing; but  Mr.  Morton  had  the  two  ends 


of  the  rope  abutting  together  in  the  groove. 
Now,  be  sure  and  not  make  the  mistake 
of  fastening  the  rope  at  each  end  of  the 
grooved  pole,  for  that  will  never  do,  because 
that  will  render  it  impossible  to  draw  the 
inner  pole  out  of  the  larger  one,  as  you  will 
see  by  a  moment's  reflection ;  and  if  you 
will  reflect  a  little  more  you  will  see  that  it 
is  not  an  easy  matter  to  fasten  the  ropes  at 
one  end  so  they  will  be  taut.  Although 
there  are  tw^o  or  three  ways,  Morton's  meth- 
od was  to  cut  off  the  strip  that  holds  the 
lower  sash-pulley,  at  a  point  about  five  or  six 
inches  from  the  end.  This  piece,  with  the 
pulley,  can  be  pulled  out  of  position  tempo- 
rarily. It  is  now  possible  to  bring  the  two 
ends  of  the  rope  together,  because  we  now 
have  a  little  slack.  After  they  are  fastened 
end  to  end,  the  piece  with  the  pulley  is 
sprung  back  into  place  and  fastened  with 
screws.*  If  every  thing  has  been  done  right 
this  will  take  up  the  slack  of  the  rope,  and 
make  it  taut. 

The  operation  of  the  machine  will  be  ap- 
parent from  the  illustrations.  By  pulling  on 
the  rope,  the  pole  may  be  extended  to  nearly 


*TJse  screws  so  that  the  piece  may  be  removed 
for  the  future,  to  take  up  slack  when  necessary. 


SWARMING 


316 


SWARMmO. 


double  its  length;  and  when  it  is  stretched 
out  to  its  fullest  extent  it  may  be  made  to 
reach  a  swarm  30  or  35  feet  from  the  ground. 
If  the  swarm  happens  to  cluster  on  a  limb 
higher  than  this,  it  will  then  be  necessary 
for  the  apiarist  to  get  up  into  the  body  of 
the  tree  w^here  he  can,  with  this  swarmer, 
reach  the  bees,  jar  them  into  the  basket,  and 
then  let  the  pole  down  to  an  attendant. 

A.  E.  MANUM'S  SW^ARMING-DEYICE. 

This  consists  of  a  wire-cloth  basket  made 
in  the  shape  of  an  inverted  pjTamid,  and 
pivoted  at  the  tw^o  opposite  corners  so  as  to 
hang  always  in  an  upright  position.  When 
a  swarm  is  captured  the  basket  may  be 
grasped  by  the  ring  in  the  smallest  end,  and 
inverted,  dumping  the  bees  into  the  hive 
prepared  for  them. 


manum's  sw^arm-catching  device. 


Fig.  1  represents  the  wire- cloth  cage  or 
baslvet;  Fig.  2,  the  device  in  position,  re- 
ceiving the  bees  as  they  cluster  on  the  out- 
side of  the  cage.  Fig.  3  shows  the  cage  open. 
As  so(  n  as  the  cluster  beginning  to  form  is 
half  or  wholly  completed,  run  the  basket 
up  to  and  around  the  cone  of  bees.  An  assist- 
ant, if  present,  gives  the  limb  a  jar,  so  as  to 
disengage  the  bees  into  the  basket.  In  case 
no  one  is  ready  to  assist,  a  sliding  move- 
ment will  precipit;ite  the  cluster  into  the 
wire-cloth  cage,  when  it  is  quickly  lowered. 
This  operation,  in  passing  down  through  the 
limbs,  \\ill  usually  catch  the  wire-cloth  lid, 
and  clo.-e  it  wdth  a  slam.  In  case  it  is  not 
closed,  the  apiarist  steps  forward  and  does 
it  himself.  Half  or  two-thirds  of  the  bees 
are  generally  confined.  In  all  probability 
the  queen  is  there  also.   As  the  bees  can  not 


get  out,  those  still  tiying  in  the  air  will  very 
readily  cluster  on  the  wire  cloth,  surround- 
ing the  majority  of  their  companions  Inside. 
To  make  this  more  expeditious,  the  tripod 
is  adjusted,  and  the  cage  is  suspended  in  the 
air,  as  shown  in  Fig.  3,  right  where  the  bees 
are  flying  thickest.  In  two  or  three  min- 
utes the  remainder  of  the  bees  will  be  clus- 
tered on  the  outside.  At  this  stage  of  the 
proceeding  the  apiarist  comes  forward,  folds 
the  two  short  legs  against  the  pole,  grasps  it 
at  its  centt  r  of  gravity  (see  Fig.  1 ),  and  walks 
off  to  the  hive,  which  he  has  previously  pre- 
pared. The  wire  fork  is  made  of  steel,  and 
is  light  and  springy.  The  walking  of  the 
apiarist  has  no  tendency  then  to  jar  the  bees 
off  from  the  basket. 

One  of  the  special  features  of  the  Manura 
arrangement  is,  that  the  basket  can  be  ad- 
justed to  almost  any  position,  all  the  way 
from  2  to  10  feet  from  the  ground.  All  that 
is  necessary  is  to  spread  the  tripod  legs, 
catch  them  into  the  ground,  and  leave  them 
standing.  In  the  mean  time,  if  the  hive  is 
not  prepared,  the  apiarist  has  ample  time  to 
get  it  ready.  After  this  he  can  return  to 
the  swarm  just  now  clustered.  Most  of  the 
devices  requ:re  to  be  held  until  the  cluster 
has  settled.  It  is  a  tedious  job  to  hold  a 
pole  at  arms'  length,  with  face  upturned.  If 
the  swarm  clusters  very  high,  some  other 
arrangement,  perhaps,  w^ould  be  better  thaa 
the  Manum  ;  but  for  low  shrubbery  it  is  just 
the  thing.  The  other  special  feature  of  the 
device  is,  that,  after  you  have  gotten  about 
half  or  two-thirds  of  the  bees  into  the  bas- 
ket, they  can  not  escape  and  seek  their  orig- 
inal point  of  attachment. 

THE  SWARM-HIVING  HOOK. 

With  most  of  the  hiving-devices  I  have 
illustrated,  what  might  be  called  a  hiving- 
hook  can  be  used  to  considerable  advan- 
tage at  times.  It  is  simply  an  ir  n  hO"k, 
large  enough  to  compass  an  ordinaiy  limb 
on  which  swarms  cluster,  mounted  on  the 
end  of  a  long  pole,  therefoie  lesembling, 
somewhat,  a  shepherd's  crook.  One  of 
the  hivng-devices  is  passed  beneath  the 
swaim.  Tills  hook  can  reach  over,  grasp 
the  limb  on  which  the  swarm  is  clustered, 
and  one  or  two  smart  jerks  will  jar  the  bees 
into  the  basket,  bag,  or  box,  as  the  case 
may  be. 

SW  ARMING-LADDER. 

Swarms  usually  alight  low,  so  that  the 
ordinary  hiving  -  implements  previously 
described  will  reach  them  from  the  ground. 
But  there  are  times  w^hen  they  \a  ill  settle  on 


SWARMmG. 


317 


SWARMIKG. 


pretty  high  limbs.  It  is  then  that  a  ladder 
is  c  alled  into  requisition .  If  it  will  not  reach 
the  swarm  it  will  at  least  land  the  climber 
amimg  the  upper  limbs,  so  that  he  can  step 
from  one  limb  to  the  other,  and  finally  reach 
the  bees  But  it  is  difficult  to  stand  an  or- 
dinary ladder  against  a  limb  of  a  tree  so  that 
it  will  be  secure  for  climbing,  on  account  of 
the  unevenness  of  the  limbs.  A  Bohemian 
by  the  name  of  R.  Strimpl,  of  Seltzschau, 
Bohemia,  sent  us  a  drawing  of  a  ladder  that 
can  be  lodged— that  is,  the  upper  part  of  it— 
securely  on  some  limb  above.  The  engrav- 
ing illustrates  its  principle  of  application. 


strimpl's  s warming-ladder. 
The  two  side  arms,  or  forks,  prevent  the 
ladder  from  revolving;  and  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  the  ladder  terminates  in  a  single 
pole,  which  can  be  very  easily  lodged  in  the 
fork  of  a  limb,  where  a  two-pronged  ladder 
W(mld  not.  The  three  prongs  below  the  lad- 
der are  sharpened  at  the  ends,  and  securely 
pushed  into  the  ground;  and  the  perfect 
lodgment  of  the  other  end  in  the  crotch  of 
the  limb  makes  the  ladder  a  safe  means  of 
ascent.  Aside  from  this,  the  ladder  will 
be  lighter.  But  it  is  desirable  to  prevent 
swarms  fiom  going  beyond  our  reach — at 
least  clustering  on  elevated  limbs.  The  fol- 
lowing is  one  of  the  indispensables,  espe- 
cially if  the  queen's  wings  are  not  clipped. 

SPRAY  PU^HP,  FOR  CONTROLLmO  SWARMS 
WHILE  IN^  THE  AIR. 

One  of  the  most  useful  implements  for  the 
apiary,  during  the  swarming- time,  is  a  good 
hand  force-pump.  A  swarm  of  bees  in  the 
air  with  a  queen,  that  might  otherwise  cir- 


cle about  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  may 
usually  be  made  to  cluster  in  from  two  to 
five  minutes  by  its  use.   Whether  the  fine 
particles  of  water  dampen  the  wings,  and  so 
impede  their  flight,  or  cause  the  bees  to 
think  it  is  raining,  and  that  therefore  they 
had  better  cluster  at  once,  or  both,  I  will  not 
say;  but  certain  it  is,  the  spray  has  a  very 
decided  effect.   One  who  has  become  mod- 
;  erately  expert  will  be  able,  m  t  only  to  make 
the  bees  settle,  but  to  compel  them  to  clus- 
ter on  some  point  easily  accessible  to  any  of 
the  ordinary  hiving-devices  just  described. 
I  Occasionally  a  swarm  will  make  for  the  top 
I  of  a  tall  tree.    With  the  pump  we  head 
I  them  off,  and  cause  them  to  settle  on  a  low- 
j  er  branch.   Even  when  a  swarm  is  clustered 
I  twenty  or  thirty  feet  from  the  ground,  by 
adjusting  the  stream  nozzle,  and  letting  it 
play  directly  on  the  swarm  itself,  we  can, 
many  times,  dislodge  them,  cause  them  to 
take  wing,  and  finally  to  settle  again  upon  a 
lower  point  of  attachment.   Again,  several 
i  swarms  will  come  out  simultaneously,  two 
or  more  of  which  will  be  likely  to  cluster. 
By  the  timely  use  of  the  spray,  each  swarm 
can  be  kept  separate  by  keeping  the  wings 
of  the  stragglers  of  the  two  swarms  about  to 
come  together  dampened.    A  good  many 
times,  a  swarm  that  is  about  to  abscond  can 
beheaded  otf  and  made  to  cluster ;  in  fact, 
I  our  boys,  during  the  summer  of  1889,  could 
drive  a  swarm  about  hke  a  flock  of  sheep. 
It  is  very  annoying  and  inconvenient  to 
have  a  swarm  pass  from  our  premises  over 
to  those  of  a  neighbor.   During  the  summer 
I  of  1889  we  had  something  like  eight  or  ten 
swarms  come  out  every  day,  for  about  one 
week,  and  yet  in  only  one  or  two  cases  did 
they  leave  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  api- 
ary; and  had  it  not  been  for  the  pump,  we 
should,  in  all  probability,  have  had  to  chase 
I  all  over  the  neighborhood,  to  say  nothing 
about  climbing  tall  trees.* 

After  a  swarm  begins  to  cluster  on  a  de- 
sirable point,  stop  spraying  in  this  direction. 
Retreat,  and  drive  the  stragglers  toward  it, 
but  be  careful  not  to  spray  the  place  where 
they  are  clustering.  As  a  general  rule,  there 
will  be  two  or  three  small  clusters  forming 
at  once.  Spray  the  undesirable  ones,  and 
keep  them  sprayed  until  these  points  of  at- 
tachment are  abandoned. 

During  the  swarming-season  it  is  a  good 
idea  to  keep  several  barrels  of  water  in  and 
around  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  apiary, 
so  as  to  have  the  water  right  handy.   If  you 


"  We  didn't  then  clip  the  wings  of  oui'  queens  as 
we  now  do.   All  that  chasing-  is  now  dispensed  with. 


SAVAKMING. 


318 


SWARMmG. 


run  to  the  pump  every  time  you  use  a  pail 
of  water,  a  swarm  may  get  away  from  you, 
or  cluster  in  the  top  of  a  tall  tree. 

SWARM-CATCHER. 

This  is  simply  a  large  wire-cloth  cage,  in 
the  shape  of  an  oblong  box,  say  about  3  or 
4  feet  long,  by  about  12  or  15  inches  square. 
One  end  of  this  cage  is  open,  and  is  made  so 
as  to  fit  against  an  ordinary  hive-front. 

It  very  often  happens  that  the  apiarist  is 
on  hand  just  at  the  time  when  the  swarm  is 
pouring  out  from  the  entrance  like  hot  shot. 
Well,  if  he  has  one  of  these  swarm-catchers 
handy  he  simply  attaches  the  mouth  to  the 
entrance,  and  the  outpouring  bees  go  pell- 
mell  into  the  top  of  the  cage,  and  are  there 
confined.  If  the  apiarist  succeeds  in  get- 
ting two -thirds  of  the  bees,  the  rest  will 
cluster  on  the  outside.  The  cage  is  set  very 
near  where  the  bees  come  forth,  the  mouth 
end  down.  In  the  mean  time  he  prepares  | 
'his  hive,  if  he  has  not  already  done  so,  and  | 
then  brings  the  cage  of  bees  and  dumps 
them  right  into  the  hive,  replaces  the  cover, 
and  the  swarm  is  hived,  without  having 
any  swarm  in  the  air— no,  not  even  giving 
them  a  ghost  of  a  chance  to  fly  all  over  the 
neighborhood,  and  possibly  finally  alight 
upon  the  limb  of  a  tree  40  feet  from  the 
ground.  But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  swarm-catcher  is  serviceable  only 
when  the  apiarist  happens  to  be  on  the 
ground,  just  as  the  bees  are  beginning  to  | 
pour  forth.  I 

HOW  TO  HIVE  SWARMS  WITHOUT   SPECIAI.  | 
HI  VING-DE  VICES.  | 

If  the  apiary  be  located  in  a  locality  where  ' 
there  are  no  tall  trees,  with  only  low-grow- 
ing shrubbery,  or,  at  most,  low-growing 
fruit-trees,  or,  better  still,  the  wings  of  all 
queens  clipped,  the  special  tools  I  have  al- 
ready described  will  not  be  found  absolutely 
necessary,  and  perhaps  not  even  a  conven- 
ience, if  we  except  Manum's  arrangement. 
Our  own  apiary,  illustrated  in  connection 
with  some  of  the  factory  engravings  shown 
in  the  introductory,  you  will  notice  has  no 
trees  in  the  apiary.    Outskirting  it  are  rows 
of  bushy  evergreens.  There  is  absolutely  no 
place  for  the  bees  to  cluster  in  the  immedi-  : 
ate  vicinity  of  the  apiary,  except  on  one  of  I 
these   evergreens,  or  else  on  one  of  the  I 
grapevines  in  the  apiary  itself.   Earely  do 
we  have  swarms  cluster  elsewhere.   If  one  j 
alights  on  one  of  the  two  places  just  men-  j 
tioned  we  select  a  frame  of  unsealed  larvae,  | 
the  use  of  which  has  been  previously  antici-  j 
pated.   As  the  swarm  is  rarely  ever  above  I 


four  or  five  feet  from  the  ground,  this  frame 
is  gently  thrust  among  the  bees.  A  large 
majority  of  them  will  very  soon  lodge  upon 
the  frame.  This  together  with  the  adhering 
bees  is  placed  in  a  hive  on  the  shady  side  of 
the  evergreen  or  grapevine,  in  company 
with  three  or  four  more  frames.  Those 
bees  which  have  already  clustered  on  the 
frames  will  begin  to  call  their  companions. 
As  soon  as  a  few  bees  have  discovered  the 
entrance,  a  few  will  indicate  their  discovery 
by  the  usual  humming  of  the  wings.  An 
enamel  sheet  can  be  placed  over  the  cluster. 
A  bunch  of  grass  will  now  brush  the  bees 
out  of  the  way  so  the  cover  can  be  shut 
down  without  smashing  any  bees.  The 
hive  is  left  until  the  bees  have  all  entered  it. 
Before  they  have  had  time  to  fix  a  location, 
they  are  removed  to  their  permanent  loca- 
tion in  the  apiary. 


HIVING  A  SWARM  UNDER  DIFFK  ULTIES. 
From  Bi  it  'sh  Bee  Journal. 


You  will  scarcely  appreciate  the  absence 
of  large  trees  and  the  presence  of  small  un- 
dergrowth, until  you  have  had  an  apiary  so 
circumstanced.  Swarming  does  not  have 
half  the  terrors  to  the  bee-keeper  tliat  it 
does  when  the  clusters  are  just  as  likely  as 
not  to  attach  themselves  to  elevated  posi- 
tions. 


SWARMING. 


319 


SWARMING. 


The  methods  I  have  just  described  ap- 
plies when  the  queen's  wings  are  not  clip- 
ped, either  because  we  do  not  wish  to  muti- 
late her  fair  proportions  or  because  she  hap- 
pens to  be  a  young  queen.  But  a  great 
many  times  apiarists  prefer  to  clip  their 
queens'  wings.  Perhaps  I  might  say  a  ma- 
jority do  so,  because  it  saves  the  use  of  any 
expensive  tools,  tree -climbing,  and,  to  a 
great  extent,  swarms  uniting. 

TWO  OR  MORE  SWARMS  COMING  OUT  AXD 
TTNITmO. 

When  the  swarming-note  is  heard  in  the 
apiary,  it  seems  to  carry  with  it  an  infec- 
tion ;  this  may  be  a  mistake,  but  in  no  other 
way  can  I  account  for  swarms  issuing  one 
after  another,  while  the  first  is  in  the  air, 
unless  they  hear  the  sound,  and  haste  to  go 
and  do  like  wise.  210  Of  course,  they  will  all 
unite  in  one,  and  as  many  as  a  dozen  have 
been  known  to  come  out  in  this  way,  and  go 
off  to  the  woods  in  a  great  army  of  bees,  be- 
fore any  thing  could  be  done  to  stop  them. 
If  your  queens  are  clipped,  and  you  "  hustle 
around,"  and  get  them  all  in  cages  deposited 
in  front  of  the  hives,  they  usually  separate 
and  each  bee  go  where  it  belongs.-59i,.2ii  Un- 
less you  have  plenty  of  help,  you  will  be  un- 
able to  get  the  hives  all  moved  away,  and  a 
new  hive  fixed  for  each  one  before  they 
come  back.  In  this  case  they  will  go  back 
into  their  old  hive,  and,  if  the  queen  is  re- 
leased, will  sometimes  go  to  work;  but  often- 
er  they  mil  swarm  out  again  within  a  few 
hours,  or  the  next  day;  and  if  you  keep  put- 
ting them  back  they  will  soon  attack  and 
kill  their  queen,  and  loaf  about  until  they 
can  rear  a  new  one,  and  then  swarm.21^  This 
is  very  poor  policy,  and  we  can  by  no  means 
afford  to  have  such  work.  If  they  swarmed 
for  want  of  room,  they  may  go  to  work  all 
right,  after  having  room  given  them. 595  if 
they  come  out  the  second  time,  I  should  give 
them  a  new  location,  divide  thein,  or  do 
something  to  satisfy  their  natural  craving 
for  starting  a  new  colony ,  otherwise  they  may 
loaf,  even  if  they  do  not  try  to  swarm  again. 

To  go  back :  Suppose  they  get  a  queen  or 
queens  having  wings,  and  cluster  in  one 
large  body.  In  this  case  you  are  to  scoop 
off  bees  from  the  cluster,  with  the  swarm- 
ing-bag,  a  tin  pan,  or  a  dipper,  as  may  be 
most  convenient,  and  apportion  parts,  made 
about  as  nearly  of  the  size  of  a  swarm  as 
may  be,  about  in  dilferent  hives.  Give  each 
hive  a  comb  containing  eggs  and  larvse  as 
before,  and  then  get  a  queen  for  each  one  if 
you  can.  In  dividing  them  up,  should  you 
get  two  or  more  queens  in  a  hive,  they  will  i 


be  balled  as  I  have  before  described,  and 
you  can  thus  easily  find  them.  If  more  than 
one  queen  is  in  a  hive,  you  will  find  a  ball  of 
bees,  perhaps  the  size  of  a  wahiut  or  hen's 
egg,  about  them,  and  this  can  be  carried  to 
the  colony  having  none.  If  you  cannot  tell 
at  once  which  are  queenless,  you  will  be  able 
to  do  so  in  a  few  hours  by  the  queen-cells 
they  have  started.  If  you  are  more  anxious 
for  honey  than  bees,  you  may  allow  two 
swarms  to  work  together  ;  and  if  you  give 
them  suflicient  room,  you  will  probably  get 
a  large  crop  of  honey  from  them ;  but  this 
plan  does  not  pay,  as  a  general  thing,  be- 
cause the  extra  bees  will  soon  die  off  by  old 
age,  and  your  colony  will  be  no  larger  than 
if  the  queen  had  had  only  her  ordinary  num- 
ber of  bees. 

FEEVENTION  OF  SWABMING. 
If  we  can  entirely  prevent  swarming,  and 
keep  all  the  bees  at  home  storing  honey  all 
the  season,  we  shall  get  enormous  crops  from 
a  single  hive.  Whether  we  shall  get  more 
in  that  way  than  from  the  old  stock  and  all 
the  increase,  where  swarming  and  after- 
swarming  is  allowed,  is  a  matter  as  yet  hard- 
ly decided.  If  a  swarm  should  come  out  in 
May,  and  the  young  queens  get  to  laying  in 
their  hives  by  the  first  of  June,  their  work- 
ers would  be  ready  for  the  basswood  -  bloom 
in  July,  and  it  is  very  likely  that  the  workers 
from  8  queens  or  more  would  gather  more 
honey  than  those  from  the  old  queen  alone. 
But,  another  point  is  to  be  considered.  The 
two  or  three  new  colonies  must  have  stores 
for  winter;  and  as  it  takes  nearly  25  lbs.  to 
carry  a  colony  through  until  honey  comes 
again,  this  amount  would  be  saved  by  the 
prevention  of  swarming.  Where  one  has 
plenty  of  bees,  and  desires  honey  rather  than 
increase,  a  non-swarming  apiary  would  be 
quite  desirable. 

This  subject  is  a  mooted  one,  and  some  of 
our  best  and  most  experienced  bee-keepers 
— Dr.  Miller  among  the  number— confess 
they  have  been  baffled  in  their  efforts  to 
confine  swarming  within  reasonable  limits. 
T'sually  it  is  not  desirable  to  prevent  first 
swarms.  Second  swarms  or  after-swarms 
are  the  ones  we  should  like  to  control.  Some 
prominent  bee-keepers  practice  cutting  out 
all  queen-cells  but  one,  eight  days  after  the 
issue  of  the  first  swarm  ;  that  is,  they  allow 
all  the  unsealed  larvse  to  become  capped 
over,  leaving  no  opportunity  for  further 
building  of  cells.  If  only  one  cell  is  left  in 
the  hive,  of  course  only  one  queen  can  be 
hatched  and  reared.  If  she  is  successfully 
i  fertilized  the  colony  will  generally  settle 


SWARMmG. 


320 


WARMING. 


down  to  business.  Excessive  swarming  is 
often  brought  about  because  a  number  of 
young  queens  are  allowed  to  mature  about 
the  same  time.  These  unfeitile  queens  \sill 
be  pretty  apt  to  keep  up  swarmmg  in  the 
hive  so  long  as  there  is  a  surplus  ot  queens. 
See  After-swarms. 

PREVENTION  OF  SWARMING  BY  CAGING  OR 
REMOVAL  OF  QUEEN. 

Hetherington,  Elwood,  and  some  others, 
have  practiced  caging  or  removing  the 
queen  during  the  honey  harvest.  Of  course, 
no  swarm  will  issue  regularly  -v^ithout  a 
queen  in  the  hive;  and  if  no  cells  are  allow- 
ed to  hatch,  the  prevention  is  accomplished. 
When  the  harvest  has  commenced,  bef  re 
giving  the  bees  a  chance  to  swarm,  the 
queen  is  caged  i]i  the  hive,  or,  perhaps, 
preferably  given  to  a  nucleus.  If  queen- 
cells  are  not  already  started  they  will  cer- 
tainly be  started  on  removal  of  the  queen  ; 
and  if  the  queen  is  caged  they  will  just  as 
certainly  be  started  in  a  short  time.  In  any 
case  they  must  be  cut  out  before  any  possi- 
ble danger  of  hatching  out.  If  all  cells  are 
destroyed  at  the  time  of  removing  the 
queen,  then  a  second  time,  eight  days  later, 
and  a  third  time  eight  days  later  still,  there 
will  be  no  possibility  of  any  swarming.  The 
advocates  of  this  plan  claim  that  the  bees 
that  would  be  raised  from  eggs  laid  at  the 
time  during  which  the  queen  is  caged  or  re- 
moved would  be  too  late  to  be  of  any  ser- 
vice in  gathering  the  harvest,  hence  only 
consumers. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  those  who 
question  whether  the  bees  work  just  as  in- 
dustriously without  a  laying  queen  in  the 
hive.  One  difficulty  about  the  plan  is,  that 
it  is  about  impossible  to  be  sure  that  no 
queen-cell  has  been  missed  ;  and  a  missed 
queen  cell  gives  rise  to  very  undesirable 
complications. 

Some  do  not  desire  even  first  swarms. 
When  running  for  comb  honey  it  is  nearly  im- 
possible, under  the  present  methods  of  con- 
traction, to  prevent  it  altogether— see  Con- 
traction. Many  times  bees  swarm  because 
the  apartment  for  brood-rearing  is  limited. 
Contraction  and  the  queen-excluding  honey- 
board  give  the  queen  only  a  limited  amount 
of  room,  and  swarming  is  the  consequence. 
For  this  reason  it  is  desirable  not  to  reduce 
the  brood  chamber  too  much.  But  whether 
contraction  is  practiced  or  not,  the  fever 
may  be  greatly  allayed,  and  perhaps  prevent- 
ed altogether,  by  giving  an  abundance  of 
surplus  room  on  the  plan  of  tiering  up.  Do 
not  let  the  colony  at  any  time  feel  crowded 


for  space.  Judicious  tiering  up,  as  described 
under  Comb  Honey,  will  not  only  secure 
more  honey,  but  it  will  largely  discourage 
natural  increase  when  not  desired.  When 
running  for  extracted  honey,  the  problem  is 
much  easier.  Mr.  E.  Erance,  of  Platteville, 
Wis.,  who  produces  enormous  crops  of  hon- 
ey, says  he  is  very  little  troubled  by  exces- 
sive swarming.  He  does  not  practice  con- 
traction, but  allows  the  queen  and  bees 
plenty  of  room.  If  the  queen  desires  to  go 
above,  she  is  allowed  that  privilege.  Charles 
Dadant  &  Son  keep  about  500  colonies  in 
large  Quinby  hives.  These  hives  are  so 
large  that  the  bees  are  but  little  inclined  to 
swarm.  In  fact,  Mr.  Dadant  says,  in  the 
Artierican  Ike  Journal,  page  311,  Vol.  XXY., 
"Eor  more  than  fifteen  years  we  have  dis- 
pensed with  watching  the  bees  of  our  home 
apiary,  numbering  from  bO  to  100  colonies. 
As  the  yearly  number  of  natural  swarms 
does  not  exceed  two  or  three,  the  expense 
of  such  watching  would  be  far  above  the 
profit. "  While  large  hives  filled  with  combs 
or  foundation  tend  to  prevent  if  not  dis- 
courage swarming  altogether,  for  other  rea- 
sons other  bee-keepers  seem  to  prefer  small- 
er sizes,  such  as  the  Langstroth.  See  Da- 
dant hive,  under  Hives. 

PREVENTION  OF  SWARMING  BY  THE  USE 
OF  THE  EXTRACTOR. 

Without  doubt,  the  greatest  reason  for 
swarming  is  that  the  bees  have  got  tlieir 
hive  full  of  honey,  and  there  is  no  more 
room  for  them  to  labor  to  advantage ;  ac- 
cordingly queen-cells  are  started,  and  other 
preparations  made,  and  they  get,  as  we  say, 
the  swarming  fever.  Xow,  if  their  honey  is 
taken  away,  and  more  room  given  them  be- 
fore they  have  begun  to  feel  cramped  for 
room,  they  will  seldom  get  this  swarming 
fever.2i6  This  room  may  be  given  by  taking 
out  combs  filled  with  sealed  honey,  and 
substituting  empty  combs  or  frames  of  fdn., 
or  it  may  be  done  by  extracting  the  honey. 
This  latter  plan,  I  believe,  is  most  effectual, 
for  almost  every  drop  of  the  honey  can  be 
taken  away  by  extracting.  We  extract  from 
the  brood-combs  as  well  as  from  the  rest, 
and  this  can  be  done  without  any  injury  to 
the  brood,  if  we  are  careful  not  to  turn  so 
fast  as  to  throw  out  that  which  is  unsealed. 
I  would  do  this,  however,  only  in  extreme 
cases,  where  the  bees  will  not  work,  and  are 
determined  to  swarm.  The  honey  around 
the  brood  is  generally  needed  there,  and 
would  better  not  be  removed.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  this  remedy  to  prevent 
swarming  is  not  infallible,  and  I  do  not 


SWARMING. 


321 


SWARMING. 


know  that  any  one  is,  at  all  times.  I  have 
known  a  swarm  to  issue  the  day  after  ex- 
tracting all  the  honey  I  could  get  from  the 
hive,  but  they  had  probably  got  the  swarm- 
ing fever  before  any  extracting  was  done. 
At  another  time,  the  bees  swarmed  while  I 
was  extracting  their  honey. 

NON-SWARMING  HIVES. 

A  few  years  ago  it  was  quite  common  to 
talk  of  non-swarming  hives,  and  there  were 
many  inventors  who  claimed  to  have  accom- 
plished the  end  desired.  The  most  of  these 
hives  were  covered  by  a  patent,  and  they 
have  gone  the  way  of  most,  if  not  all,  patent- 
ed bee-hives.  Giving  the  bees  abundant 
room,  both  over  the  cluster  and  at  its  sides, 
will  do  very  much  toward  making  a  non- 
swarming  hive  ;  but  they  will  swarm  occa- 
sionally, in  spite  of  us.  Keeping  the  hive 
well  shaded,  or  having  the  walls  entirely 
protected  fronf  the  sun,  will  do  much  to  dis- 
courage swarming.  A  good  wide  and  deep 
entrance  has  also  some  effect.   See  En- 

TKANCES. 

PERFORATED   ZINC  TO  RESTRAIN  QUEENS. 

Under  Drones,  an  incident  is  given  in 
regard  to  the  matter  of  entrapping  the 
queen  when  she  issues  with  the  swarm.  The 
employment  of  perforated  zinc  will  not  pre- 
vent swarming,  but  it  prevents  the  bees 
from  accomplishing  their  purpose ;  that  is, 
swarming  out  and  taking  their  queen  with 
them.  In  other  words,  the  perforated  zinc 
simply  takes  the  place  of  clipping  the  queen's 
wings.  In  some  cases  it  may  be  desirable 
to  use  the  zinc  instead  of  clipping.  Usually, 
from  what  experience  I  have  had,  I  should 
say  it  is  preferable  to  clip  the  queen's  wings 
rather  than  to  cause  the  bees  the  inconven- 
ience of  crawling,  during  the  continuance  of 
the  honey-flow,  through  narrow  perforations 
of  zinc,  simply  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
the  issue  of  the  queen  should  the  swarm 
come  forth. 

While  I  recommend  clipping  in  place  of 
using  perforated  zinc,  yet  in  the  case  of  very 
strong  colonies  in  the  height  of  the  honey- 
flow,  especially  if  such  colonies  are  in  two- 
story  hives,  it  is  more  practical  to  put  on 
entrance-guards  or  Alley  traps.  In  the  first 
place,  the  attaching  of  the  traps  can  be  done 
in  a  tenth  of  the  time  it  takes  to  find  the 
queen ;  and  in  the  second  place,  pulling  the 
hive  all  apart  to  find  her  majesty  causes 
more  or  less  interruption. 

THE  ALLEY  TRAP  IN  HIVING  SWARMS. 

When  a  swarm  issues  (see  cut  under 
Drones),  the  bees  will  pass  the  guard ;  but 
1^ 


the  queen,  on  finding  herself  shut  in,  will  pass 
"  up  stairs  "  in  the  same  way  as  the  drones. 
Sometimes,  however,  instead  of  going  above 
she  will  return  into  the  hive.  In  five  or  ten 
minutes,  the  bees,  on  discovering  the  ab- 
sence of  their  queen,  will  go  back  to  the 
hive.  The  bees  should  not  be  allowed  to 
make  more  than  one  attempt  to  swarm  in 
this  way,  for  failing  in  the  attempt  to  swarm 
again  with  the  queen  they  will  be  likely  to 
kill  her.  The  bees  may,  however,  cluster 
without  the  queen. 

If  the  queen  enters  the  upper  apartment, 
the  entire  trap  can  be  detached,  fastened  to 
a  rake  or  some  other  object,  and  placed 
among  the  flying  bees.  Of  course,  they  will 
readily  cluster  about  the  cage,  when  they  can 
be  hived ;  but  keeping  an  Alley  trap  at- 
tached to  all  hives  that  are  likely  to  send 
out  a  swarm  diiring  the  ensuing  ten  or  twen- 
ty days  would  be  rather  expensive,  both  be- 
cause of  the  cost  of  the  trap  itself,  and  be- 
cause of  the  inconvenience  to  the  laden 
workers  coming  home.  The  same  or  very 
nearly  the  same  result  can  be  attained  by 
clipping  the  queen's  wing,  at  no  expense 
whatever;  and  at  the  same  time  the  bees 
have,  up  to  the  time  of  swarming,  a  free  and 
unobstructed  entrance. 

THE  AUTOMATIC  HIVING  OF  SWARMS. 

For  many  years  back,  there  has  been  an 
effort  on  the  part  of  bee-keepers  of  an  in- 
ventive turn  of  mind  to  get  up  an  arrange- 
ment that  would  automatically  hive  swarms 
in  the  absence  of  an  apiarist  or  attendant ; 
and  since  out- apiaries  have  begun  to  as- 
sume such  importance  where  the  produc- 
tion of  honey  is  carried  on  extensively, 
some  sort  of  device  that  will  hive  automat- 
ically  the  swarms — yes,  do  the  job  just  as 
well  as  if  the  apiarist  were  present  him- 
self—is a  thing  greatly  to  be  desired.  A 
great  many  devices  have  been  introduced ; 
but  most  of  them  have  proved  to  be  more 
or  less  of  a  failure. 


ALLEY  AUTOMATIC  HIVER. 

The  general  plan  contemplates  some 
scheme  whereby  there  may  be  aii  empty 
hive  placed  near  the  hive  from  which  a 


SWARMIXG. 


322 


SWAKMING. 


swarm  is  expected  to  come  forth.  This 
empty  hive  fnay  be  alongside  of,  in  front  of, 
or  below  the  other  one.  In  the  case  of  the 
first  -  mentioned  plan,  entrance -guards  are 
placed  in  front  of  each  hive  ;  and  connect- 
ing the  two  is  a  tube  of  wire  cloth  or  perfor- 
ated zinc.  When  the  swarm  comes  forth, 
the  queen  iinds  herself  barred  by  the  perfor- 
ated metal.  She  runs  along  until  she  finds 
the  tube  that  communicates  with  the  en- 
trance-guard of  the  other  hive.  In  this  tube 
she  runs  up  against  a  bee-escape  or  wire- 
cloth  cone.  She  passes  this  ;  but,  being  un- 
able to  return,  is  compelled  to  enter  the  en- 
trance-guard of  the  other  hive.  The  bees, 
as  soon  as  they  discover  the  queen  is  not 
with  them,  rush  back  to  the  old  stand ;  a 
part  of  them  find  the  queen  in  front  of  the 
new  hive ;  but  a  large  part  of  them  do  not 
find  her,  and,  of  course,  enter  the  old  stand. 
Those  with  the  queen  will  "  set  up  house- 
keeping" in  the  new  hive.  But  the  plan 
fails,  because  the  whole  swarm  is  not  cap- 
tured in  another  hive. 


PRATT 'S  SELF-mVER. 


and  the  last  one  will  work  five  times  out  of 
ten.  But  taking  every  thing  into  considera- 
tion, it  is  cheaper  and  more  practicable  to 
hive  the  swarm  on  the  clipped-wing  plan, 
which  I  have  previously  described. 

KEEPING  BEES  IN  UPPER  ROOMS  AND  GAR- 
RETS. 

This  plan  for  keeping  a  single  colony,  to 
furnish  honey  for  the  table  simply,  has  been 
in  vogue  for  perhaps  centuries  back.  If  the 
room  is  small,  and  made  perfectly  dark,  the 
hive  being  placed  back  a  few  feet  from  the 
entrance  in  the  wall,  the  bees  will  seldom 
swarm.  One  or  more  sides  of  the  hive  are 
generally  removed,  and  the  bees  build  their 
combs  on  the  outside  of  the  hive,  or  against 
the  walls  of  the  room,  where  the  owner  can 
go  with  knife,  plate,  and  smoker,  and  cut 
out  a  piece  for  the  table,  without  opening 
any  hive,  or  disturbing  anybody.  In  fact, 
he  can  consider  this  his  "  honey-room,"  and 
leave  the  honey  stored  there  year  after  year, 
if  he  chooses.  When  a  friend  calls  he  can 
say,  "  Will  you  have  a  slice  of  new  honey? 
or  will  you  have  one  a  year  oldV  or  two  years 
old?"  He  might  even  have  it  ten  or  a  dozen 
years  old,,  for  aught  I  know,  if  he  has  a  taste 
for  antiquated  honey.  Would  not  such  a 
honey-room  be  nice?  While  writing  about 
it,  it  has  occurred  to  me  that  a  room  of  this 
kind,  fitted  up  with  all  modern  appliances, 
might  be  a  very  pretty  and  a  very  useful 
thing.  With  the  experience  I  have  had  in 
the  house-apiary,  however,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that,  where  there  is  so  much  room, 
there  would  be  a  great  disposition  in  the 
bees  to  loaf  and  cluster  on  the  sides  of  the 
room,  in  the  shade,  instead  of  going  to  work. 
Now  for  the  objections. 

If  the  hive  and  honey  are  close  by  the  en- 
trance, the  bees  will  swarm  as  much  as  in 
the  house-apiary.  If  it  is  a  yard  or  more 
back  from  the  wall,  the  bees,  not  being  able 
to  take  wing  in  the  dark,  will  crawl  all  this 
distance  on  foot,  which  would  prove  a  great 
loss  of  time  and  strength,  and,  consequently, 
of  honey.  Providing  the  plan  succeeds,  you 
get  a  good  crop  of  honey  year  after  year,  it 
is  true  ;  but  you  have  all  the  time  the  efforts 
of  only  a  single  queen.  While  your  honey 
increases,  your  gathering  force  is  no  more, 
after  the  lapse  of  ten  years,  than  it  was  he- 
tore .  If  one  colony  is  all  you  want,  this  may 
be  all  right.  The  queen  can  not  live  more 
than  three  or  four  years,  and  at  her  demise  a 
new  one  must  be  reared  and  fertilized.  For 
some  reason,  I  know  not  what,  she  is  very 
often  lost  in  these  garrets,  and  the  colony 
dies  of  queenlessness.   W^orst  of  all,  they 


Another  plan  provides  for  an  empty  hive 
in  front  of  the  one  expected  to  cast  the 
swarm,  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  illus- 
tration. A  sheet  of  perforated  zinc  is  form- 
ed into  a  bee -escape  in  the  bottom  of  the 
empty  hive  ;  but  the  bees,  until  the  swarm 
comes  forth,  are  obliged  to  pass  through  this 
empty  hive  and  through  the  zinc  in  going 
into  their  own  regular  quarters.  Well,  when 
the  swarm  does  come  forth,  the  queen  fol- 
lows along  the  perforated  zinc  until  she 
reaches  the  opening  in  the  end,  or  apex. 
She  is  thus  caged  automatically  in  an  empty 
hive  in  which  are  placed  frames  of  comb 
or  foundation.  The  returning  bees,  coming 
back,  find  the  queen  in  the  empty  hive  in 
front.  In  some  cases,  at  least,  they  "  set  up 
housekeeping  "  in  the  new  hive,  leaving  the 
old  one  and  a  few  young  bees  to  take  care  of 
''the  old  home."  It  is  expected,  of  course, 
as  soon  as  the  swarm  is  automatically  hived, 
that  the  old  hive  shall  be  removed. 

We  have  tried  these  plans  to  some  extent, 


SWAKMING. 


323 


SWARMIKG. 


will  often  swarm,  and  keep  swarming,  until 
nothing  is  left  of  them ;  but  I  believe  swarm- 
ing is  rather  the  exception,  and  not  the  rule. 

DO    BEES    CHOOSE    A    LOCATIOjST  BEFORE 
SWARMING? 

We  have  ample  proof  that  they  sometimes 
do  ;  but  whether  such  is  always  the  case  or 
not,  we  have  no  means  of  determining  posi- 
tively, so  far  as  I  can  see.  It  is  my  opinion, 
that,  although  they  usually  do  so,  there  are 
many  exceptions.  When  a  swarm  of  bees 
catches  the  fever  by  hearing  the  swarming- 
note  of  a  neighboring  colony,  it  seems  diffi- 
cult to  understand  that  they  could  have  se- 
lected their  tree,  and  made  the  same  provi- 
sion for  housekeeping  that  the  first  one  may 
have  done.  The  proof  of  this  has  been  giv- 
en many  times  thimigh  our  journals.  A 
neighbor  of  ours  once  saw  bees  going  in  and 
out  of  a  tree,  and  supposing  that  it  of  course 
contained  a  colony,  went  with  his  boys  the 
next  day  and  cut  it  down.  It  contained  no 
sign  of  a  bee.  While  they  were  standing 
still  and  wondering  at  this  strange  state  of 
affairs,  the  boys,  doubtless  joking  their  fa- 
ther about  his  seeing  bees  where  there  were 
none,  lo  and  behold!  a  swarm  appeared  in 
the  air.  They  came  to  the  very  spot  where 
the  now  prostrate  tree  had  stood,  and  seemed 
as  much  astounded  as  a  colony  whose  hive 
has  been  moved  away.  After  some  circling 
around  they  clustered  in  a  neighboring  tree, 
and  were  hived.  They  had  selected  this  as 
their  home,  it  seems,  and  an  advance  party 
had  gone  ahead  the  day  before,  to  clean  out 
and  fix  the  hollow  ready  for  the  swarm,  and 
it  was  these  house-cleaners  that  my  friend 
saw  at  work.  I  gave  the  above  in  Glean- 
in  IS  a  few  years  ago,  and  a  large  number 
of  corroborating  instances  were  furnished 
by  our  readers.  The  number  of  bees  that  go 
out  to  look  up  a  location  is  not  usually  great, 
but  they  may  often  be  seen  about  swarm ing- 
time  prowling  about  old  hives,  and  hollows 
in  trees,  as  if  they  were  looking  for  some- 
thing. After  awhile,  swarms  come  and  take 
possession  of  these  places,  if  they  seem  suit- 
able, and  of  late  a  hope  has  been  expressed, 
through  the  journals,  that  we  might  take  ad- 
vantage of  this  disposition,  and  fix  hives  so 
attractive  that  the  bees  will  come  out,  se- 
lect the  "house  and  lot"  that  suits  their  taste 
best,  and  then,  when  they  get  ready,  "move 
in."  When  this  is  accomplished  we  shall 
have  automatic  hiving. 

DECOY  HIVES. 

Many  of  the  friends  have  followed  out  the 
idea  given  above,  by  locating  hives  in  the 


forests,  in  the  trees,  and  such  hives  have  in 
many  cases  been  quickly  accepted  and  ap^ 
propriated.  I  believe  we  are  indebted  to  Mr. 
J.  H.  Martin,  of  California,  for  first  sug- 
gesting the  idea.  Hives  left  standing  on 
the  ground  in  the  apiary  have  many  times 
been  selected  by  swarms,  and,  if  I  am  cor- 
rect, the  bees,  in  such  cases,  often  come  out 
of  the  parent  hive,  and  go  directly  to  these 
hives  without  clustering  at  all. 

One  of  our  bee-keepers  in  California,  by 
trading  and  otherwise,  had  something  over 
a  dozen  empty  hives.  Having  no  immedi- 
ate use  for  them  he  packed  them  up  in  a 
couple  of  tiers,  about  six  high  each.  Each 
hive  contained  four  or  five  combs,  spaced  so 
as  to  prevent  the  ravages  of  the  moth  mil- 
ler. One  day,  by  accident  he  discovered 
some  bees  going  into  one  of  these  empty 
hives.  On  examination  he  found  that  a 
swarm  of  bees  had  taken  possession.  His 
curiosity  being  now  aroused,  he  examined 
some  of  the  other  empty  hives.  He  kept  on 
until  he  found  six  good  swarms,  each  nicely 
housed,  without  any  effort  or  expense  on  his 
part.  In  a  few  days  more,  the  remaining 
hives  were  filled  with  absconding  swarms. 
When  the  swarming  season  closed  he  had  17 
colonies  secured.  The  point  is  this  :  By  ac- 
cident he  had  stacked  up  his  empty  hives  in 
tiers,  so  that  they  resembled  trees  in  the  for- 
est. Having  combs  in  them,  and  entrances 
open,  they  were  an  inviting  place  for  a  pass- 
ing swarm.  My  brother,  Mr.  M.  8.  Root,  of 
California,  had  a  similar  experience,  and  I 
believe  that  others  elsewhere  have  become 
possessors  of  swarms  in  the  same  way.  In 
view  of  this  I  w^ould  suggest  having  a  few 
hives  scattered,  say,  through  an  apple-or- 
chard, in  the  shade  of  trees,  each  of  these 
hives  to  be  equipped  with  dry  combs  and  a 
wide-open  entrance  ready  for  the  reception 
of  a  possible  swarm.  Perhaps  it  might  be 
advisable  to  have  one  or  two  hives  perched 
in  the  limbs  or  the  crotch  of  one  of  the  large 
trees.  If  the  combs  are  spaced  two  inches 
apart  there  will  be  no  trouble  from  moth- 
millers,  in  case  the  hives  should  not  be  lucky 
enough  to  secure  a'swarm. 

RINGING    BELLS    AND    BEATING   PANS  TO 
BRING  DOWN  A  SWARM  OF  BEES. 

The  books,  of  late  years,  have  seemed  to 
teach  that  this  practice  is  but  a  relic  of  su- 
perstition, and  that  no  real  good  was  accom- 
plished by  the  "  tanging,"  as  it  is  often 
called.  Perhaps  it  usually  has  no  effect  in 
causing  them  to  alight ;  but  from  watching 
the  habits  of  swarms,  I  am  inclined  to  think 


SWARMIXG.  824  SWARMING. 

otherwise.  Those  in  the  habit  of  seeing  1  Again,  a  swarm  of  bees  usually  has  scouts 
queens  on  the  wing  are  generally  aware  that  '  to  conduct  them  to  the  tree,  or  other  place  of 
the  note  they  give  when  flying  is  quite  dif-  |  their  chosen  abode,  and  it  is  quite  likely 
ferent  from  that  of  a  worker  or  drone  ;  and  !  they  follow  these  scouts,  and  know  of  their 
many  times,  when  a  queen  has  escaped  while  j  presence  as  they  do  their  queen,  by  the 
being  introduced,  I  have  detected  her  where-  |  sound  they  emit  from  their  wings.  A  noise, 
abouts  by  the  sound  of  her  wings,  before  I  |  if  loud  enough,  would  be  likely  to  drown 
had  any  glimpse  of  her  at  all.  With  a  little  |  these  sounds,  and  thus  produce  disorganiza- 
practice  we  can  distinguish  this  note  amidst  j  tion.  Throwing  dirt  or  gravel  among  them 
the  buzzing  of  a  thousand  bees  flying  about,  '  will  bring  them  down  generally  quite  speed- 
so  as  to  turn  our  eyes  upon  her  when  she  is  ily,  and  I  suppose  it  is  because  it  produces 
quite  a  distance  away.  Is  it  not  likely  that  \  disorganization  much  in  the  same  way. 
the  bees  composing  a  swarm  know  this  1  SirRIANS.  See  Holy  -  Land  Bees, 
sound'99  as  well  as  we  do,  or  much  better?   under  Italians. 


T 


TONGUE  or  A  WORKER  BEE.    Of  all 

delicately  constructed  pieces  of  organism, 
the  tongue  of  a  bee  is  one  of  the  most  elabo- 
rate and  complicated  in  its  general  plan  and 
arrangement  of  any  thing  that  we  find  in  all 
animated  creation.  AVonderfiil  as  is  the 
sting,  complex  as  are  the  compound  eyes, 
and  beautiful  as  are  the  silken  wings,  the 
'little  apparatus  with  which  the  bee  takes  up 
its  food  excels  them  all.  Probably  not  one 
bee-keeper  in  ten  thousand  ever  thinks  of  the 
tongue  of  a  worker  as  being  any  thing  more 
than  one  little  flexible  tube  through  which 
it  sucks  the  nectar  from  the  flowers  :  and  it 
is  but  natural  that  one  should  so  conclude 
after  he  watches  one  of  his  little  pets  with  a 
glass,  as  it  draws  up  the  liquid  sweet  with 
that  beautiful  little  tawny  proboscis.  But, 
strangely  enough,  it  is  not  a  tube,  strictly 
speaking,  but  a  combination  of  four  false 
tubes  formed  by  the  overlapping  and  folding 
of  parts.  The  whole  little  organism,  deli- 
cate and  minute  as  it  is.  consists  properly  of 
one  tongue  inside  of  another,  and  both  parts 
—the  inner  and  outer— are  so  constructed 
that  one  large  tube  can  be  formed  around 
the  smaller  one.  In  Fig.  1  we  have  the 
tongue  as  it  has  been  dissected  from  the 
head  of  the  bee.  The  two  large  branches 
on  the  side,  c  c,  are  called  maxillae ;  the  two 
smaller  ones  inside,  labial  palpi.  These  four 
close  together,  the  former  set  above  the 
lower,  forming  a  tube  through  which  the 
tongue  proper,  a.  can  work  back  and  forth. 
See  sectional  views  Fig.  2,  at  C,  D.  and  E 
respectively.  The  tongue,  or  ligula  proper, 
a.  Fig.  1.  has  a  very  minute  groove  running 
its  entire  length  on  the  front,  or  on  the  top 
side  as  we  look  at  it.  On  either  side  of  this 
minute  groove  there  is  a  sort  of  bend,  or 
fold,  which  makes  two  more  side  ducts  (see 
G,  Fig.  2).  Where  a  minute  quantity  of 
nectar  is  to  be  gathered,  the  central  groove 
in  the  tongue  will  probably  take  care  of  the 
entire  amount.  If  there  is  a  larger  amount, 
suflicient  to  till  the  two  side  ducts  as  well  as 


the  central  groove,  they  will  all  be  brought 
into  play.  In  such  case,  the  tongue,  as  it 
sticks  out  of  its  sheath,  so  to  speak,  will  be 
seen  bent  backward,  sweeping  sidewise  over 
the  surface  that  contains  the  liquid  sweet- 
ness. When  the  bee  deskes  to  gulp  down  a 
large  quantity  of  hquid  at  a  time  it  makes 
use  of  the  larger  tube  formed  by  the  nmxil- 
Ise  and  labial  palpi  both  together.  The  ques- 
tion might  be  raised.  Why  did  the  aU-wise 
Creator  make  a  proboscis  for  the  bee  so  com- 
plicated as  this  V  Why  would  not  a  single 
tube  have  been  suflicient  The  tongue  of 
a  bee,  elaborate  as  it  is,  and  as  large  as  it 
seems  to  be  in  the  picture  presented,  is  in 
reality  so  small  as  scarcely  to  be  seen  by 
the  naked  eye.  If  there  were  a  tube  run- 
ning the  entire  length  through  the  tongue  it 
would  necessarily  be  so  minute  it  would  fill 
up.  as  Cheshire  points  out.  leaving  the  dry 
honey  or  particles  of  pollen.  Then  if  a  bee 
had  to  depend  on  the  small  opening  in  the 
tube  it  would  take  it  a  long  time  to  store  its 
honey-sac  full  of  nectar  or  honey  if  a  large 
quantity  of  either  were  available.  So  Dame 
Nature  steps  in  and  provides  four  pseudo  or 
false  tubes— one  large  and  three  much  small- 
er ones — the  last  set  inside  of  the  other,  either 
of  which  may  be  separated  apart  and  opened 
out  so  that  the  inside  of  the  tubes  can  be 
thoroughly  cleaned ;  and  then  when  cleaned 
the  parts  are  put  together  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye.  and  the  process  of  sucking  up  the 
sweet  juices  continues. 

In  Fig.  2,  taken  from  Cheshire,  are  shown 
sectional  views  as  well  as  longitudinal  views 
of  the  tongue  as  a  whole.  In  C,  D.  E.  re- 
spectively we  have  cross  sections  showing 
the  outer  and  inner  sets  of  tubes ;  mx,  the 
maxillae  in  connection  with  Ip,  the  labial 
palpi,  are  folded  together  in  the  manner 
shown,  forming  the  large  tube,  through 
which  large  quantities,  when  available,  are 
taken..  At  c  d  in  G  is  shown  the  groove  I 
have  already  referred  to,  and  through  which 
minute  quantities  are  dra^NTi.   At  s  cZ  in  G 


TONGUE  OF  A  BEE. 


826 


TONGUE  OF  A  BEE. 


is  shown  one  of  the  side  ducts  through  i  out  for  the  purpose  of  cleaning.   At  K  we 
which  a  still  larger  amount  may  be  drawn,  j  have  the  end  of  the  tongue,  or  what  is  some 
All  three  of  these  close  by  folding,  forming  j  times  called  the  "spoon."   Delicate  hairs 
tubes.   At  B  we  have  a  portion  of  the  (they  do  not  seem  very  delicate  in  this  view  i 
tongue  proper,  showing  how  it  is  attached  '  serve  to  assist  the  tongue  in  gathering  u]) 


FIG.  1. — tongue;  of  a  bee,  greatly  enlarged. 

to  the  mentum.   At  A  we  have  the  same  its  sweetness  and  enable  the  liquids,  by 

view;  but  the  tongue  is  distended,  acc  irdiiig  mea]is  of  capillary  attraction,  to  be  drawn 

to  Cheshire,  by  forcing  blood  into  it,  so  that  upward  into  the  central  groove  and  side 

in  a  sense  the  tongue  is  turned  wrong  side  ducts  already  spoken  of.   We  have  then 


TOXGUE  OF  A  BEE. 


327 


TOXGUE  OF  A  BEE. 


four  channels  for  the  conveyance  of  nectar  out  a  minute  drop  of  nectar  from  each  tube, 

through  the  proboscis  :  viz..  C.  D.  E.  Fig.  2.  I  then  picked  up  a  head  from  which  an  Ital- 

when  large  amounts  of  nectar  are  to  be  ian  bee  had  just  ilown.  and  into  the  tubes,  of_ 

gulped  down,  and  c  cl  and  s  (7  in  G  for  small-  which  it  had  shoved  its  proboscis  without 

er  amoimts.  getting  even  a  taste  of  the  coveted  sweet. 

For  the  information  given  above  I  am  in-  From  these  same  corolla-tubes  of  this  head 

debted  to  both  Cowan  and  Cheshire,  who.  I  extracted  in  the  manner  explained  quite  a 

it  seems,  have  drawn  on  others  as  well  as  little  drop  of  nectar  which  the  poor  bee  had 


from  their  own  extended  studies  and  inves- 
tigations. 

LOXGER-TOXGITED  BEES  FOE  RED  CI  OVER. 

In  the  summer  of  1900  I  was  going  through 
a  field  of  red  clover  that  was  fairly  redolent 
of  the  nectar  in  the  corolla-tubes,  i'ickiiig 
up  here  and  there  a  head  I  grasped  some  of 
these  tubes  between  my  fingers  and  squeezed 


been  unable  to  get  because  its  tongue  was 
too  short. 

Here  was  a  ten-acre  held,  and  over  yonder 
another  one.  and  in  another  direction  a 
twenty  acre  field,  and  a  mile  and  a  half 
distant  three  or  four  more  ten  and  twenty 
acre  patches.  I  thought  to  myself,  there 
were  tons  of  honey  all  within  the  range  of 


TOXGUE  OF  A  BEE.  328  TONGUE  OF  A  BEE. 


our  outyard.  Only  a  small  percentage  of  this 
honey  could  these  bees  get.  White  clover 
had  been  almost  an  entire  failure;  bass- 
wood  no  better.  If  the  bees  had  been  able 
to  reach  the  nectar  in  these  heads,  taking 
out  every  drop  of  it,  we  should  have  had 
tons  and  tons  of  honey,  and  a  crop  such  as 
we  never  harvested  before. 

On  going  home  that  afternoon  I  made  it 
a  point  to  examine  the  tongues  of  the  bees 
of  several  of  our  different  colonies.  "With  a 
magnifying-glass  mounted  on  a  standard,  a 
pair  of  tweezers,  a  small  bottle  of  chloro- 
form, and  a  steel  micrometer  rule  measur- 
ing off  hundredths  of  an  inch,  I  proceeded 
to  measure  the  tongues  of  our  bees.  A  bee 
was  first  chloroformed— an  operation  that 
caused  it  to  protrude  its  tongue  by  reason 
of  suffocation.  The  head  and  tongue  were 
then  removed  from  the  lifeless  body,  and 


tongues  of  the  bees  of  this  colony.  Whether 
the  difference  between  ^%  and  yVo  in  length 
enabled  the  bees  in  this  colony  to  get  all  the 
honey  there  was  in  the  clover  heads  I  can 
not  say :  but  during  the  time  the  clover  was 
in  bloom  it  made  the  most  wonderful  show- 
ing in  the  hive  of  any  colony  we  ever  had, 
notwithstanding  that  we  had  all  the  sum- 
mer been  taking  from  it  brood  for  queen- 
rearing. 

By  careful  selection  it  is  apparent  that,  if 
we  breed  from  this  queen  having  bees  with 
extraordinarily  long  tongues,  and  can  mate 
them  to  drones  from  similar  stock  not  relat- 
ed, we  can,  by  a  process  of  selection,  be  able 
j  to  breed  long-tongued  bees  ;  and  if  so,  we 
I  may  be  able  to  get  tons  of  honey  where  we 
i  now  get  only  hundreds  of  pounds.  So  we  see 
j  that,  in  the  study  of  this  interesting  subject, 
I  the  tongue  of  the  bee,  there  is  something 


FIG.  3. — COMPARATIVE  VARIATIOX  IN  THE  TONGUES  OF  WORKER  BEVS. 


laid  on  the  micrometer  rule.  This  last  was 
then  adjusted  to  a  position  to  count  off  the 
hundredths,  while  the  tongue  was  stretched 
full  length.  The  average  of  all  the  measure- 
ments was  about  i^g),  as  the  extreme  reach 
of  a  bee.  Some  went  as  low  as  14,  and  some 
as  high  as  18;  but  the  bees  having  tongues 
of  this  length  were  rare  indeed. 

Later  in  the  summer  we  had  a  colony  that 
crammed  its  hive  full  of  honey  during  the 
red-ciover  bloom  when  other  colonies  were 
barely  getting  a  living  from  the  same  source.  ; 
The  bees  were  remarkable  for  gentleness,  ' 
and  the  mother  herself  came  direct  from 
sunny  Italy.    Well,  now,  I  thought,  as  soon 
as  we  had  discovered  that  we  had  a  prize  in  | 
the  way  of  a  genuine  red-clover  queen,  we  j 
must  have  some  long-tongued  bees.   They  i 
were  measured,  and,  sure  enough,  the  scale  | 
showed  yVo  as  the  average  length  of  the  I 


practical  as  well  as  interesting.  I  suggest, 
therefore,  that  our  ABC  S'-holars  watch  for 
bees  with  long  tongues.  Whenever  a  colony 
during  red-clover  time  gets  a  good  deal 
more  honey  than  the  others  in  the  apiary, 
send  a  few  bees  to  us  and  we  will  measure 
their  tongues,  aud  report. 

TRAN'SFZSRRZrja.  Make  all  ar- 
rangements several  days  before  if  possible, 
so  that  the  bees  may  be  fully  used  to  the 
surroundings,  and  be  all  at  work;  remember 
we  wish  to  choose  a  time  when  as  many  bees 
as  possible  are  out  at  work,  for  they  will 
then  be  nicely  out  of  the  way.  About  10 
o'clock  A.  M.  will  probably  be  the  best  time, 
if  it  is  a  warm,  still  day.  Get  all  your  appli- 
ances in  readiness,  every  thing  you  can  think 
of  that  you  may  need,  and  some  other  things 
too,  perhaps.   You  will  want  a  fine-toothed 


TRA]SrSFEKRIXG 


329 


TRA^SFEimmG. 


saw.  a  hammer,  a  chisel  to  cut  nails  in  the 
old  hive,  tacks  :  string,  such  as  the  grocers 
use,  a  large  board  to  lay  the  combs  upon 
(the  cover  to  a  Dovetailed  hive  vrill  do) ,  a  ta- 
ble cloth  or  sheet  folded  up  to  lay  under  the 
combs  to  prevent  bumping  the  heads  of  the 
unhatched  brood  too  severely,  a  honey-knife 
or  a  couple  of  them  (if  you  have  none,  get  a 
couple  of  long  thin-bladed  bread  or  butch- 
er knives),  and  lastly  a  basin  of  water  and  a 
towel  to  keep  every  thing  washed  up  clean. 
Xow.  as  I  have  said  before,  this  is  really,  a 
great  part  of  it.  women's  work  ;  and  if  you 
cannot  persuade  your  wife  or  sister. or  some 
"  good  friend  among  the  sex  to  help,  you  are 
not  fit  to  be  a  bee-keeper. 

A  good  smoker  will  be  very  handy ;  but 
if  you  have  not  one.  make  a  smoke  of  some 
bits  of  rotten  wood  in  a  pan  :  blow  a  little 
smoke  in  at  the  entrance  of  the  hive,  tip  the 
old  hive  over  backward,  and  blow  in  a  little 
more  smoke  to  drive  the  bees  down  among 
the  combs ;  let  it  stand  there,  and  place  the- 
new  hive  so  that  the  entrance  is  exactly  in 
the  place  of  the  old  one ;  put  a  large  news- 
paper in  front  of  the  new  hive  and  let  one 
edge  lie  imder  the  entrance.   The  returning 
bees,  laden  with  pollen  and  honey,  are  now 
alighting  and  going   into  the  hive,  and 
rushing  out  again  in  dismay  at  finding 
it  empt}';   we  therefore  want  to  get  one 
comb  in  for  them,   to   let   them  know 
that  it  is  their  old  home.   Move  the  old 
hive  back  a  little  further,  in  order  to  get 
all  round  it.  and  give  them  a  little  more 
smoke  whenever  they  seem  disposed  to  be 
'"obstreperous,""   Some  bee-keepers  pry  off 
the  hive-side,  and  then  proceed  to  cut  out  i 
the  combs,  with  the  bees  running  all  over 
every  thing.   Of  course,  this  necessarily  j 
kills  bees,  to  say  nothing  of  the  nuisance  of 
their  crawling  over  the  groimd.  up  your 
trousers-legs,  etc.   A  better  way  is  to  place  : 
a  small  box  over  the  hive  inverted,  large  | 
enough  to  receive  the  whole  clirster  of  bees. 
Xow  drum  on  the  hive -sides  with  a  couple 
of  sticks,  or  with  the  palms  of  the  hands, 
until  the  bees  run  up  into  the  box  above.  : 
Xearly  all  of  them  can  be  induced  to  leave  | 
their  comts  for  the  box.  which  should  be  | 
removed  as  soon  as  a  majority  of  the  bees  ; 
have  gone  up  into  it.  and  set  to  one  side. 
You  can  now  pry  oft  the  side  of  the  box 
hive,  with  the  bees  practically  otit  of  the 
way.   On  a  flat  board  lay  each  comb  or  ; 
sheet  of  brood,  as  fast  as  it  is  cut  out.  and  | 
over  it  the  frame  that  you  are  to  transfer  I 
the  comb  into.    With  a  sharp,  keen-edged  ' 
knife,  mark  out  on  the  comb  the  size  of  the  i 


frame — that  is.  its  inside  dimensions.  Be- 
move  the  frame  and  then  cut  along  the 
marking,  after  which  slip  the  frame  over. 
If  the  comb  will  not  stay  securely  without 

:  any  fastening,  wind  string  a  couple  of  times 
aroimd,  and  tie.   I  recommend  string  in 

'  preference  to  transf erring-clasps,  transfer- 
ring-wires,  and  every  thing  of  that  sort,  for 
the  reason  that,  if  you  forget  to  remove  the 
strings,  the  bees  will  do  it  themselves,  bit 
by  bit.  by  the  time  the  comb  is  fastened. '^"3 
Proceed  thus  until  you  have  used  up  all  the 
brood  and  all  the  good  comb,  as  it  does  not 
pay.  at  the  present  prices  of  foundation,  to 
use  small  pieces.  All  such  should  be  pirt 
into  the  solar  wax-extractor.  See  Wax. 
Pieces  of  comb  containing  brood  can  be  fit- 
ted into  the  fi-ames :  but  somehow  I  would 
manage  to  take  in  all  the  brood  possible 
inside  of  the  frame  in  one  large  piece  :  and 
little  scraps  that  may  be  left  had  better  be 
consigned  to  the  solar  wax-extractor.  If. 
after  all  the  good  combs  are  transferred, 
there  is  still  space  in  the  hive  for  extra 
frames,  put  in  frames  of  foundation  to  fill 
up. 

Ydu  may  now,  if  you  have  not  already 
done  so,  dump  your  box  of  bees,  that  you 
have  set  to  one  side,  over  the  top  of  the 
ti"ansferred  combs,  and  in  front  of  the  en- 
trance, and  then  your  job  is  done,  after  you 
have  carried  away  all  the  refuse,  and  made 
sure  there  are  no  dripping  pieces  of  honey 
hing  aroimd.  Should  there  be  any  chunks 
of  good  honey  left  after  transferring,  put 
them  into  a  pan.  to  be  used  up  at  the  family 
table.  All  the  rest  should  be  consigned  to 
the  S'^lar  wax-extractor,  as  stated. 

It  makes  no  difference  which  side  up  the 
brood-combs  are. in  transferring:  turn  them 
horizontally  from  their  original  position,  or 
completely  upside  down,  as  you  find  most 
convenient.  Store  comb,  in  which  the  cells 
are  built  at  an  angle,  would  perhaps  better 
be  as  it  stood  originally :  but  if  you  do  not 
get  it  so.  it  makes  very  little  difference  :  the 
bees  have  a  way  of  fixing  all  such  matters 
very  quickly. 

WHEX  TO  TKAXSFER. 

Several  inquire  if  I  would  advise  them 
to  ti'ansfer  bees  in  the  months  of  Jime,  July. 
August,  etc.  I  really  do  not  see  how  I  can 
answer  such  a  question,  not  knowing  the 
persons.  Among  our  neighbors  there  are 
those  who  would  work  so  carefully  that  they 
would  be  almost  sure  to  succeed :  and.  again, 
there  are  others  who  would  be  almost  sure 
to  fail.  I  am  inclined  to  think  those  who 
make  these  inquiries  would  be  quite  apt  to 


TRANSFEREmG. 


330 


TRANSFERRmG. 


fail,  for  the  careful  ones  would  go  to  work 
without  asking  any  questions,  and  do  it  at 
any  season,  if  they  were  sufficiently  anxious 
to  have  it  done.  Bees  can  be  transferred  at 
any  month  in  the  year.  If  in  June  or  July, 
we  shall  need  an  extractor  to  throw  out  the 
honey  from  the  heaviest  pieces,  before  fast- 
ening them  into  frames.  Spring,  or,  more 
exactly,  during  time  of  fruit- bloom,  has 
been  decided  to  be  the  best  time,  because 
there  are  then  fewer  bees  and  less  honey,  as 
a  general  thing,  than  at  other  times.  The 
bees  will  fix  up  the  comb  better,  when  honey 
enough  is  being  gathered  to  induce  them  to 
build  comb  to  some  extent,  and  the  period  of 
fruit-blossoming  seems  to  secure  all  of  the 
above  advantages  more  fully  than  any  other 
season. 

TRANSFERIIING  W^HEN  THE  BEES  ARE  DIS- 
POSED TO  ROB. 

I  have  recommended  the  period  during 
fruit-bloom,  because  at  such  a  time  the  bees 
usually  get  honey  enough  to  prevent  rob- 
bing. Should  it  be  necessary,  however,  to 
do  it  a  little  later,  say  between  fruit-bloom 
and  clover,  use  the  mosquito-bar  folding  tent 
described  under  Robbixg. 


TRANSFERRING  WITH  THE  TENT. 

Bring  the  bee-tent  and  all  the  necessary 
tools  for  transferring,  and  stand  them  near 
the  old  box  hive.  Drum  the  bees  into  a  box 
as  previously  described.  Lay  on  its  side  the 
box  hive  to  be  transferred,  and  with  a  cold- 
chisel  cut  the  nails  so  that  one  side  can  be 
removed. 611-226  After  the  side  is  taken  olf, 
arrange  every  thing  into  as  compact  a  space 
as  possible.  This  done,  step  inside  the  tent 
and  grasp  the  intersections  and ''spread" 
yourself,  as  it  were,  over  your  work.  You 
will  then  appear  like  the  apiarist  seen  above. 


The  operator  inside  has  the  old  hive  from 
which  he  is  transferring,  together  with  the 
new  hive  and  all  necessary  fixtures  for  hold- 
ing the  combs  in  the  frames.  Besides  these 
he  has  a  saw,  chisel,  uncapping-knife,  smo- 
ker, bee-brush,  a  large  shallow  drip-pan  to 
catch  drippings  of  honey,  and  clean  wired 
frames.  To  make  his  work  as  easy  as  possi- 
ble, he  sits  on  a  tool-box.  In  case  he  wants 
a  frame  or  tool  which  by  oversight  he  does 
not  happen  to  have,  an  assistant,  who  may 
be  engaged  elsewhere  in  the  apiary,  at  a  call 
brings  him  whatever  he  desires.  In  the  en- 
graving the  assistant  is  in  the  act  of  pass- 
ing an  empty  comb  under  the  mosquito- 
netting. 

One  may  think  that  transferring  in  this 
tent  is  in  pretty  close  quarters,  but  I  have 
transferred  in  this  way  a  number  of  times 
easily  and  successfully,  and  the  tent  proved 
no  real  hindrance. 

A   SHORT  WAY   OF  TRANSFERRING. 

A  little  before  swarming-time,  pry  the  top 
from  the  box  hive  and  set  a  single- story 
hive  over  it,  making  all  the  joints  bee-tight. 
Now  hang  frames  filled  with  foundation  in 
this  new  hive,  and  the  bees  will  soon  work 
up  into  it.  After  the  queen  gets  to  laying 
in  these  combs  the  bees  will  soon  all  move 
up  into  it  and  you  can  lift  it  off,  and  trans- 
fer, or  do  what  you  please  with  the  old  hive 
and  combs.  When  you  are  hurried,  this 
plan  gets  your  stock  gradually  into  im- 
proved hives,  without  very  much  trouble, 
and  no  mussing  with  dripping  honey. 

THE  HEDDON   SHORT  WAY  OF  TRANSFER- 
RING. 

The  cutting  of  brood  in  transferring,  pry- 
ing ofC  the  hive-side,  incurring  the  risk  of 
robbers,  and  all  the'other  incidental  difficul- 
ties in  the  old  way  of  transferring,  suggest- 
ed to  Mr.  James  Heddon  another  method — 
one  that  will  commend  itself  especially  to 
beginners  —  those  who  dread  stings  and  the 
I  "  awful  sticky  "  job.  As  foundation  is  now 
so  cheap,  and  combs  built  from  it  are  so 
much  superior  to  that  built  naturally,  and  as 
the  combs  in  box  hives  are  almost  univer- 
sally crooked,  I  believe  my  readers  will,  on 
the  whole,  do  better  to  follow  the  Heddon 
short  method.  Indeed,  whenever  we  have 
occasion  to  transfer  we  use  it  exclusively. 

We  will  assume  that  the  hive  or  hives,  hav- 
ing been  received  in  the  flat,  are  put  togeth- 
er and  painted,  and  contain  frames  of  wired 
foundation  ready  for  the  bees.  Light  the 
smoker  and  put  on  a  bee-veil.  Move  the  old 
hive  back  four  or  five  feet,  and  put  the  new- 
hive  in  its  place.   Prepare  a  small  box  about 


TURN]  P. 


331 


TURNIP. 


8  inches  deep  and  one  side  open,  that  will 
just  cover  (not  slip  over)  the  bottom  of  the 
box  hive.  Turn  it  (the  hive)  upside  down; 
set  the  hiving-box  over  it,  and  then  drum  on 
the  sides  of  the  hive  with  a  couple  of  sticks 
until  about  two-thirds  of  the  bees  pass  up 
into  the  box.  Gently  lift  off  the  box  con- 
taining the  bees,  and  dump  it  in  front  of  the 
entrance  of  the  new  hive.  Make  sure  that 
the  queen  is  among  them,  by  watching  for 
her  as  she  passes  with  the  rest  into  the  en- 
trance. If  you  do  not  discover  her,  look  in- 
side the  hive.  If  you  still  fail  to  find  her, 
drum  out  bees  from  the  old  hive  again  until 
you  do  get  her,  for,  to  make  the  plan  a  suc- 
cess, she  must  be  in  the  ntw  hive. 

Return  to  the  box  hive  and  turn  it  right 
side  up  and  set  it  down  a  couple  of  feet  back 
of  the  new  one,  with  its  entrance  turned  at 
right  angles.  You  now  have  in  the  hive 
about  one-third  of  the  original  colony,  the 
combs,  and  all  the  brood.  Allow  the  old  hive 
to  stand  for  at  least  21  days,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  the  brood  will  be  hatched  out, 
with  the  exception  of  a  little  drone  brood 
which  will  be  of  no  value.  Turn  the  hive 
upside  down,  and  drum  the  remaining  bees 
out  again  into  the  hiving-box,  after  which 
dump  it  in  front  of  the  entrance  of  the  new 
hive,  as  before.  Your  job  of  transferring  is 
now  completed,  and  all  you  have  on  hand  is 
an  old  box  hive  containing  a  lot  of  old  crook- 
ed combs,  with  perhaps  a  little  honey  and 
drone  brood  in  it.  The  honey  can  be  ex- 
tracted, or  used  as  chunk  honey  on  the  table, 
if  fit  for  use.  The  rest  can  be  melted  up 
into  wax,  and  the  hive  itself  will  make  first- 
class  kindling-wood,  because  it  is  smeared 
over  on  the  inside  with  propolis  and  bits  of 
wax. 

The  method  above  described  is  what  is 
known  as  Heddon's  short  way.  As  it  is  neat- 
er, quicker,  and  we  may  say  cheaper,  and 
certainly  more  satisfactory  in  its  results,  we 
recommend  it  in  preference  to  the  old  way. 

There  is  one  difficulty  with  the  Heddon 
method  :  When  transferring  by  that  plan, 
shortly  after  the  honey  season  the  combs 
are  apt  to  be  filled  with  honey.  How  shall 
we  get  it  out  ?  After  the  bees  have  all  been 
driven  out  for  the  last  time,  we  may  cut  the 
combs  out  and  extract  the  honey  from  them 
in  pieces.  But  a  better  way  is  to  set  the 
box  hive  up  100  yards  or  so  from  the  apiary, 
on  a  board,  and  contract  the  entrance  so 
that  only  one  bee  can  get  through  at  a  time, 
as  explained  at  the  close  of  the  subject  of 
Robbing,  which  see.  A  little  furore  of  bees 
may  start  up  at  first ;  but  it  soon  auiets 


down,  and  in  a  few  days  the  bees  will^take 
'  out  quietly  all  the  honey  in  the  combs.  No 
unpleasant  disturbance  follows  in  the  apia- 
ry, for  the  reason  that  the  bees  get  the 
j  honey  slowly,  about  as  they  do  from  natural 
!  soui'ces.   As  soon  as  the  hive  is  empty  of 
j  honey  the  bees  will  stop  visiting  it,  of  course, 
and  then  you  can  cut  out  the  combs,  put 
them  in  a  solar  wax-extractor,  and  consign 
the  old  hive  to  the  kindling-pile. 

THAVZSIi-STAirJ.  See  Comb 
Honey. 

TURrriF.   The  turnip,  mustard,  cab- 
bage, rape,  etc.,  are  all  members  of  onefam- 
I  ilv,  and,  if  I  am  correct,  all  bear  honey, 
when  circumstances  are  favorable.  The 
j  great  enemy  of  most  of  these  in  our  locality 
\  [especially  of  the  rape),  is  the  little  black  cab- 
'  bage-flea.   The  turnip  escapes  this  pest  by 
i  being  sown  in  the  fall ;  and  were  it  not  that 
j  it  comes  in  bloom  at  almost  the  same  time 
j  that  the  fruit-trees  do,  I  should  consider  it 
one  of  the  most  promising  honey-plants. 

I  n  the  summer  of  1877,  Mr.  A.  W.  Kaye, 
of  Pewee  Valley,  Ky.,  sent  me  some  seed  of 
j  what  is  called  the  "  Seven -top  turnip,"  say- 
i  ing  that  his  bees  had  gathered  more  pollen 
i  from  it,  in  the  spring,  than  from  any  thing 
j  else.   I  sowed  the  seed  about  the  1st  of  Oct., 
I  on  ground  where  early  potatoes  had  been 
dug.   In  December  they  showed  a  luxuri- 
ance of  beautiful  green  foliage,  and  in  May, 
following,  a  sea  of  yellow  blossoms,  makiag 
one  of  the  prettiest  "  posy-beds,"  I  believe, 
that  I  ever  saw,  and  the  music  of  the 
i  bees  humming  among  the  branches  was  jiist 
I  "  entrancing  "  to  one  who  has  an  ear  for 
i  such  music.    I  never  saw  so  many  bees  on 
i  any  patch  of  blossoms  of  its  size  as  could 
be  seen  on  them  from  daylight  until  dark. 

Mr.  Kaye  recommended  the  plant  partic- 
ularly for  pollen;  but,  besides  this,  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  it  will  give  a  large  amount 
of  honey  to  the  acre.  We  have  much  trouble 
here  in  raising  rape  and  mustard,  with  the 
small  turnip  beetle,  or  flea  ;  but  this  turnip- 
patch  has  never  been  touched;  whether  it  is 
on  account  of  sowing  so  late  in  the  fall,  or 
because  the  flea  does  not  fancy  it,  I  am  un- 
able to  say.  The  plants  seem  very  hardy, 
and  the  foliage  is  most  luxuriant,  much 
more  so  than  either  the  rape  or  Chinese  mus- 
tard, which  latter  plant  it  much  resembles, 
only  having  larger  blossoms.  As  our  patch 
was  sown  after  the  1  st  of  Oct. ,  and  the  crop 
could  easily  be  cleared  from  our  land  by  the 
middle  of  June,  honey  could  be  secured 
without  interfering  with  the  use  of  the  land 
I  for  other  purposes. 


TURNIP. 


332 


TUKNIP. 


Mr.  Kaye  also  recommends  the  foliage  can  certainly  have  an  abundant  supply  be- 
for  "greens,"  and  says  that  he  sows  it  in  his  tween  fruit-bloom  and  clover, 
garden  for  spring  and  winter  use.  We  tried  Turnip  seed  is  valuable  for  the  oil  made 
a  mess  of  greens  from  our  patch  in  Decern-  from  it,  and  also  as  a  food  for  canary  birds, 
ber,  and  found  them  excellent.  Our  seed  was  \  If  sown  on  corn-ground  at  the  last  cultivat- 
sown  very  thickly,  in  drills  about  one  foot  ing,  the  plants  will  gain  a  good  hold  before 
apart.  This  turnip  bears  only  tops,  and  has  winter,  and  in  the  spring  blossom  profusely, 
no  enlargement  of  the  root.  If  they  are  turned  under  just  before  going 

If  I  could  get  a  ten-acre  lot  covered  with  1  out  of  bloom  they  make  one  of  the  most  val- 
such  bloom  during  the  month  of  August,  I  i  uable  of  soiling  crops.  Thus  a  good  turnip 
should  not  hesitate  an  instant  to  hand  over  |  pasturage  may  be  obtained  with  no  extra 
the  money  for  the  necessary  expenses.  If  j  work  except  sowing,  and  the  crop  would  be 
we  can  not  get  the  blossoms  in  August,  we  i  an  actual  benefit  to  the  soil  if  turned  under. 


u 


UUITZNG-  BEZiS.  Uniting  colonies 
is  much  like  introducing  queens,  inasmuch 
as  no  fixed  rule  can  be  given  for  all  cases. 
It  is  a  ver}"  simple  matter  to  lift  the  frames, 
bees  and  all.  out  of  one  hive  and  set  them 
into  another,  where  the  two  are  situated  side 
by  side.  Usually  there  will  be  no  quarrel- 
ing, if  this  is  done  when  the  weather  is  too 
cold  for  the  bees  to  fly,  but  this  is  not  al- 
ways the  case. •2-'  If  one  colony  is  placed 
close  to  one  side  of  the  hive,  and  the  other 
to  the  other  side,  and  they  are  small  enough 
for  a  vacant  comb  or  two  between  them, 
they  will  very  rarely  fight.  After  two  or 
three  days,  the  bees  will  be  found  to  have 
united  themselves  peaceably,  and  the  brood 
and  stores  may  then  be  placed  compactly  to- 
gether, and  yoiu-  chaff  cushions  put  in  at  each 
side.  If  there  are  frames  containing  some 
honey,  that  can  not  be  put  in.  they  should  be 
placed  in  an  upper  story,  and  the  bees  al- 
lowed to  carry  it  down. You  should  always 
look  to  them  20  minutes  or  half  an  hoiu'  after 
they  are  put  into  one  hive,  to  see  if  every 
thing  is  amicable  on  ••  both  sides  of  the 
house."  If  you  find  any  bees  fighting,  or 
any  doubled  up  on  the  bottom  -  board,  give 
them  such  a  smoking  that  they  can  not  tell 

which  from  fother."  and  after  15  or  20 
minutes,  if  they  are  fighting  again,  give 
them  another  "  dose."  and  repeat  until  they 
are  good  to  each  other.  I  have  never  failed 
in  getting  them  peaceable  after  two  or  three 
smokings. 

If  you  viish  to  unite  two  colonies  so  large 
that  a  single  story  will  not  easily  contain 
them,  which,  by  the  way.Ifeelsiu'e  is  always 
poor  policy,  or  if  their  honey  is  scattered 
through  the  whole  ten  combs  in  each  hive, 
proceed  as  before,  only  set  one  hive  over 
the  other.  If  this  is  done  on  a  cool  day, 
and  the  bees  are  kept  in  for  two  or 
three  days,  few,  if  any,  will  go  back  to  the 
old  stand.  If  the  hives  stood  within  six  feet 
of  each  other,  they  will  all  get  back  without 
any  trouble  anway.  for  they  will  hear  the 


call  of  theii'  comrades  who  have  discovered 
the  new  order  of  things.  Sometimes  you 
can  take  two  colonie^  while  flying,  and  put 
them  together  without  trouble,  by  making 
the  lost  bees  call  their  comrades.  Only  actual 
practice,  and  acquaintance  with  the  habits 
of  bees,  will  enable  you  to  do  this:  and  if 
you  have  not  that  knowledge,  you  must  get 
it  by  experience.  Get  a  couple  of  colonies 
that  you  do  not  value  much,  and  practice  on 
them.  As  I  have  said  all  along,  beware  of 
robbers,  or  you  will  speedily  make  two  col- 
onies into  none  at  all.  instead  of  into  one. 

WHAT  TO  DO  WITH  THE  QrEEXS. 

If  one  of  the  colonies  to  be  imited  has  been 
several  days  queenless.  all  the  better  :  for  a 
queenless  colony  will  often  give  up  its  local- 
ity and  accept  a  new  one.  if  simply  shaken 
in  front  of  a  hive  containing  a  lading  queen. 
From  a  hive  containing  neither  queen  nor 
brood.  I  have  induced  the  whole  lot  to  de- 
sert, and  go  over  to  a  neighboring  colony, 
by  simply  shaking  some  of  the  bees  in  front 
of  it.  They  were  so  overjoyed  at  finding  a 
laying  queen,  that  they  called  all  their  com- 
rades to  the  new  home,  and  all  hands  set  to 
work  and  earned  every  di'op  of  honey  to  the 
hive  with  the  fertile  queen.  By  taking  ad- 
vantage of  this  disposition  we  can  often 
make  short  work  of  uniting.  If  you  are  in 
a  hurry,  or  do  not  care  for  the  queens,  you 
can  unite  without  paying  any  attention  to 
them,  and  one  will  be  killed  :  but.  as  even  a 
hybrid  queen  is  now  worth  1-5  ct-v..  I  do  not 
think  it  pays  to  kill  them.  Remove  the 
poorest  one  and  keep  her  safely  caged  tmtil 
you  are  sm-e  the  other  is  well  received  by 
the  bees.  If  she  is  killed,  as  is  sometimes 
the  case,  you  have  the  other  to  replace  her. 
"Where  stocks  are  several  rods  apart,  they 
are  often  moved  a  couple  of  feet  a  day  while 
the  bees  are  flying  briskly,  ttntil  they  are 
side  by  side,  and  then  imited  as  we  have  di- 
rected. This  is  so  much  trouble  that  I 
much  prefer  waiting  for  cold  weather.  If 


UNITmG  BEES. 


334 


UOTTESTG  BEES. 


your  bees  are  in  box  hives,  I  should  say  your 
first  job  on  hand  is  to  transfer  them.  If 
you  have  several  kinds  of  hives  in  your 
apiary  you  are  about  as  badly  off,  and  the 
remedy  is  to  throw  away  all  but  one. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  advise  deferring 
the  uniting  of  your  bees  until  we  have  sev- 
eral cold  rainy  days,  in  Oct.,  for  instance,  on 
which  bees  will  not  fly.230    Then  proceed  as 
directed.   If  you  have  followed  the  advice  I 
have  given,  you  will  have  little  uniting  to 
do.  except  with  the  queen-rearing  nuclei ; 
and  with  these,  you  have  only  to  take  the 
hives  away  and  set  the  frames  in  the  hive  j 
below,  when  you  are  ^  done  with  them.  If, 
the  hive  below  is  a  strong  one,  as  it  should  j 
of  course  be,  just  set  the  frames  from  the  i 
nucleus  into  the  upper  story,  until  all  the  | 
brood  has  hatched.   If  you  wish  to  make  a  \ 
colony  of  the  various  nuclei,  collect  them  i 
during  a  cold  day,  and  put  them  all  into  one  \ 
hive.   If  you  have  bees  from  3  or  4,  they  will  | 
unite  better  than  if  they  came  from  only  two  i 
hives,  and  you  will  seldom  see  a  bee  go  back  | 
to  its  old  home.   A  beginner  should  beware 
of  having  many  weak  colonies  in  the  fall,  to 
be  imited.    It  is  much  safer  to  have  them 
all  strong  and  ready  for  winter,  long  before 
winter  comes. 

i 

UNITING  NEW  SWARMS.  i 

This  is  so  easily  done  that  I  hardly  need  i 
give  directions ;  in  fact,  if  two  swarms  come  j 
out  at  the  same  time,  they  are  almost  sure  | 
to  unite,  and  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  heard 
of  two  such  swarms  quarreling.  One  of  the  ! 
queens  will  very  soon  be  killed,  but  you  may  | 
easily  find  the  extra  one  by  looking  for  the  i 
ball  of  bees  that  will  be  found  clinging  about  | 
her,  very  soon  after  the  bees  have  been  join-  i 
ed  together.  A  swarm  can  almost  always  i 
be  given  without  trouble,  to  any  swarm  that  i 
has  come  out  the  day  previous  ;  and  if  you  i 


will  take  the  trouble  to  watch  them  a  little, 
you  may  unite  any  swarm  with  any  other 
new  swarm,  even  if  it  came  out  a  week  or 
more  before.  Smoke  them  when  inclined  to 
fight,  as  I  told  you  before,  and  make  them 
be  good  to  the  new  comers. 231 

UNITING  BEES  IN  THE  SPRING. 

As  I  have  pointed  out  elsewhere,  uniting 
in  the  spring  is  usually  unprofitable.  When 
there  are  two  little  weak  colonies,  or  nuclei, 
one  having  a  queen,  it  would  seem  the  most 
natural  thing  in  the  world  to  put  the  two  to- 
gether, for  additional  warmth  and  to  provide 
a  queen  for  all  the  bees ;  but,  unfortunately, 
theory  is  not  here  borne  out  by  the  actual 
facts.  I  have  united  nucleus  after  nuclei^s 
in  the  spring ;  and  while  at  the  very  time  of 
uniting  they  would  seem  to  make  up  a  fairly 
good  colony,  yet  in  two  or  three  days  there 
Avould  seem  to  be  just  about  as  few  bees  as 
there  were  before  the  uniting  took  place. 
The  trouble  is,  that,  if  there  is  weather  when 
they  can  fly,  the  bees  that  have  been  moved 
will  go  back  to  the  old  home  to  die,  and,  as  a 
natural  result,  in  three  or  four  days  there 
will  be  only  the  little  cluster  where  there 
was  a  fair  colony  before.  Uniting,  when  it 
is  practiced  to  any  advantage  at  all,  is  usual- 
ly done  late  in  the  fall.  But  if  it  is  not  prof- 
itable to  unite,  what  shall  be  done  V  Con- 
tract each  little  cluster  down  to  one  or  two 
frames,  and  pack  them  warm.  Such  clusters 
well  packed  can  very  often  be  saved. 

One  exception  should,  perhaps,  be  made 
in  regard  to  uniting  in  the  spring ;  and  that 
is,  that  a  nucleus  from  an  out-apiary  can  be 
brought  home  and  united  with  a  nucleus  at 
the  home  yard,  or  at  any  other  yard.  There 
would  be  no  returning  of  bees  then,  and  the 
two  clusters  will  stay  together,  sharing  each 
other's  heat  and  enjoying  the  privilege  ot 
having  a  queen  over  all. 


AFIAHY  IX  SAX  GABRIEL  CAXYON,  CALIFORNIA. 


V. 


VZilliS.  The  necessity  of  using  face 
protections  will  depend  very  largely  npon 
the  race  of  bees  to  be  handled.  If  one  has 
to  deal  with  hybrids,  Cyprians,  or  Holy- 
Lands.  I  would  recommend  him  to  wear  a 
veil.  With  pure  Italians  it  is  not  so  neces- 
sary, still  I  always  prefer  to  have  one  handy. 
Its  use  will,  in  any  case,  give  the  apiarist 
a  sense  of  security  that  will  enable  him  to 
work  to  much  better  advantage  than  he 
would  if  continually  in  fear  of  every  cross 
bee  that  chanced  to  buzz  near  his  eyes. 

There  are  two  great  objections  to  the  use 
of  veils :  one  is  that  they  necessarily  obsti'uct 
the  vision  more  or  less,  and  the  other  is  that 
they  obstruct  the  free  circulation  of  air. 
in  hot  weather,  and  thus  tend  to  make  the 
wearer  sweaty  and  uncomfortable. 

The  xeiy  I  lice. ■^t  veil  is  one  made  entirely 
of  silk  tulle. although  it  is  somewhat  more 
expensive.    The  material  is  so  tine  that  a 


BEE  VEIL  AXD   HAT   PKEFERRED  BY  THE 
BOYS  AT  THE  H03IE  OF  THE  HOXEY-BEES. 

whole  veil  of  it  may  be  folded  so  as  to  go  in 
a  small  vest  pocket.  I  carry  one  of  these 
constantly  during  the  working  season  of  the 
bees,  and  it  is  always  ready  for  an  emergen- 
cy. It  neither  obstructs  the  vision  nor  i)re- 
vents  the  free  circulation  of  air  on  hot  days. 
A  cheaper  one.  though  not  so  light  or  cool,  is 
made  of  grenadine  with  a  facing  of  silk 
tulle  net  sewed  in.  It  is  a  stronger  veil, 
but  not  as  cool  as  the  one  made  entirely  of 
silk  tuhe.  The  grenadine  is  strong,  and 
the  brussels-net  facing  obstructs  the  ^-ision 
but  little  if  any.  The  top  of  the  veil  is  gath- 
ered with  a  rubber  cord,  so  that  it  may  be 


made  to  fit  ch  sely  around  the  crown  of  the 
hat. 

Oiu'  boys  wear  a  broad-brimmed  cloth  hat, 
costing  about  i:0  cents  each.  These  hats  are 
very  light,  and  will  fit  any  head,  and  can  be 
folded  so  as  to  put  in  a  coat-pocket.  The  under 
side  of  the  brim  is  green.  The  upper  side 
of  the  crown  is  of  a  drab  color.  This  broad 
brim  is  supported  and  held  out  by  means  of 
a  steel  hoop ;  and  when  the  veil  is  placed 
over  the  hat.  if  properly  dra^^Ti  down  it  can 
not  touch  the  face  or  neck,  and  hence  leaves 
no  possible  chance  for  stings.  During  hot 
days,  when  bees  require  the  most  attention 
in  the  apiary,  a  coat  or  vest  is  simply  intol- 
erable. In  the  absence  of  either  one  of  these 
the  corners  of  the  veil  are  drawn  under  the 
suspenders,  as  shown.  This  is  mtich  cooler 
than  coat-collar  fashion,  and  just  as  secure 
from  the  attacks  of  bees.  AVhen  the  bees 
become  quieted  dovsTi  one  can  lift  the  veil 
up  out  of  the  way.  Shottld  he,  by  a  care- 
less movement,  arouse  the  ire  of  his  pets, 
he  can  quickly  draw  the  veil  down  and  puU 
it  under  the  suspenders  in  a  twinkling.  But 
this  could  not  be  done  as  quickly  with  the 
coat-collar.  As  the  crown  of  the  hat  is  only 
cloth,  on  very  hot  days  the  boys  are  in  the 
habit  of  putting  plantain  or  grapevine  leaves 
in  the  top.  These  are  an  additional  pro- 
tection, and  keep  the  top  of  the  head  cool. 

In  some  cases  suspenders  are  not  worn. 

In  such  cases  a  veil  like 
that  shown  in  the  ac- 
companying illustration 
can  be  used.  This  veil 
is  made  like  the  others, 
only  that  an  elastic  band 
or  rubber  cord  is  se^Ti 
into  the  bottom  edges. 
.  An  elastic  band  is  next 

!$  sewn  on  to  the  front  with 

a  button-hole  in  the  end.  When  this  hat  is 
in  use  the  elastic  in  front  is  buttoned  to  the 
top  pants  button.  This  holds  the  veil  in 
place,  suspenders  or  no  suspenders.  This 
suggestion  comes  from  M.  K.  Kuehne.  Po- 
mona. Cal. 

One  of  oiu-  boys  has  used  with  much  satis- 
faction what  is  called  the  Hopatcong.  It  is  a 


VEILS. 


836 


VEILS. 


hat  that  is  worn  in  India  and  other  hot  coun- 
tries, and  is  slowly  working  its  way  into 
this  country,  particularly  in  the  South.  It 
is  made  of  palm-leaf,  and  it  is  supported 
above  the  head  in  the  manner  illustrated 
on  preceding  page.  The  cut  will  render 
further  description  unnecessary. 


HOPATCONG  HAT  AND  VEIL. 

As  light  breezes  can  circulate  above  and 
around  the  head,  it  is  perhaps  the  coolest 
sun-shade  of  any  herein  illustrated  and  de- 
scribed. If  you  can  not  secure  one  of  these, 
and  would  like  to  get  the  ventilating  feature, 
take  an  ordinary  palm-leaf  hat  several  sizes 
too  large.  On  the  inside  of  the  hat-band 
sew  four  or  five  |-inch  corks  that  have  been 
cut  in  halves  lengthwise.  These,  if  spaced 
at  regular  distances,  will  keep  the  hat  from 
the  head,  and  permit  ventilation. 

I  have  before 
remarked~that 
one  objection  to 
bee-veils  is  the 
obstruction  to 
the  eyesight.  To 
overcome  this, 
Mr.  John  C. 
Capehart,  of  St. 
Albans,  West 
Va.,  has  glued 
a  piece  of  glass 
in  front  of  the 
veil.  The  diffi- 
culty with  this 
was,  that  the  glass  would  hardly  ever  be  in 
range  with  the  eyes,  on  account  of  its  weight, 
and  then  it  would  be  covered  with  steam 
from  the  breath ;  and,  worse  than  all,  it 
would  get  broken.  The  brussels  net  is  open 
to  none  of  these  objections,  and  it  is  almost 
as  transparent  as  glass  itself. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Martin,  of  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  in 
Gleanings  for  March  1, 1889,  illustrated  and 
described  not  only  his .  bee-hat,  but  his  bee- 
suit.  His  description  and  illustration  are 
as  follows : 

111  a  clotliiiig'-store  I  found  what  is  called  an  engi- 
neer's suit  —  overalls  and  short  coat,  or  blouse,  made 


CAPEHART  S  GLASS-fRO>;T  VEIL. 


of  blue  and  white  checlted  cotton  cloth,  the  whole 
weighing-  only  154  lbs.—  cost  "  zhust  von  tollar,  zhust 
a  fit,  and  zhust  the  thing-."  The  beauty  of  this  suit  is 
the  certainty  of  complete  protection  to  your  Sunday 


J .  H.  MARTIN  S  BEE-SUIT. 

clothes  if  you  choose  to  wear  tliem ;  and  the  price  en- 
ables you  to  own  two  suits,  and  wash  often,  and  to  be 
always  clean.  Then  there  are  plentj^  of  pockets,  fore 
and  aft,  for  pencils,  jack-knives,  screw-drivers,  queen- 
cages,  toothpicks,  etc.  There  are  those  who  may  pos- 
sibly object  to  appropriating-  or  adapting-  an  eng-i- 
neer's  suit  to  bee-keeping;  but,  friends,  if  a  mortal. 


THE  rOKTEK  BEE-\  EiL 


VEILS. 


337 


VEILS. 


man  or  woman,  conducting  an  apiary  of  two  hundred 
colonies  of  bees,  isn't  an  engineer,  who  else,  indeed,  is 
worthy  of  the  name?  When  extracting  honey,  or  at 
work  with  stickiness  that  is  ceitain  to  get  on  my 
arms,  I  put  on  an  additional  set  of  sleeves. 

For  head-wear  I  prefer  a  stiff  straw  hat,  with  a  3!^- 
inch  brim,  over  which  a  silk  brussels-net  veil  is  worn 
in  the  ordinary  way.  To  liold  the  veil  snug  around 
the  neck,  I  prefer  a  stout  cord  with  a  slip  noose. 

In  the  Bee-keepers'  Beview  for  April.  1894. 
Mr.  Hutchinson  thus  describes  the  bee-veil, 
and  how  used  by  Mr.  Porter,  of  bee-es'-ape 
fame.  The  picture  is  a  very  natiu-al  like- 
ness of  Mr.  Hutchinson  him>elf,  tlie  editor 
of  the  Beview. 

In  a  hem  in  the  bottom  of  the  veil  run  a  striiig. 
leaving  about  a  foot  of  the  hem.  right  in  front,  un- 
occupied by  tlie  string.  That  is.  let  the  striiig  enter 
the  liem  at  about  six  inches  to  the  right  of  the  cen- 
ter of  the  front:  pa-^s  it  around  the  back  of  tlie 
neck,  bringing  it  out  of  the  hem  at  a  point  six- 
inches  to  the  left  of  ilie  center.  The  projecting 
ends  of  the  string  mur^t  be  long  enough  to  pass  un- 
der the  arms,  cross  at  the  back,  and  then  be 
brought  around  and  tied  in  front.  The  string 
holds  the  edge  of  tlie  veil  securely  out  upon  the 
shoulders:  while,  if  the  right  length  of  hem  is  left 
without  a  string  in  front,  that  part  ^vill  be  drawn 
snugly  across  the  breast. 

Mr.  W.  L.  CoggshalL  of  West  Groton.  X. 
Y.,  an  extensive  bee-keeper,  having  1000  col- 
onies, in  Gleanings  for  -lune  1,  1889,  describ- 
ed a  similar  suit.   He  says  of  it : 

My  idea  of  a  bee-veil 
is  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying photograph.  It 
is  simply  a  wide-rim- 
med straw  or  leghorn 
hat,  with  a  stiff  rim — I 
right  here  went  and  got 
my  hat  to  give  you  the 
measurements.  The  rim 
of  the  hat  is  i  in.  wide; 
the  length  of  veil,  up 
and  down.  18  in.,  and 
the  material  is  bobinet. 
or  millinet.  black.  1 
sew  the  veiL  on  the  un- 
der side  of  the  rim  of 
the  hat,  2  in.  from  the 
outer  edge  of  the  lini. 
thus  giving  a  2-in.  pro- 
jection to  shade  the 
veil,  so  that  I  can  see 
at  anytime;  for  if  tlie 
sun  strikes  the  veil.  I 
can  not  see  eggs  in  the 
cells.  I  use  a  flat  shoe- 
string for  a  shir.or  take 
up.  around  the  neck, 
and  have  all  of  the  gath- 
ering in  the  sides  and  .coggshall's  BEh-UKEss. 
back  of  the  veil.  I  sew  the  veil  fast  to  the  -iiiiiL;. 
The  shoestring  is  long  enough  to  tie  under  the  Cvdlar. 
so  it  is  impossible  for  a  bee  to  get  at  your  face.  There 
is  not  much  gathering  in  front  to-»jbstruct  tlie  vision. 

When  I  am  not  in  the  bee-yaid.  or  going  from  one 


apiary  to  another^igl  untie  and  tuck  it  in  the  crown  of 
the  hat.  and  it  is  out  of  the  way,  and  all  ready  at  a 
moment's  notice,  which  we  all  know  Is  very  conven- 
ient sometimes. 

For  hand-gear  or  false  sleeves  I  use  colored  shirt- 
ing. After  they  are  made,  dip  them  in  linseed  oil; 
hang  them  in  the  sun  till  dry.  then  the  bees  can  not 
sting  through  them.  I  have  a  l  ubber  elastic  in  the 
upper  end  above  the  elbow,  also  the  one  that  is  around 
the  hand.  Have  a  thumb-hole  worked  in  above  the 
elastic,  so  that  the  hand  is  all  covered,  except  the  fin- 
gers and  thumb  (like  a  mit).  only  the  fingers  are  all 
together.  With  sleeves  made  in  that  way.  bees  do 
not  crawl  up  my  arms  and  make  me  uncomfortable, 
and  give  me  pain.  W.  L.  Coggshall. 

j     West  Groton.  X.  Y..  April  21.  18^:9. 

Mr.  Martin  and  Mr.  CoggshaL  both  make 
use  of  sleeve-protectors.  Both  will  be  found 
exceediugly  useful  for  protecting  the  hands 
and  wrists,  and  they  prevent  them  getting 
daubed. 

THE  GLOBE  BEE- VEIL. 

This  is  a  veil  that  has  had  a  very  large 
sale,  and  it  is  preferred  by  a  great  number, 

because  it  is 
large  enough 
to  sit  clear 
do^vn  over  an 
ordinary  hat  or 
cap  :  and  it  is 
so  constructed 
that  it  can  not 
possibly  get 
against  one's 
face  at  an y 
point.  Some- 
times an  ordi- 
nary veil  will  touch  one"s  nose  or  the  back 
of  his  neck.  At  these  points  a  bee  can.  if  it 
will,  insert  its  sting  through  the  meshes  of 


3rRS.  HAKKIsON'S  BEE  HAT. 


VEILS. 


338 


VE^^TILATION. 


the  veil.  The  globe  veil  is*  made  so  as  to 
fold  up  in  a  small  compact  compass,  so  it 
can  be  carrried  in  the  pocket.  If  one  has 
cross  bees  to  handle  this  is  by  all  odds  the 
best  veil  in  the  lot. 

Mrs.  L.  Harrison,  of  Peoria,  111.,  uses  a 
bee-hat  like  the  one  illustrated  above.  The 
hat  is  made  of  green  wire  cloth  ;  the  top  of 
pasteboard,  and  the  bottom  of  calico. 


3[RS.  li.  H.  HOLMES^  BEE-HAT. 

Mrs.  R.  H.  Holmes,  of  Shoreham,  Yt., 
uses  a  bee-hat  like  that  shown  in  the  above 
cut.  It  is  simply  a  straw  hat  with  a  broad 
rim,  the  veil  being  made  of  mosquito-bar, 
and  the  facing  of  brussels  net.  A  strip  of 
cloth  lines  the  lower  edge  of  the  veil,  and  is 
made  just  large  enough  to  fit  snugly  around 
the  shoulders.  A  couple  of  cloth  straps 
hitched  to  buttons  pass  under  the  arm-pits, 


A  BEE- APRON  FOR  LADIES. 


and  button  on  behind.  Of  the  veils  for  wo- 
men, which  we  have  shown,  this  one  seems 
to  me  to  be  more  desirable.  Mrs.  Harri- 
son's hardly  gives  protection  enough  from 
the  sun. 607 

The  cut  below  represents  an  apron  prefer- 
red by  Miss  Emma  Wilson,  of  Marengo,  111. 
It  has  two  large  pockets.  The  pattern,  JSo. 
3696,  can  be  obtained  of  the  Butterick  Pub- 
lishing Co.,  of  New  York.  This  apron  is 
large  enough  to  cover  the  whole  dress,  with 
the  exception  of  the  sleeves.  But  detachable 
sleeves,  something  like  those  used  by  Mr. 
J.  H.  Martin,  or  Mr.  Coggshall,  as  shown  in 
the  engravings,  pp.  336,  337,  are  preferred. 
Miss  Wilson  prefers  to  wear  gloves,  as  does 
Mrs.  Harrison.  The  gloves  which  seem  to 
be  preferred  are  something  in  the  kid  or  dog- 
skin line.  Rubber  gloves  do  not  seem  to 
answer  the  purpose  very  well. 

HOW  TO  GET  ALONG  AVITHOUT  A  VEIL. 

It  is  a  very  great  convenience  to  be  able  to 
dispense  with  a  veil  altogether,  when  cir- 
cumstances call  for  or  permit  it.  The  only 
obstacle  in  the  way  is  a  natural  dread  that  a 
bee  may  possibly  sting  in  the  face  if  it  has 
a  chance.  This  dread  has  usually  to  be 
worn  off  as  you  become  more  and  more  ac- 
customed to  handling  and  working  with 
bees.  When  you  are  without  a  veil,  if  a  bee 
comes  up,  and,  by  its  hum,  you  detect  that 
it  is  angry,  do  not  dodge  or  strike  at  it, 
but  control  the  muscles  of  the  face  as  per- 
fectly as  though  you  were  not  at  all  aware 
of  its  presence.  A  little  wince  of  the  cheek 
or  of  the  eye  will  encourage  its  fighting 
qualities.  A  careless,  indifferent  behavior, 
on  the  other  hand,  shows  it  you  are  not 
afraid  of  it,  and  it  therefore  very  sensi- 
bly concludes  that  there  is  no  use  in  wasting 
a  sting  for  nothing.  Sometimes  I  put  my 
hand  up  to  my  face  when  one  of  these  ras- 
cals persists  in  its  annoyance.  Should  it 
actually  begin  to  sting,  I  smash  it.  In 
your  community  you  will  probably  acquire 
the  reputation  of  a  bee-keeper,  and,  as  such, 
when  you  are  suddenly  called  upon  to  hive  a 
swarm  of  bees  without  preparation,  for  a 
neighbor,  it  would  be  a  little  unbecoming, 
and  perhaps  a  little  humiliating,  for  you  to 
show  signs  of  fear.  You  should  learn  to 
"  astonish  the  natives'' barehanded  and  bare- 
faced, and  you  need  not  incm^  risk,  either,  if 
you  manage  rightly. 

VISM'TILATIOrr.  Bees  get  it,  ordi- 
narily, through  the  entrance,  and  through 
the  cracks  and  crevices  which  are  generally 
found  in  even  the  best-made  hives,  providing 


VENTIL  ATIOiS . 


339 


VEOTILATION. 


the  hive  is  properly  constructed  in  other  re- 
spects coxisidered  under  the  head  of  AVmTER- 
iiSTG.  I  do  not  believe  in  holes  made  in 
different  portions  of  the  hive,  and  covered 
with  wire  cloth,  because  the  bees  persistently 
wax  the  wire  cloth  over,  just  as  soon  as  they 
get  strong  enough  to  be  able  to  do  so.  If 
we  omit  the  wire  cloth,  they  will,  in  time, 
build  the  holes  up,  by  much  labor,  with  walls 
of  propolis,  until  they  have  effectually  stop- 
ped the  inconvenient  drafts  that  the  improv- 
ed (?)  ventilators  would  admit  at  all  times 
through  the  hive.  During  extremely  hot 
weather,  a  powerful  colony  may  need  more 
air  than  is  afforded  by  an  ordinary  entrance, 
especially  if  the  hive  stands  fully  in  the  sun. 
In  such  a  case  I  should  much  prefer  giving 
the  bees  shade,  to  cutting  ventilation-holes, 
which  the  bees  will  soon  begin  to  use  as  en- 
trances ;  and  when  the  hot  weather  is  over, 
and  it  is  desirable  to  close  these  entrances, 
you  confuse  and  annoy  the  bees  by  so  doing.* 
On  this  account  I  would  give  all  the  venti- 
lation that  a  strong  colony  might  need  to 
keep  them  inside  at  work  in  the  boxes,  by 
simply  enlarging  the  entrance.  This  can  be 
done  very  readily  Avith  the  Dovetailed  or 
Danzen  baker  hives,  and  in  summer  we  make 
it  a  practice  to  give  the  large  entrances. 
See  Entrances.  The  cha:ff  hive  with  its 
entrance  12  in.  by  1  in.  has  always  had  all  the 
ventilation  it  seemed  to  require,  because  the 
sun  can  never  strike  directly  on  the  walls  of 
the  apartment  containing  the  bees  and  honey. 
During  winter  this  12x1  inch  should  be  cut 
down  to  about  6xf  inch.  Too  much  ventila- 
tion in  winter  is  too  much  of  a  good  thing. 
The  chaff  cushions  placed  over  the  bees  in 
winter  are  kept  over  the  siu'plus  frames  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  in  summer,  to 
confine  the  heat  during  cool  nights;  and  from 
their  porous  nature  they  allow  of  the  escape 
of  more  or  less  air  that  comes  in  slowly 
through  the  entrance,  the  honey-boxes  hav- 
ing no  other  covering  than  the  wide  frames 
that  hold  the  sections  and  these  same  chaff 
cushions.  I  have  obtauied  more  surplus  hon- 
ey with  this  arrangement  than  with  any  oth- 
er, and  am  firmly  persuaded  that  a  great  loss 
of  honey  often  results  from  allowing  such  a 
di'aft  of  air  through  the  hive  that  the  bees 
can  not  work  the  wax,  unless  during  the  ex- 
tremely warm  weather.  To  test  this  matter 
I  covered  a  large  colony  in  the  house-apiary 
mth  woolen  blankets  while  they  were  gath- 
ering clover  honey,  to  induce  them  to  remain 
in  the  boxes,  even  after  the  weather  had 


*A  colony  in  a  chaff  hive  with  a  full-width  en- 
trance winters  best. 


j  turned  quite  cool.  So  long  as  the  blankets 
^  remained  on,  the  bees  would  remain  in  the 
boxes  working  wax ;  but  as  soon  as  the  blan- 
1  kets  were  removed,  at  each  time  the  experi- 
■  ment  was  tried  they  retreated  to  the  body  of 
'  the  hive.  The  same  thing  was  tried  A\dth 
\  thin-walled  hives  out  of  doors. 233 

SMOTHERING  BEES  BY  CLOSING  THE 

!  ENTRANCE. 

I 

!  Although  bees  will  make  out  to  get  along, 
even  with  a  very  small  entrance,  we  should 
be  very  careful  about  closing  the  entrance 
entirely,  in  warm  weather,  even  for  only  a 
few  minutes.  Many  are  the  reports  we  get 
almost  every  season,  of  bees  destroyed  by 
simply  closing  their  entrance,  while  under- 
taking to  stop  their  swarming  for  a  few 

:  minutes,  until  some  other  colony  can  be  at- 

I  tended  to.  See  Swarming,  Entrances, 
and  Robbing,  especially  the  last  head,  Hoio 

•  to  Sto}?  Bobbing. 

;    When  bees  have  the  swarming  fever,  as  a 
general  thing  they  are  gorged  with  honey, 
and  in  a  feverish  state.   They  are  like  a  man 
who  has  been  taking  violent  exercise  after  a 
i  hearty  meal,  and  require  more  than  an  ordi- 
i  nary  amount  of  air.   Their  breathing-tubes 
j  are  in  different  parts  of  the  body,  under  the 
}  wings  and  on  each  side  of  the  abdomen  (see 
j  Anatomy  of  the  Bee)  ;  and  as  soon  as  the 
!  entrance  is  closed,  they  crowd  about  it;  and 
I  when  the  heat  of  so  many  becomes  sulf  ocat- 
I  ing,  as  it  will  in  a  very  few  minutes,  the  hon- 
I  ey  is  involuntarily  discharged,  wetting  them- 
i  selves  and  their  companions,  and  most  effect- 
ually closing  their  breathing-tubes,  in  a  way 
that  causes  death  to  ensue  very  quickly.  I 
have  known  of  heavy  swarms  being  killed  in 
the  short  space  of  fifteen  minutes,  when  the 
hive  was  thus  closed  on  them.   The  heat 
generated  by  the  smothering  mass  will  often 
be  great  enough  to  melt  down  the  combs, 
enveloping  bees,  brood,  honey,  and  all,  in  a 
mass  almost  scalding  hot.   Bpes  are  some- 
times smothered  in  this  way,  in  extremely 
hot  weather,  even  when  they  have  very  large 
openings  covered  with  wire  cloth.   In  fact, 
I  have  once  or  twice  had  bees,  when  shipped 
!  by  railroad,  in  July  and  August,  get  hot  and 
smother,  when  the  whole  top  of  the  hive  was 
covered  with  wire  cloth.   I  took  a  lesson 
i  from  this,  and  put  wire  cloth  over  both  top 
!  and  bottom  of  the  hive,  and  then  put  inch 
i  strips  across,  so  the  hive  could  not  be  set 
down  in  such  a  way  as  to  cover  the  bottom. 
When  thus  prepared,  I  have  sent  the  heavi- 
est colonies,  during  the  hottest  of  summer 
weather,  with  hives  full  of  honey,  and  had 
no  trouble.   See  Moving  Bees. 


VINEGAE. 


340 


VIKEGAR. 


HOW  BEES  DO  THEIR  OWN  VENTILATING . 

If  you  watch  a  colony  of  bees  during  a 
warm  day,  you  will  see  rows  of  bees  standing  : 
around  the  entrance,  and  clear  inside  of  the  | 
hive,  with  their  heads  all  one  way,  all  mak- 1 
ing  their  wings  go  in  a  peculiar  manner,  I 
much  as  they  do  in  flying ;  but  instead  of  i 
propelling  their  bodies  along,  they  propel ; 
the  air  behind  them,  and  a  pretty  strong 
"  blow  "  they  get  up  too,  as  you  may  tell  by  j 
holding  your  hand  near  them.   Well,  if  the 
air  is  very  hot  and  close  inside  the  hive,  so  i 
much  so  that  there  is  danger  of  the  combs  \ 
melting  down,  they  will  manage  so  as  to  | 
send  cooling  currents  clear  to  the  furthest 
parts  of  the  hive,  and  even  up  a  small  hole 
into  honey  -  boxes,  where  honey  -  boxes  are  ; 
made  after  such  old  -  fashioned  patterns.  | 
This  idea  is  not  by  any  means  new,  and 
those  who  have  invented  patent  ventilators  ' 
will  tell  us,  with  a  very  fair  show  of  reason, 
how  many  bees  are  thus  employed  blowing 
through  the  hive,  that  might  just  as  well  be 
out  in  the  fields  gathering  honey.   I  once 
thought  so,  and  that  ventilators  were  needed; 
but  after  watching  the  matter  longer,  I  con-  ; 
eluded  the  harm  done  by  excessive  heat  was 
far  less  than  that  from  cold  drafts  when  they 
were  not  needed,  and  that  it  is  better  to  let ; 
a  few  of  the  bees  w^aste  some  time  in  the 
middle  of  the  day,  than  to  have  comb-build- 
ing stopped  entirely  at  night,  on  account  of 
the  drafts  given  by  these  thoroughly  venti- 
lated hives.   The  most  prosperous  colony  I 
ever  ow^ned  w^as  one  that  w^as  so  completely  > 
enveloped  in  chaff  that  they  sent  a  stream  ; 
of  warm  air  out  of  theu'  hive  during  frosty 
nights  in  March,  strong  enough  to  melt  the 
frost  about  one  side  of  the  entrance.  Of 
course,  a  stream  of  cold  air  went  in  at  the 
opposite  side,  as  fast  as  the  warm  air  went 
out.   When  I  can  get  a  hive  into  this  condi-  ■ 
tion  of  things,  they  always  prosper;  and  it  is 
on  this  account  that  I  w^ould  have  no  other 
arrangement  for  ventilation  than  that  fm-- 1 
nished  by  the  entrance.eis  See  Wintering. 

VirarEaAR.   TMs  is  one  of  the  legiti- 
mate products  of  honey  ;  and  when  properly 
made  it  has  a  quality  that  is  superior  to  any  \ 
other  vinegar,  especially  for  making  pick- 
les. It  will  not  die,  nor  lose  its  strength  like  ; 
most  other  vinegars ;  and  one  can  have  light 
or  dark  vinegar  by  taking  light  oi"  dark  hon- 
ey to  make  it  from — at  least  so  says  K.  R.  ; 
Murphy,  of  Fulton,  111.,  who  has  made  and  i 
sold  large   quantities  of  honey  vinegar.  \ 


Speaking  of  pickles  made  of  honey  vinegar, 
Mr.  G.  W.  Gates,  of  Bartlett,  Tenn.,  says: 
"  We  have  used  no  other  for  two  years ;  and 
nearly  every  one  who  tastes  our  pickles  asks 
my  wife  for  her  recipe  for  making  them. 
When  told  that  we  use  nothing  but  honey 
vinegar,  they  are  surprised."'  Mr.  E.  France, 
of  Platteville,  Wis.,  asked  the  wife  of  one  of 
the  merchants  why  she  alw^ays  bought  his 
vinegar  ;  and  her  reply  was,  that  the  stuff 
from  the  store  always  ate  up  her  pickles ; 
but  that,  when  she  uses  honey  vinegar,  her 
pickles  keep,  and  have  a  beautiful  fine  fla- 
vor. 

Notwithstanding,  the  fact  that  vinegar 
from  honey  is  the  finest  in  the  world,  the 
very  low  price  of  the  ordinary  product  from 
cider  makes  it  impossible  to  get  a  very  high 
price  for  honey  vinegar.  The  length  of  time 
it  takes  to  make  it.  and  the  quantity  of  hon- 
ey required,  w^ould  make  the  vinegar  too 
high-priced  to  compete  with  the  other  arti- 
cles on  the  market.  But  every  bee-keeper 
always  has  some  of  the  poorer  grades  of  ex- 
tracted honey,  some  from  broken  combs, 
washings  from  honey-barrels,  honey-cans, 
etc.,  that  will  be  practically  wasted  except 
for  some  such  use  as  vinegar.  Mr.  E. 
France,  of  Platteville,  Wis.,  always  uses  the 
washings  of  his  honey  -  barrels  ;  and  this 
sweetened  water  he  converts  into  vinegar. 
When  we  can  utilize  honey  that  w^ould  prac- 
tically all  go  to  w^aste.  and  convert  it  into 
cash,  we  are  just  that  much  ahead. 

HONEY  VINEGAR,  HOAV  TO  MAKE. 

The  honey -water  and  honey -w^ashings 
should  be  put  into  a  barrel  or  barrels  with 
the  top  head  taken  out.  To  determine 
w^hether  the  water  is  sw^eet  enough,  put  in  a 
fresh  egg.  If  the  egg  will  just  float  so  as  to 
leave  a  spot  above  the  liquid,  about  as  big  as 
a  ten-cent  piece,  then  it  is  ''about  right," 
according  to  E.  France.  Another  bee-keep- 
er, Mr.  G.  D.  Black,  of  Brandou,  la.,  uses 
an  ordinary  hydrometer,  which  he  says  he 
bought  for  85  cents.  When  this  sinks  into 
the  liquid  so  the  scale  registers  at  11,  it  is 
of  the  right  consistency.  Next  cover  the  top 
of  the  barrel  with  cheese-cloth,  and  let  it  - 
stand  in  a  warm  place  where  it  can  work 
and  sour.  In  winter  it  should  be  put  into 
the  cellar.  It  will  take  anywhere  from  one 
to  two  years  to  make  good  vinegar.  But  the 
process  can  be  greatly  hurried  by  putting  in 

mother  "  from  another  barrel. 

VIK-aiN  QUEENS.  See  Queens. 


w 


WATER  FOR  BEES.  That  bees 
need  water,  has  been  pretty  well  demonstrat- 
ed ;  but  the  best  means  of  supplying  them 
has  not  been  very  satisfactorily  settled. 
The  amount  of  water  needed  depends  much 
on  whether  they  are  rearing  brood  in  consid- 
erable quantities  or  not,  and  whether  their 
food  is  old,  thick  (possibly  candied)  honey, 
or  new  honey  right  from  the  fields.  If  the 
latter,  it  contains  usually  a  large  quantity 
of  water  that  must  be  expelled  before  the 
honey  can  be  considered  ripened.  See  11  ox- 
EY :  also  Textilatiox.  While  the  bees  are 
gathering  this  thin,  raw  honey,  as  a  matter 
of  com'se  they  will  not  need  much  water,  if 
any  at  all,  besides  what  the  honey  affords 
them.  This  new  honey  is  frequently  so  thin 
that  it  runs  out  of  the  combs  like  sweetened 
water,  when  they  are  turned  horizontally: 
and  when  tasted,  it  seems,  in  reality,  but 
sweetened  water.  The  excess  of  moistiu^e 
is  probably  —  I  say  probably,  for  I  do  not 
know  that  we  have  positive  proof  on  the 
matter  —  expelled  by  the  strong  ciu'rents  of 
air  the  bees  keep  circulating  thi'ough  the 
hive,  which  take  up  the  watery  particles, 
and  speedily  reduce  the  honey  to  such  a 
consistency  that  it  will  not  som\  If  you  will 
examine  a  hive  very  early  in  the  morning 
diu'ing  the  height  of  the  honey  season  you 
will  find  the  blast  of  air  that  comes  out. 
quite  heavily  charged  with  moistm-e;  and 
when  the  weather  is  a  little  cool,  this  mois- 
ture often  condenses  and  accumulates  on 
the  alighting  -  board,  until  it  forms  a  little 
pool  of  water.  TVhere  the  alighting -board 
was  of  the  right  shape  to  retain  the  water.  I 
have  seen  it  so  deep  as  to  drown  bees  in 
passing  out.  These  bees,  it  would  seem, 
at  least,  were  in  no  need  of  water. 

Admitting  that  bees  need  water  at  other 
times,  how  shall  we  give  it  V  If  there  is  a 
creek  or  a  pond  within  a  few  rods  of  the  apia- 
ry I  would  not  fu-s  to  make  any  watering- 
place  for  the  bees.  as.  nine  times  out  of  ten. 
they  will  ignore  that  which  we  prepai  e  for 


them.  But  where  there  is  no  water-trough, 
creek,  or  pond  within  easy  reach  it  way  be 
well  to  give  the  bees  two  or  three  watering- 
places  in  or  near  the  apiary.  The  best  ar- 
rangement is  a  grooved  board,  over  which 
may  be  inverted  a  glass  or  stone  jar,  as  seen 
in  the  accompanying  illustration.  The  wa- 
ter will  rim  dov^n  and  fill  the  grooves  as  fast 
as  the  bees  take  it  up.  on  the  atmospheric 
principle  :  but  as  it  is  diflicult  to  make  such 
a  board,  one  can.  in  lieu  of  it,  use  a  dinner 
or  pie  plate.   Pill  the  jar  full  of  water  ;  lay 


WA'IEEIXG-JAR  AXD  BOAED.  OR  OPEX-ATR 
FEEDER. 

across  its  mouth  two  strips  of  wood  t  inch 
thick  and  i  inch  wide.  On  top  of  this  set 
the  plate,  upside  down.  Place  the  right 
hand  on  the  bottom  of  the  plate,  then  with 
the  left  hand  grasp  the  jar.  Now  invert  the 
whole  thing.  The  water  will  bubble  out  im- 
mediately till  the  plate  has  a  depth  of  water 
of  about  i  inch,  or  whit-ver  the  thickness  of 
the  sticks  is.  Set  the  device  in  a  conven- 
ient place  near  the  apiary;  and  to  prevent 
the  bees  from  drowning  lay  little  strips  of 
wood  in  the  water.  If  this  water  has  been 
previously  salted  a  liltle  it  serves  as  an  ad- 


WAX. 


342 


WAX. 


ditionaT  attraction.  Several  of  these  jars 
may  be  placed  in  and  about  the  yard. 

But  let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  it 
is  entirely  unnecessary  to  go  to  all  this  trou- 
ble, providing  bees  can  get  water  in  abun- 
dance from  some  pump,  creek,  or  pond,  as 
mentioned.  If,  however,  there  are  neigh- 
bors who  complain  about  the  bees  congre- 
gating about  their  pumps  or  troughs,  it  may 
be  well  to  fix  up  a  counter-attraction  in  the 
way  of  jars  of  water  that  has  been  slightly 
salted,  to  draw  the  bees  away.  In  addition 
to  this,  take  a  pail  of  water  and  put  into 
it  a  tablespoonful  of  commercial  carbolic 
acid.  Stir  it  well,  then  spray  or  spatter  this 
water  around  the  pump  of  your  neighbor 
who  complains  of  your  bees.  As  explained 
under  Robbing,  bees  seem  to  have  a  great 
aversion  to  carbolic  acid ;  and  where  a  solu- 
tion of  it  has  been  placed  they  will  keep  en- 
tirely away. 

WAX.  This  is  a  term  that  is  applied  to 
a  large  class  of  substances  very  much  resem- 
bling each  other  in  external  characteristics, 
but  quite  unlike  chemically.  The  wax  of 
commerce  may  be  divided  into  four  general 
classes :  Beeswax,  familiar  to  us  all ;  min- 
eral wax,  or  by-products  from  petroleum  ; 
wax  from  plants,  and  wax  from  insects.  But 
the  first  two  are  by  far  the  most  important, 
commercially,  in  this  country.  Of  the  min- 
eral waxes  we  have  what  is  most  common, 
viz.,  paraflQne  and  ceresin.  Beeswax,  the 
most  valuable,  has  a  specific  gravity  of  be- 
tween 960  and  972,  and  a  melting-point  of 
between  143  and  145^  F.  The  mineral  waxes 
vary  so  much  in  hardness,  melting-point, 
and  specific  gravity,  that  it  would  be  use- 
less to  name  exact  figures.  As  a  rule,  how- 
ever, it  may  be  stated  that  the  fusing-point 
of  paraffine  is  much  below  that  of  beeswax, 
while  that  of  ceresin  may  be  either  above  or 
below,  or  practically  the  same  ;  and  the  fus- 
ing-point may  be  also  very  near  or  the  same 
as  that  of  beeswax.  In  general,  we  may  say 
that  the  specific  gravity  of  both  commercial 
parafiine  and  ceresin  is  below  that  of  bees- 
wax; and  this  one  fact  renders  it  an  easy 
matter  to  detect  adulteration  of  beeswax 
with  either  parafiine  or  ceresin,  by  a  method 
that  will  be  explained  further  on,  under  the 
head  of  Adulteuation  of  Beeswax. 

There  are  also  known  in  commerce  such 
as  Japanese  wax  and  China  wax,  both  of 
which  may  or  may  not  be  the  product  of  in- 
sects or  plants ;  but  as  they  are  so  much 
more  expensive  than  either  paraffine  or  cere- 
sin, little  fear  need  be.  entertained  of  their 
being  used  as  an  adulterant  of  beeswax. 


BEESWAX. 

For  the  use  of  bees  and  bee-keeper,  no 
!  product  has  ever  been  discovered  that  can 
I  take  the  place  of  that  which  the  bees  them- 
selves furnish.   Real  beeswax  itself  will  re- 
tain its  ducility  and  tenacity  under  greater 
ranges  of  temperature  than  any  mineral, 
plant,  or  insect  wax.   Combs  made  of  foun- 
I  dation  containing  25  to  50  per  cent  of  adul- 
!  terations  of  paraffine  or  ceresin  are  almost 
:  sure  to  melt  down  in  the  hive  in  hot  wea- 
i  ther.   While  paraffine  is  ductile  enough  to 
j  make  beautiful  foundation  it  will  not  stand 
I  the  heat  of  the  hive.    Ceresin,  on  the  other 
I  hand,  while  more  closely  allied  to  genuine 
j  beeswax  in  point  of  specific  gravity  and  fusi- 
t  bility,  is  too  tough  and  brittle,  under  some 
i  conditions,  for  bees  to  work.  Work  it  ?  Yes, 
they  will  do  it,  and  construct  combs  ;  and  in 
Germany  I  understand  that  considerable  cer- 
esin foundation  has  been  sold,  and  is,  per- 
,  haps,  being  sold  now ;  but  our  experience 
1  leads  us  to  believe  that  it  is  poor  economy, 
I  and  will  lead  the  bee-keeper  or  the  poor  bees 
to  grief  sooner  or  later.   Practically,  then, 
\  we  can  say  that  real  genuine  pure  beeswax 
'  is  the  only  product  that  can  or  ought  to  go 
into  foundation  ;  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that 
it  is  the  only  article  that  foundation-makers 
in  this  country  use. 

HOW  THE  BEES  "  MAKE  "  WAX. 

If  you  watch  the  bees  closely  during  the 
height  of  the  honey-harvest,  or,  what  is  per- 
I  haps  better,  feed  a  colony  heavily  on  sugar 
I  syrup  for  about  3  days  during  warm  weather, 
}  at  the  end  of  the  second  or  third  day,  by  look- 
ing closely,  you  will  see  little  pearly  disks  of 
j  wax,  somewhat  resembling  fish-scales,  pro- 
I  truding  from  between  the  rings  on  the  under 
side  of  the  body  of  the  bee  ;  and,  if  you  ex- 
j  amine  with  a  magnifier,  you  will  find  these 
!  little  wax  cakes  of  rare  beauty.  Sometimes, 
especially  when  the  bees  are  being  fed  heav- 
ily, these  wax  scales  will  fall  down  on  the  bot- 
tom-board and  may  be  scraped  up  in  consid- 
erable quantities,  seeming  for  some  reason 
I  not  to  have  been  wanted.   During  the  sea- 
\  sons  of  the  natural  secretion  of  the  wax,  if 
!  the  colony  has  a  hive  affording  plenty  of 
I  room  for  surplus,  we  believe    these  wax 
j  scales  are  seldom  wasted.  At  the  swarming- 
I  time,  there  seems  to  be  an  unusual  number 
I  of  bees  provided  with  these  wax  scales ;  for, 
I  if  they  have  remained  clustered  on  a  limb 
I  for  only  a  few  minutes,  bits  of  wax  are  found 
attached,asif  they  were  going  to  start  comb. 
When  they  are  domiciled  in  their  new  hive, 
comes  the  time,  if  the  hive  pleases  them. 


WAX. 


^43 


WAX. 


for  them  to  show  their  astonishing  skill  and 
dexterit}^  in  fabricating  the  honey-comb. 

So  much  for  the  different  kinds  of  \yax 
and  their  sources ;  but  what  will  interest  the 
average  bee-keeper  is  how  to  render  up  odd 
bits  of  wax.  old  combs,  etc..  into  nice  cakes 
suitable  for  market,  and  to  this  we  shall  now 
give  our  attention. 

HOW   TO  RENDER   WAX  WITHOL^T  AX  EX- 
TRACTOR. 

Get  an  ordinary  wash-boiler  that  sinks  in- 
to the  fire  -  place  of  the  stove.  Put  some 
strips  of  wood  across,  to  keep  the  bags  of 
wax  from  resting  on  the  bottom,  and  burn- 
ing. These  strips  are  to  be  of  such  length 
that  their  ends  rest  on  the  ledge  of  the  bot- 
tom part  of  the  boiler.  A  frame  similar  to 
that  mentioned  by  Mr.  Gary  would  be  very 
convenient ;  we  have  been  using  one  made 
of  wire  cloth,  but  it  is  hardly  stiff  enough. 
Xow  have  some  bags  made  of  coarse  strain- 
er cloth,  such  as  is  known  in  the  dairy  re- 
gions as  cheese  -  cloth.  These  should  be 
about  the  size  of  grain-bags,  but  not  as  long. 
Squeeze  your  wax  into  balls  in  the  hands, 
getting  it  into  as  small  a  compass  as  may  be, 
and  put  it  in  the  bags.  Have  bags  enough 
to  contain  all  the  wax.  These  bags  cost 
very  little,  as  the  cloth  is  only  8c.  per  yard. 
When  you  have  as  many  packed  into  your 
boiler  as  you  can  get  in,  while  the  water  is 
boiling,  put  on  a  board,  with  a  heavy  piece 
of  iron  on  it.  When  the  wax  is  all  pressed 
out  of  the  bags,  the  iron  should  be  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  liquid;  if  it  is  not.  add 
more  water,  or  make  the  weight  sink  deep- 
er. The  wax,  of  course,  is  found  swimming 
on  the  surface,  and  may  be  dipped  off,  or. 
if  much  is  to  be  worked  in  this  way,  it  will 
pay  to  have  a  spout  or  gate,  as  suggested  by 
friend  Gary.  It  is  so  difficult  to  clean  the 
bags  fi'om  the  gum  and  propolis  always 
found  with  old  black  combs,  that  I  think  I 
should  throw  them  away,  and  use  new  ones 
each  time.  The  more  compactly  the  wax  is 
put  into  the  bags,  the  less  number  of  bags 
will  be  needed. . 

Where  one  has  cappings  from  the  extract- 
or, they  should  not  be  put  with  old  dark 
combs,  but  worked  by  themselves,  for  they 
are  almost  pure  wax.  I  have  seen  cappings 
from  new  white  combs  produce  wax  so  near- 
ly white  that  it  would  readily  sell  for 
bleached  wax. 

The  wax  of  commerce,  when  it  is  bought 
in  quantities,  is  composed  of  cakes  of 
all  sizes  and  of  all  colors,  from  nearly 
white  to  nearly  black,  the  intermediate 
shades  comprising  almost  all  the  colors 


of  the  rainbow.  Where  it  contains  much 
refuse,  it  can  be  improved  by  putting  it 
through  the  solnr  extractors  described  fur- 
ther on.  and,  in  fact,  almost  any  wax  can  be 
made  cleaner  and  brighter  by  being  put 
through  the  extractor  two  or  three  times. 
But  a  far  better  way  is  to  refine  it  by  means 
of  sulphuric  acid,  described  further  on. 

SOLAR  WAX -EXTRACTORS. 

It  is  said  the  sun  wax-extractor  first  origi- 
nated in  Galifornia  about  the  year  1862.  At 
this  time  it  was  used  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
tracting honey  from  the  combs.  The  honey- 
extractor  of  to-day  vras  then  unknown,  and 
so  it  is  related  that  the  early  Galiforniaus  ex- 
tracted their  honey  largely  by  means  of  the 
sun"s  heat.  They  simply  placed  their  cards 
of  comb  in  large  trays  covered  with  glass, 
where  ,old  Sol,  by  the  mere  beaming  of  his 
countenance,  did  the  work.  As  the  combs 
melted,  the  honey  and  wax  ran  together, 
into  a  receptacle.  In  the  evening,  the  wax, 
by  reason  of  its  lighter  weight,  was  harden- 
ed and  floating  on  the  surface  of  the  honey. 
The  Galifornians  thus  practically  accom- 
plished two  objects  at  one  and  the  same  op- 
eration, the  extracting  of  both  honey  and 
wax— the  latter  already  in  marketable  shape. 
As  to  the  quality  of  the  honey  so  separated 
,  from  the  combs,  it  is  much  better  than  one 
I  would  suppose,  but  inferior  to  the  ordinary 
extracted.  Recently  the  use  of  the  solar 
wax  -  extractor  has  been  restricted  to  the 
melting  of  wax  only. 

To  a  casual  observer  it  seems  almost  in- 
credible that  wax  can  be  melted  by  the  aid 
of  old  Sol.  It  is  well  known  to  the  bee- 
keeper, that  little  scraps  of  wax  in  summer 
weather  will  melt  on  a  hive-cover  exposed 
to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  If.  therefore, 
we  cover  a  shallow  box  with  a  sheet  of  glass, 
and  place  thereiu  a  piece  of  comb,  said  piece 
will  utilize  a  much  larger  percentage  of  heat. 
Still  further,  if  we  collect  more  rays  of  the 
sun. and  cast  them  into  the  box  by  means  of 
a  reflector  (a  sheet  of  tin,  for  example)  a 
correspondingly  greater  increase  of  temper- 
ature may  be  expected.  The  reflector,  how- 
ever, is  imnecessary,  as  sufficient  heat  is 
1  obtained  without  it. 

THE  DOOLITTLE   SOLAR  WAX-EXTRACTOR. 

This  machine  has  had  a  very  large  sale. 
Its  general  design  is  after  a  pattern  made 
and  used  by  the  well-known  bee-keeper  G. 
M.  Doolittle.  The  only  objection  to  it  is 
that  it  is  rather  small;  but  it  is  just  the 
right  size  to  take  pieces  of  burr-comb,  and 
other  bits  of  wax,  etc..  that  accumulate  in 
every-day  working  of  the  apiary.   These  ac- 


WAX. 


344 


WAX. 


cumulations  can  be  thrown  into  the  machine 
whenever  one  happens  to  pass  by  it ;  and  in_ 
stead  of  having  a  lot  of  little  pieces  scatter- 
ed here  and  there  through  the  apiary,  to  be 


doolittle's  solar  wax-extractok. 

melted  up  at  some  future  time,  they  may  be 
converted  at  once  into  a  marketable  prod- 
uct. 

But  these  small  machines  are  not  suitable 
for  melting  up  combs.  For  that,  something 
as  large  as  the  Boardman  should  be  used, 
described  further  on. 

THE  RAUCHKUSS  SUN  WAX-EXTRACTOR. 

Mr.  Frank  Kauchfiiss,  of  Elyria,  Colorado, 
made  an  improvement.  Instead  of  having 
the  wax  run  into  a  single  pan  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Doolittle,  he  has  the  pan  so  ari-anged 
that  the  lip  is  turned  toward  the  right,  de- 
livering the  wax  in  the  right  pan.  This  pan 
catch' s  the  impurities ;  and  as  it  is  deeper  it 
overliovvs  into  pan  No.  2.  When  No.  2  is 
full  this  overflows  in  turn  into  No.  3.  When 
the  wax  is  cold  it  is  in  neat  marketable 
shape,  without  further  melting  ;  and  if  the 
wax  is  not  dirty  in  the  first  place,  that  in 
pan  No.  1  will  be  fit  for  market ;  but  if  there 
is  any  dirt  it  will  all  be  on  the  bottom  of  the 
cake,  and  may  be  scraped  off,  leaving  the 
cake  as  clean,  practically,  as  the  other  two. 
The  bee-keepers  of  Denver  and  vicinity 
have  tried  this  extractor,  and  much  prefer  it 
to  the  other  form  shown. 

THE  BOARDMAN  SOLAR  EXTRACTOR. 

This  is  built  very  much  on  the  same  general 
plan  as  the  one  just  described,  but  is  larger. 
The  rockers,  or  runners,  afford  facility  for 
transportation,  and  also  for  tilting  the  ma- 
chine at  the  proper  angle  to  the  sun.  Com- 
mon greenhouse  sash  may  be  used ;  but  a 
large  glass,  say  30x  60,  is  better,  for  the  rea- 
son that  the  sash  cut  off  a  good  deal  of 


the  sun's  rays,  and  make  shade-lines,  along 
which  the  wax  fails  to  melt.*  The  size  of 
glass  that  one  is  able  to  buy  will,  of  courpe, 
regulate  the  size  of  the  extractor  ;  the  depth 
of  the  box,  or  tray,  may  be  anywhere  tioui 
6  to  8  inches.  The  boctom  is  made  up  of 
cheap  lumber.  This  box  or  tray  should  be 
lined  with  common  black  sheet  iron.  Tin 
should  not  be  used,  because  that  would  re- 
flect back  too  much  of  the  sun's  light.  The 


THE  RAUCHFUSS  SOLAR  WAX-EXTRACTOR. 

whole  tray,  including  the  frame  for  the 
glass,  should  be  painted  black ;  and  the 
glass,  while  the  machine  is  in  use,  should 
be  kept  scrupulously  clean. 

SOLAR    WAX-EX  iRACTORS    NOT  SUITABLE 
FOR   OLD  COMBS. 

Solar  wax  -  extractors  have  their  use. 
While  they  will  handle  neio  combs,  particles 

*IfIcoulci  not  get  the  large  glass  I  would  pur- 
chase three  sheets  of  20x30.  and  put  them  in  the 
frame  crosswise— the  glass  butting  tight  up  against 
each  other. 


WAX. 


45 


WAX. 


of  fresh  wax,  pieces  of  burr-combs,  and  the  | 
like,  and  while  they  can  be  used  to  clarify  i 
and  bleach  to  a  certain  extent  wax  already 
caked,  they  are  not  adapted  to  the  handling 
of  old  black  combs  that  have  several  gener- 
ations of  cocoons  in  them.  The  large  sun 
extractors,  like  the  Boardman,  will  get  the 
bulk  of  the  wax  out  of  such  combs,  but  they 


THE  BOARDMAN   SOLAR  W AX-EXTRACTOR ' 


do  not  get  all  of  it.    If  sun  heat  is  used  at  | 
all  for  melting,  the  slumgum  (or  refuse)  ! 
should  be  further  treated  in  hot  water,  and  | 
then  subjected  to  a  pressure.   But,  bettei  | 
still,  such  old  combs  should  be  put,  in  the  < 
first  place,  into  a  regular  wax-extractor  so 
constructed  that  a  pressure  can  be  exerted 
to  squeeze  out  of  the  cocoons  every  particle 
of  wax.   Undoubtedly  the  best  machine  for 
this  purpose  is  the  Ferris  wax-extractor  next  i 
described.  I 

THE  FERRIS  STEAM  AV AX-EXTRACTOR. 

This  is  the  invention  of  Mr.  C.  G.  Ferris, 
of  South  Columbia,  i^.  Y.  Mr.  Ferris  dis- 
covered ^that  the  ordinary  wax-extractors 
that  had  been  constructed  heretofore  failed 
in  getting  all  the  wax  out  of  old  combs.  The  I 
average  bee-keeper  would  not  suppose  that 
so  much  wax  would  be  left  in  the  refuse  from 
the  solar  extractors  or  other  machines  here- 
tofore devised ;  but  if  he  takes  this  slumgum 
and  subjects  it  to  pressure  under  hot  ^'ater, 
or  enveloped  in  steam,  he  will  be  surprised 
to  see  how  much  more  wax  he  will  get  out 
of  the  residue.  So  it  is  safe  to  say  that, 
whenever  one  does  not  use  pressure  in  con- 
nection with  the  rendering  of  old  combs,  he 
will  lose  anywhere  from  10  to  25  per  cent  of 
good  marketable  wax,  which  in  a  day's  ren- 
dering might  amount  to  a  good  many  dollars. 

Various  kinds  of  wax-presses  have  been 
devised  for  placing  the  refuse  -under  pres- 


sure after  all  the  free  wax  has  floated  out  of 
it  and  come  to  the  surface  of  the  water ;  but 
these  machines  were  defective  in  that  the 
pressure  was  exerted  on  the  refuse  in  the 
open  air,  or  where  it  would  cool  before  a 
thorough  squeeze  could  be  applied.  Mr. 
Ferris  conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  wax- 
extractor  which  could  be  put  on  an  ordinary 
kitchen-stove,  and  of  such  shape  and  con- 
struction as  to  take  the  ordinary  standard 
Langstroth  frames. 


BOILER  TO  FERRIS  WAX- EXTRACTOR. 


The  illustrations  accompanying  show  the 
machine.  There  is  an  outer  boiler  which 
contains  an  inch  or  so  of  water.  Inside  of 
this  boiler  there  may  be  one,  two,  three,  or 
more  baskets  made  of  wire  cloth ;  and  in 
each  basket  there  is  an  arm  reaching  from 
end  to  end,  through  the  center  of  which  runs 
a  screw.  Under  this  screw  is  a  follower,  or 
form,  which  can  be  made  to  bear  down  on 
the  refuse  made  of  old  comb. 


SECTIONAL  VIEW  OF  FERRIS  EXTRACTOR. 


The  manner  of  usage  is  as  follows :  The 
screws  with  cross-arms  are  removed,  and 


WAX. 


346 


WAX. 


then  the  old  combs  are  slipped  into  the  bas- 
kets, and  the  cover  is  put  on.  In  ordinary 
practice,  extra  baskets  can  be  used  to  advan- 
tage while  those  taken  from  the  extractor 
are  being  cleaned.  As  the  combs  are  added 
they  melt  down  by  the  action  of  the  steam 
from  the  boiling  water  below.  The  melted  or 
free  wax  flows  through  the  baskets  on  to  the 
false  bottom  or  tray,  and  finally  passes  out 


WIRE  BASKET  WHICH  CONTAINS  COMBS. 


at  the  tube  on  one  side  and  end,  into  another 
receptacle.  The  frames,  as  fast  as  the  combs 
are  melted  out,  may  be  removed  perfectly 
clean  and  ready  for  use  again.  When  an 
accumulation  of  refuse  comb,  consisting  of 
cocoons  and  dirt  in  the  bottom  of  a  basket, 
becomes  objectionable  or  in  the  way,  a  fol- 
lower, as  at  No.  14,  is  put  on  top,  and  the 
bar  and  screw  are  inserted  in  place,  and 
pressure  applied.  This  squeeze  under  live 
steam  forces  out  every  particle  of  wax,  when 
the  basket  may  be  taken  out,  and  while  be- 
ing cleaned  a  new  one  takes  its  place  ;  after 
which  the -operation  may  be  repeated. 

Pour  in  w^ater  until  it  runs  out  of  the  wax- 
escape.  It  is  the  steam  from  this  body  of  wa- 
ter that  melts  out  the  wax  from  the  combs. 

Mr.  Ferris  has  another  little  device  by 
which  the  odors  and  steam  from  the  wax 
rendering  are  drawn  down  into  the  stove, 
thus  keeping  the  room  nice  and  sweet. 

HOW   TO    HEFINE  WAX  WITH  SULPHURIC 
ACID. 

Wax  cakes,  as  they  are  bought  up,  are 
usually  of  all  grades  and  colors.  The  differ- 
ence in  color  is  due  largely  to  the  amount  of 
impurities  the  wax  contains.  To  refine 
this  wax,  or  to  reduce  it  to  a  lemon  color, 
melt  it  in  a  vat  of  hot  water  slightly  acidu- 
lated with  sulphuric  acid,  in  the  proportion 
of  anywhere  from  one  part  acid  to  from 
50  to  200  by  weight  of  water,  depending 
upon  the  amount  of  impurity  in  the  wax.*  In 
all  the  years  that  we  have  been  in  the  busi- 

*G.  M.  Doolittle  recommends  using-  a  pint  of 
strong-  vineg-ar  in  one  quart  of  water  for  every  ten 
pounds  of  "vrax.  The  \"inegar  may  l3e  used  in  place 
of  sulphuric  acid,  but  where  a  larg-e  lot  of  wax  is  to 
he  rendered  the  acid  is  far  cheaper. 


ness  we  have  found  no  practical  or  satisfac- 
tory way  of  bringing  the  wax  to  a  yellow 
color— that  is,  to  its  original  state  of  purity, 
except  by  treating  it  with  acid.  The  best 
method  of  procedure  is  to  fill  a  wooden  tank 
or  barrel  a  quarter  full  of  water.  Into  this 
put  by  weight  a  quantity  of  acid — if  the 
cakes  to  be  rendered  are  of  about  the  aver- 
age run,  one  part  of  acid  to  100  parts  of  wa- 
ter, and  heat  this  water  to  about  180^  Fahr.: 
and  the  only  practical  way  in  a  wooden  tank 
is  by  means  of  a  steam-pipe  introduced  from 
the  top.  Put  in  the  cakes  of  wax  and  fill  the 
tank  level  full.  As  the  wax  melts  it  will 
leave  the  tank  about  three-fourths  full  of 
melted  wax^  water,  and  acid.  Let  the  water 
and  wax  simmer  until  they  are  thoroughly 
mixed  ;  and  this  will  take,  usually,  about 
half  an  hour  ;  but  be  careful  that  the  wax 
does  not  boil  over.  To  prevent  this  the 
quantity  of  steam  should  be  gradually  cut 
off.  The  steam-pipe  should  now  be  drawn 
out,  and  the  tank  covered  with  an  old  cloth 
or  carpet,  and  should  be  allowed  to  stand  as 
many  hours  as  the  wax  will  remain  liquid, 
or  about  half  a  day.  At  the  expiration  of 
this  time  the  water  and  acid  will  have  set- 
tled to  the  bottom  by  reason  of  their  greater 
specific  gravity ;  and  the  acid,  in  turn,  hav- 
ing a  greater  specific  gravity  than  that  of 
water,  will  settle  to  the  bottom  of  the  water; 
and  the  consequence  is,  that  the  wax  itself, 
after  being  purified,  is  allowed  to  become 
thoroughly  cleansed  of  any  residue  of  acid, 
and  the  dirt  accumulation  will  all  have  set- 
tled to  the  bottom  of  the  wax  and  into  the 
water.  The  melted  wax  should  now  be 
dipped  off  very  carefully  from  the  top,  and 
poured  into  any  sort  of  receptacles  with 
fiaring  sides.  When  the  wax  is  dipped  near- 
ly to  the  bottom,  or  when  it  shows  evidence 
of  coming  near  the  dirt,  the  rest  should  be 
allowed  to  stand.  As  soon  as  it  is  caked  in 
the  barrel  or  tank,  it  may  be  lifted  out,  and 
the  dirt  clinging  to  the  bottom  can  be  scraped 
off ;  you  will  thus  have,  as  the  result  of  your 
labor,  cakes  of  beautiful  yellow  wax — some- 
thing that  will  make  foundation  that  will 
please  the  eye. 

HOW  TO    USE    SULPHURIC    ACID  WITHOUT 
THE  STEAM-JET. 

But  suppose  you  do  not  have  steam,  and 
can  not  very  well  have  access  to  it.  In  that 
case  you  can  use,  in  a  smaller  way.  a  large 
earthenware  kettle,  for  any  thing  else  would 
be  apt  to  be  alfected  by  the  acid.  Into  this 
put  a  small  quantity  of  water,  then  a  propor- 
tionate amount  of  acid.  Allow  it  to  come  to 
a  boil,  and  put  in  a  cake  of  wax. 


WAX. 


347 


WAX. 


If  this  is  too  slow  and  tedious  a  job.  a  large 
iron  kettle  that  will  hold  seven  or  eio^ht  pails 
of  water  maybe  used.  Fill  this  kettle  about 
half  full  of  water,  slightly  acidulated.  Start 
a  slow  fire  under  it.  and  when  the  water  gets 
to  be  nearly  boiling  put  in  the  cakes  of 
dark-colored  wax  that  are  to  be  brought  to 
a  bright  yellow.  Keep  hot  for  a  few  min- 
utes, and  then  allow  the  fire  to  die  down. 
As  soon  as  all  the  particles  of  dirt  have  set- 
tled in  the  water,  with  a  dipper  dip  off  the 
free  wax  on  top.  being  very  careful  not  to 
agitate  or  stir  up  the  dirt  in  the  water. 

While  the  iron  in  the  kettle  may  be  attack- 


of  sulphuric  acid  as  explained  elsewhere.- 
The  yellow  wax  is  more  ductile,  and  there- 
fore more  easily  worked  by  the  bees  ;  and 
even  when  used  for  section  honey-boxes,  the 
combs  from  yellow  wax  are  about  as  white 
as  those  from  the  bleached  ;  and  when  cap- 
ped over,  no  one  can  tell  the  difference.  But 
very  often  dealers  may  have  a  call  for  bleach- 
ed beeswax  :  and  the  only  practical  way  of 
getting  it  is  to  convert  the  product  into  thin 
sheets  or  small  particles,  and  then  subject 
them  to  the  sun's  rays  for  a  suitable  length 
of  time.  When  sufliciently  bleached  it  may 
then  be  melted  up  and  caked. 


FACTORY  AXD  BLEACHING- YARD  OF  WILL       BAFMER.  SYRACUSE,  X.  Y. 


ed  shghtly.  yet  it  will  do  no  particular  harm. 
When  through  with  the  kettle,  clean  it  out 
with  boiling  water  and  rub  it  over  with 
grease. 

BLEACHIXG  BEESWAX. 

There  are  methods  by  which  beeswax  can 
be  bleached  by  the  use  of  chemicals ;  but  af- 
ter some  experimenting  we  have  not  been 
successful  with  any  of  them,  and  finally  dis- 
covered that,  for  the  economic  uses  of  the 
bee-keeper,  foundation  made  of  bleached 
wax  was  no  better,  if  as  good,  as  that  having 
the  natural  yellow  color,  refined  by  the  use 


The  illustrations  herewith  shown  repre- 
sent how  it  is  done  at  a  large  wax-working 
establishment  where  wax-bleaching  is  made 
a  specialty.  I  refer  to  the  firm  that  was  for- 
merly Eckerman  Will,  of  Syracuse.  X.  Y., 
but  now  bearing  tlie  name  of  Will  Baumer 
Co.  The  wax  is  reduced  to  thin  sheets  or 
shreds,  or.  what  is  often  done,  is  allowed  to 
drop  on  a  revolving  cylinder,  forming  small 
chunks  or  drops,  as  it  were,  which  immedi- 
ately cool.  These  particles  of  wax.  or  thin 
sheets,  are  then  spread  on  canvas  trays,  and 
then  exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  suu  until 


WAX. 


348 


WAX. 


.they  are  bleached.  When  the  wax  is  first 
put  out  it  packs  more  or  less  and  has  to  be 
frequently  showered  with  water,  or  raked 
over,  to  keep  it  loose  so  that  the  air  and  sun 
can  get  at  it.  If  the  process  has  been  prop- 
erly carried  on,  the  finished  product,  when 
caked,  will  be  of  a  pearly  whiteness. 


A  MAMMOTH  CANDLE  FOR  SACRAMENTAL 
PURPOSES; 

At  this  factory  of  Will  &  Baumer  Co.,  im- 
mense quantities  of  candles  are  made  for 
sacramental  purposes  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  this 
church  prefers  pure  beeswax.  Some  of  the 
candles  made  there  are  of  immense  size. 
But  all  candles  are  not  made  of  pure  bees- 
wax. Paraffine  is  used  very  largely  for  the 
purpose,  and  the  small  candles  that  are  used 
at  lawn  fetes  and  at  Christmas  times,  vari- 
ously colored,  are  probably  made  of  pure 
parafBne,  because  that  article  costs  less  than 
half  as  much  as  beeswax. 

HOW  TO  DETECT  ADULTERATED  WAX. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  fact  that 
beeswax  is  liable  to  be  adulterated  with 
parafiine  or  ceresin,  and  sometimes  with 
ordinary  grease  or  fat.  Some  unscrupulous 
box -hive  bee-keepers,  after  brimstoning 
their  "  skeps,"  and  melting  up  the  wax,*  add 
just  enough  tallow  to  increase  the  weight  of 
the  article,  because  grease  is  cheap  com- 
pared with  the  ordinary  product  of  the  hive. 
But  such  adulterations  are  very  easily  de- 
tected, both  by  smell  and  by  the  eye.  The 
cakes   containing  grease   have  a  greasy 

*See  Box  Hives  and  Straw  Skeps. 


smell,  and  have  a  greasy  feeling ;  and  then 
if  they  are  subjected  to  the  float  test,  which 
I  shall  presently  describe,  they  will  imme- 
diately rise  to  the  top  of  the  liquid.  Par- 
afiine and  ceresin  adulterations  are  not  so 
easily  recognized  ;  but  nearly  all  pure  bees- 
wax, when  chewed  in  the  mouth  for  a  few 
minutes,  will  crumble  up  in  fine  particles ; 
but  wax  containing  a  small  percentage  of 
parafiine  or  ceresin  will  chew  like  sealing- 
wax,  or  like  ordinary  chewing-gum. 

But  the  simplest  and  most  reliable  test,  is 
what  I  shall  call  the  fioat  test,  or,  to  speak 
more  exactly,  the  specific-gravity  test.  I 
have  already  stated  that  the  specific  gravi- 
ties of  the  ordinary  commercial  parafiines 
and  ceresins  were  below  that  of  beeswax. 
As  an  ordinary  article  of  pure  beeswax 
is  lighter  than  water  (wax  standing  965 
and  water  at  1000),  of  course  it  will  float 
when  a  piece  of  it  is  put  into  that  liquid. 
Into  a  jar  partly  filled  with  water  we  will 
now  pour  in  alcohol  until  a  small  piece  of 
beeswax  of  known  purity  settles  to  the  bot- 
tom, taking  care  not  to  pour  in  too  much 
alcohol,  for  we  want  the  wax  to  sink  just  to 
the  bottom ;  that  is,  we  desire  the  alcoholic 
liquid  and  the  wax  to  be  of  the  same  specific 
gravity,  ^fow,  then,  we  will  put  in  a  piece 
of  adulterated  beeswax  containing,  say,  50 
per  cent  of  parafiine  or  ceresin.  The  chunk 
will  float  on  the  surface  of  the  liquid.  We 
will  now  take  another  piece  of  wax  that  con- 
tains only  10  per  cent  of  adulteration.  It 
still  floats,  but  has  a  tendency  to  sink  almost 
imder  the  surface.  If  we  take  another  piece 
containing  only  5  per  cent,  it  may  float  or 
gradually  settle  to  the  bottom  of  the  jar, 
I)erhaps  standiii^  "^^pon  a  single  point. 

For  all  practical  purposes  we  have  found 
this  float  test  to  be  entirely  reliable ;  that  is, 
it  has  so  far  shown  us  unerringly  every 
adulterated  sample.  I  remember  particu- 
larly one  instance  when  quite  a  large  ship- 
ment of  beeswax  was  sent  us.  It  was  very 
beautiful,  and  the  cakes  were  all  of  a  uni- 
form size ;  but  the  pi  ice  was  very  low.  It 
was  suspicious,  and  a:cordingly  we  subject- 
ed it  to  the  float  test.  Sure  enough,  a  small 
piece  of  the  wax  stayed  nicely  on  top  of  the 
test  liquid  without  the  least  effort.  We 
then  put  it  into  a  liquid  that  would  let  a  25- 
per  cent  ceresin  adulteration  sink.  After 
hoveriug  near  the  surface  it  gradually  sank, 
and  behaved  like  the  'piece  of  wax  that  we 
knew  contained  25  per  cent  of  ceresin.  We 
wrote  to  the  shipper  that  we  did  not  want 
adulterated  beeswax;  that  we  must  have  the 
pure  article ;  that  he  had  got  to  take  the 


WAX. 


349 


WEIGHT  OF  BEES. 


stuff  off  our  hands.  He  did  it  very  prompt- 
ly, without  even  trying  to  defend  himself, 
any  more  than  to  say  that  he  thought  we 
were  not  very  particular.  He  knew  better, 
but  thought  he  could  unload  the  stuff  on  us. 

CLEAXIXG  WAX  FROM  CTEXSILS. 

Perhaps  the  readiest  means  is  to  immerse 
Them  in  boiling  water  until  all  the  wax  is 
thoroughly  melted  off,  then  drain,  while 
kept  hot,  imtil  the  wax  which  adheres  to 
them  when  being  lifted  from  the  water  is 
thoroughly  melted,  and  can  be  wiped  off 
with  soft  newspaper.  Where  the  article 
can  not  be  easily  immersed,  benzine  or  a  so- 
lution of  sal-soda  will  readily  dissolve  the 
wax.  so  it  may  be  cleaned  off  with  a  cloth. 
Benzine  dissolves  wax  almost  as  readily  as 
water  dissolves  sugar. 

Caution  in  handling  icax. — I  have  spoken 
about  order,  care,  and  cleanliness,  in  hand- 
ling honey,  candy,  etc.:  now.  my  friends,  it 
is  a  much  more  serious  thmg  to  daub  melted 
wax  about  the  house,  on  the  carpets  and  on 
your  clothes,  than  it  is  to  daub  either  honey 
or  candy.  You  can  very  easily  spoil  a  dol- 
lar's worth  of  clothing  while  fussing  with  10 
cts.  worth  of  wax.  as  I  know  by  experience. 
When  you  commence,  bear  this  in  mind, 
and  resolve  that  you  are  going  to  have 
things  clean  and  neat  at  every  step,  no  mat- 
ter what  the  cost.  Xewspapers  are  very 
cheap,  and  it  takes  but  a  minute  to  spread 
them  all  around  the  room  where  your  w^ax 
may  be  dropped.  Have  every  thing,  at 
every  stage,  in  such  order  that  you  would 
not  be  ashamed  of  your  work  should  vis- 
itors call  unexpectedly.  The  greatest  trials 
I  have  ever  had  with  boys  and  girls,  in  try- 
ing to  teach  them  neatness  and  order,  has 
been  vdth  those  in  the  wax-room ;  they  icill 
drop  little  bits  of  wax.  and  step  on  them. 
My  fi'iend.  if  you  can  not  learn  to  avoid  step- 
ping on  bees,  or  di'opping  and  stepping  on 
wax  and  honey  while  you  are  at  work,  you 
would  better  stop  right  here,  and  give  up  try- 
ing to  be  a  bee-keeper.  I  do  not  know  but 
you  might  also  give  up  all  thoughts  of  ever 
trying  to  be  happy  anywhere.  You  certainly 
can  not  be  wanted  in  this  world,  and  I  am 
not  sme  you  will  be  wanted  in  heaven,  if 
you  go  about  carelessly  treading  on  things, 
and  sticking  and  daubing  honey  and  bees- 
wax everywhere  you  go. 

GALVANIZED  IROX  IXJITEIOUS  TO  WAX. 

In  making  extractors,  be  sure  there  is  no 
galvanized  iron  used.  This,  we  have  foimd 
by  experience  and  to  our  sorrow,  discolors 
the  nice  yellow  wax,  making  it  a  greenish 
yellow  instead  of  a  bright  color.   I  do  not 


know  that  this  discoloration  renders  it  unfit 
for  the  bees ;  but  you  can  never  make  nice 
yellow  sheets  of  foundation  of  such  wax. 
When  melted  into  cakes,  it  does  not  present 
that  nice  pretty  appearance  that  pure  wax 
usually  has. 

WliIG-HT  OT  BZSZjS.  Some  very  in- 
teresting experiments  were  conducted  by 
Prof.  B.  F.  Koous.  of  the  Agricultural 'Col- 
lege. Storrs.  Ct..  with  a  view  to  determine 
the  weight  of  bees,  and  the  amoimt  of  honey 
they  can  carry.  The  results  of  these  experi- 
ments were  given  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Cul- 
ture, and  as  the  article  is  so  valuable  I  have 
thought  best  to  preserve  it  in  permanent 
form  : 

Some  two  years  ago.  in  a  leisure  hour  I  went  to 
my  apiary  and  captured  cne  outg-oing  l?ee  fr^  m 
each  hive  and  5ut)jected  them  to  the  fumes  of  cy- 
anide of  potassium  for  a  few  moments  to  renler 
them  inactive,  and  then  weighed  eacli  bee  upon  our 
chemiccil  balances- a  pair  of  scales  so  delicately  ad- 
justed that  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  weigh  the  one- 
millionth  part  of  a  pound  or  the  one-thousandtli 
part  of  a  tee.  From  the  weight  of  each  separate 
bee  it  was  a  very  simple  problem  in  arithmetic  to 
compute  the  number  of  bees  in  a  pound.  The  re- 
sults showed  that  mine,  which  perhaps  are  a  fair 
average  in  size  and  weight,  ran  from  ilil  to  5669  in  a 
pound.  These  results  you  pubashed  in  Gleanings, 
and  there  expressed  a  with  that  I  would  also  deter- 
mine the  amount  of  honey  carried  by  a  homing  bee. 
In  my  research  for  the  weight  of  bees  I  took  th.  se 
just  leaving  the  hive,  which  naturally  would  repre- 
sent the  normal  weight,  having  no  extra  honey  or 
pollen  on  board. 

During  the  present  stimmer.  when  the  bees  were 
very  active.  I  have  imdeitaten  to  carry  out  your 
request  as  to  the  amount  of  h  ney  carried  by  a  bee. 
My  method  was  this  :  From  the  chemical  laboratory 
I  secured  a  couple  of  delicate  glass  flasks  with  corks, 
marking  them  A  and  B.  Each  was  very  carefully 
weighed,  and  the  weight  recorce:l.  T  then  went  to  a 
hive.  and.  with  the  aid  of  a  pair  of  delicate  i;  liers.  or 
pincers.  I  captured  a  number  of  inci  iming  bees  and 
dropped  tliem  into  flask  A.  I  then  secured  al:out  an 
equal  number  of  outgoing  bee?  in  flask  B.  These 
were  then  taken  to  the  laborati n-y  immediately,  and 
each  flask  again  weighed,  af.er  wbi:-h  the  I  ees  were 
carefully  counted  and  released.  This  operation  was 
repeated  quite  a  number  of  times,  not  on  the  same 
day,  but  as  opportunity  offered,  and  when  the  bees 
were  bringing  in  an  aburidauce  of  honey.  I  captur- 
ed from  20  to  15  bees  for  each  tjask  at  each  trip,  aim- 
ing to  have,  as  nearly  as  might  be.  the  same  number 
in  each  flask  on  any  particular  trip.  I  always  weigh- 
ed the  flasks  before  starting  out.  lest  some  little  bit 
of  soil  or  stain,  or  even  moisture  on  the  glass,  would 
render  the  results  less  aeourare:  I  also  always  al- 
lowed any  moisture  couder.sed  upon  the  inside  of 
the  flasks,  while  the  bees  were  co-»nfined.  to  evapo 
rate  before  weighing  for  another  trip.  I  then  treat-  » 
ed  my  results  as  follows  :  From  the  weight  of  flask 
and  bees  I  deducted  the  weight  of  the  flask:  the  re- 
mainder I  divide:!  by  the  number  of  bees  confined 
on  that  trip.  This  gave  me  the  average  weight  of 
the  bees  captured  at  that  time.  The  average  weight 


WEIGHT  OF  BEES. 


350 


BOBBING. 


of  the  bees  in  flask  A,  or  loaded  bees,  was  always 
greater,  as  It  should  be,  than  the  averag-e  weight  of 
the  bees  in  flask  B,  or  unloaded  bees.  The  difference 
between  these  two  weights  gave  me  the  averag-e 
amount  of  honey  carried  by  that  lot  of  bees. 

Mine  are  Italian  and  hybrid  bees,  but  I  made  no 
attempt  to  determine  the  difference  in  the  amount 
carried  by  the  different  swarms  or  breeds.  I  k«pt 
no  record  of  the  swarms  except  that  I  g-uarded 
against  going  to  the  same  hive  for  a  second  lot  of 
bees.  A  considerable  difference  does  appear,  but 
probably  that  arises  in  part  from  the  abundance  or 
scarcity  of  the  honey  on  that  particular  day  on 
which  the  colony  was  visited.  My  aim  was  to  secure 
reliable  results,  as  nearly  as  possible,  representing 
the  average  amount  of  honey  carried  by  bees. 

The  following  is  the  result  of  weighing  several 
hundred  each,  of  the  returning  and  outgoing  bees. 
The  smallest  number  of  bees  necessary  to  carry  one 
pound  of  honey,  as  shown  by  my  results,  is  10,154  ; 
or,  in  other  words,  one  bee  can  carry  the  totst  (one 
ten  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty-fourth)  part  of 
a  pound  of  honey;  and  the  largest  number,  as  shown 
by  the  results,  required  to  carry  a  pound  is  45,643; 
and  the  average  of  all  the  sets  weighed  is  20,167. 
Perhaps,  then,  it  is  approximately  correct  to  say 
that  the  average  load  of  a  bee  is  5500  0  (one  twenty- 
thousandth)  of  a  pound ;  or,  in  other  words,  if  a  col- 
ony has  30,COO  bees  in  it,  and  each  one  makes  one 
trip  a  day,  they  will  add  the  pound  to  their  stores. 
Of  course,  not  all  the  bees  in  a  colony  leave  the 
hive,  the  nurses  remaining  at  home,  hence  necessi- 
tating more  trips  of  those  which  do  "go  a-fleld." 

I  also  repeated  my  observations  of  two  years  ago 
on  the, weight  of  bees,  and  found  that  my  numbei's 
ran  from  3680  to  5495  in  a  pound,  and  the  average 
about  4800,  the  same  as  in  my  former  test.  I  like- 
wise secured  the  following  on  the  weight  of  drones: 
Of  a  dozen  or  more  weighed,  the  largest  would  re- 
quire 1808  to  make  a  pound,  and  the  smallest  2123, 
or  an  average  of  about  2000  drones  in  a  pound,  over 
against  nearly  f.OOO  workers.  B.  ¥.  KooNS. 

Agricultural  Ct  llege,  Storrs,  Ct.,  Sept.  3,  1895. 

In  a  nittshell,  and  speaking  in  round 
numbers,  we  may  say  that  it  takes  4500  bees 
to  make  a  pound ;  and  that,  while  10,000  bees 
may  carry  a  pound  of  neetar,  twice  that  j 
number,  or  20,000,  is  probably  more  nearly 
the  average.   During  basswood  bloom,  the  | 
first  figure  should  be  considered  as  the  near- 
er correct  one  because  the  bees  drop  down  ■ 
at  the  entrance  ;  and  from  almost  all  other  ■ 
sources  of  nectar  the  twenty-thousand  mark 
is  the  one  to  accept. 

Let  us  now  look  at  these  interesting  fig-  j 
ures  in  another  way  :  A  bee  can  carry  half 
its  weight  in  nectar ;  and  perhaps,  under 
certain  circumstances,  a  trifle  more ;  but, 
generally  speaking,  one-fourth  its  weight  is  j 
the  amount.  A  single  strong  colony  has 
been  known  to  bring  in  a  trifle  over  20  lbs. 
of  nectar  from  basswood  in  one  day ;  *  but 
usually  four  or  five  pounds  is  considered  a 

*  We  had  one  colony  that  brought  in  over  43  lbs.  in 
three  days;  and  Doolittle  66  lbs.  in  the  same  time 
from  ba  s wood.  > 


remarkably  big  day's  work.  If  we  figure  that 
there  were,  say,  in  the  first  instance  (20  lbs. 
per  day),  8  lbs.  of  bees,  there  would  be  36,000 
bees.  If  20,000  of  these  were  field-bees  (es- 
timating' 10,000  necessary  to  carry  a  single 
pound  of  basswood  nectar),  those  bees  must 
have  made  forty  trips.  On  the  same  basis 
of  calculation,  a  colony  of  equal  strength 
that  brought  in  5  lbs.  would  make  one- 
fourth  as  many  trips,  or  an  even  ten.  This 
would  leave  for  each  trip  one  hour  for  ten 
hours  ;  or,  in  the  case  of  20  lbs.  a  day,  twen- 
ty minutes. 

Both  Profs.  Gillette  and  Lazenby,  the  for- 
mer of  the  Col'>.  Experiment  Station  and  the 
latter  of  the  Ohio  Experiment  station  con- 
ducted a  series  of  experiments  which  very 
closely-  approximate  figures  of  Prof.  Coons, 
so  that  we  are  sure  that  they  are  correct. 

WHITE  WOOD  {Liriodendron  TuUp- 
ifera).  This  is  often  called  the  tulip-tree,  I 
suppose  from  its  tulip-shaped  flowers. 

After  writing  the  foregoing,  I  concluded 
I  did  not  know  very  much  about  the  white- 
wood,  especially  the  blossoms.  So  T  travel- 
ed oif  into  the  woods.  At  length  I  found  a 
tree,  but  there  were  only  buds  to  be  seen, 
not  blossoms.  It  must  be  too  early  in  the 
season;  but,  hark!  whence  come  those 
sounds  of  humming  -  birds  and  humming 
bees?  Whence,  too,  comes  that  rare  and  ex- 
quisite perfume?  I  looked  higher, and, away 
in  the  misty  top  of  the  tree  I  thought  I  dis- 
cerned, by  the  light  of  the  setting  sun,  mul- 
titudes of  bees  flitting  about.  Oh  that  I  were 
just  up  there  !  I  looked  at  the  rough  trunk 
of  the  tree,  and  meditated  that  I  was  a  boy 
no  longer,  but  a  man  of  40,  or  would  be  in  a 
few  months  more.  I  might  get  up  to  that 
first  limb  :  after  a  good  deal  of  kicking  and 
putfing,  I  got  up  there.  The  next  was  a 
harder  pull  yet;  but  soon  the  limbs  were 
thicker,  and  finally  I  began  to  crawl  up- 
ward with  about  as  much  ease  as  our  year- 
and-a-half-old  baby  goes  up  stairs,  whenever 
she  can  elude  maternal  vigilance.  Up,  up, 
I  went,  until,  on  looking  down,  I  really  be- 
gan to  wonder  what  that  blue-eyed  baby  and 
her  mamma  would  do,  should  my  clumsy 
boots  slip,  or  a  dead  limb  break  unexpected- 
ly. Now  I  was  in  the  very  summit  of  the 
tree,  and,  oh  what  a  wonderful  beauty  I  saw 
in  those  tulip  -  shaped  blossoms  that  peeped 
from  the  glossy-green  foliage  all  about  me  ! 
i^o  wonder  there  was  a  humming.  Bumble- 
bees, gaudy-colored  wasps,  yellow  Italians, 
and  last,  but  not  least,  beautifully  plumaged 
humming-birds,  were  all  rejoicing  in  a  field 
of  sweets.   Every  now  and  then  one  of  the 


WHITEWOOD. 


351 


WHITEWOOD. 


latter  paused  before  my  very  face,  and,  as 
he  swung  pendulously  in  mid  air,  winked 
his  bright  little  eyes,  as  much  as  to  say, 
"Why,  what  on  earth  can  you  be  doing  away 
up  here  in  our  domain?" 

I  picked  olf  the  great  orange-colored,  mot- 
tled blossoms,  and  looked  for  the  honey. 210 1 
presume  it  was  the  wrong  time  of  day  to  ex- 
pect much;  but  the  inside  of  those  large  pet- 
als seemed  to  be  distilling  a  dark  kind  of 
dew  that  the  birds  and  insects  were  licking 
off.  It  tasted  to  me  more  like  molasses  than 
honey.  In  the  next  cut  our  engraver  has 
tried  to  show  you  what  I  saw  in  the  tree-top. 

As  the  sun  had  gone  down,  I  commenced 
in  a  rather  undignified  way  to  follow  suit, 
and,  after  resting  a  little,  limped  home. 
Although  I  was  stiff:  and  sore,  I  carried  an 
armful  of  whitewood  blossoms  to  surprise 
the  good  folks  who,  probably,  had  never 


large  flowers  sometimes  yield  a  spoonful  of 
honey  each.  As  the  tree  is  often  used  for 
ornament,  I  make  the  following  extract  from 
Fuller''s  Forest-Tree  Culturist: 

LiRiODENDRON  TDLiPiFERA  fTuUp-trce,  WfHtewuudJ. 

Leaves  smooth,  on  slender  petioles,  partially 
three-lobed,  the  middle  one  appearing-  as  though 
cut  off  ;  flowers  about  two  inches  broad,  bell-shaped, 
greenish  yellow,  marked  with  orange;  seeds  winged, 
in  a  large  cone-shape  cluster,  which  falls  apart  In 
autumn.  The  figure  shows  a  single  seed 
as  it  appears  when  separated  from  the 
mass.  It  blooms  in  May  and  June,  and 
the  seeds  ripen  in  late  summer  or  early 
autumn,  and  should  be  sown  as  soon  as 
ripe,  in  good,  moderately  dry  soil.  They 
may  remain  in  the  seed  -  bed  two  years, 
if  desirable,  but  should  receive  a  slight 
protection  the  first  winter;  tree  of  large 
size,  sometimes  130  feet  high,  with  a  very 
straight  stem;  wood  light  color,  greenish 
white,  soft  and  light,  not  hard  enough  to 


LEAF,  BUD,  AND  BLOSSOM  OF  THE  AVHITEWOOD,  OR  TULIF-TKEE. 


dreamed  of  the  beauties  to  be  seen  only  in 
the  tree-tops. 

Our  friends  in  the  South  have  a  great  deal 
to  say  about  what  they  call  "  poplar  honey;" 
and,  if  I  am  correct,  the  poplar  is  the  same 
tree  which  we  call  whitewood.  It  blossoms 
with  them  in  April  and  May.  I  know  what 
time  it  blossoms  here,  for  I  thought  about 
its  being  the  27th  of  May,  when  sliding 
down  out  of  that  tree.  Shortly  after,  I 
received  some  bees  from  G.  W.  Gates,  of 
Bartlett,  Tenn.  The  combs  were  filled  and 
bulged  out  with  a  dark  honey,  such  as  I 
have  described,  and  the  bees  had  built  fins 
of  snow-white  comb  on  the  cover  of  their 
shipping-box.  Erom  this  I  infer  the  honey 
must  be  yielded  in  great  abundance  in  those 
localities.    I  have  seen  it  stated  that  the 


receive  a  polish.  It  is  much  used  in  cabinet  work, 
and  for  making  panels  for  carriages,  and  for  any 
inside  work  where  toughness  or  a  hard  surface  is 
not  required.  There  is  perhaps  no  native  wood  that 
will  shrink  more  in  seasoning  than  whitewood,  for 
it  not  only  shrinks  sidewise,  but  endwise  as  well; 
but  when  once  thoroughly  seasoned,  it  remains 
fixed,  and  does  not  warp  or  twist  like  many  of  the 
hard  and  tough  kinds  of  wood.  There  is  also  much 
difference  in  character  of  the  wood  coming  from 
different  sections  of  the  country,  and  mechanics 
who  are  conversant  with  the  various  kinds  and  lo- 
calities will  readily  tell  whether  specimens  came 
from  the  West  or  East.  The  latter  is  of  a  light 
I  greenish  color,  grain  not  so  smooth  and  soft,  and 
sometimes  rather  tough.  The  wood  is  but  little 
used,  except  for  the  purposes  mentioned  above, 
consequently  it  is  only  large  trees  that  will  be  of 
much  value.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
ornamental  trees  we  possess,  growing  in  a  conical 
form,  and  producing  an  abundance  of  its  beautiful 
i  tulip-shaped  flowers  in  spring.   The  roots  are  soft 


WILLOW. 


352 


WILLOW. 


and  spong-e-like,  and  it  requires  great  care  in  re- 
moving- to  insure  success. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  "Is  white- 
wood  good  for  bee-hives V"  It  may  do  for 
sections  and  brood-frames,  but  it  is  very  un- 
satisfactory, for  hives,  for  the  reasons  given 
in  this  extract. 

WIZiIiOW.  As  I  have  had  little  or  no 
experience  with  this  shrub,  and  as  it  does 
yield  honey  and  pollen  in  some  localities,  I 
can  do  no  better  than  to  copy  an  article  with 
the  engravings,  from  the  pen  of  G.  M.  Doo- 
little,  as  given  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture, 
p.  486,  Vol.  XVIL: 

Among-  the  pollen-bearers  we  have  several  kinds 
of  what  is  known  here  as  "pussy  willow"  (SaHr) 
which  put  out  their  blossoms  quite  irregularly. 
Some  are  a  month  earlier  than  others,  and  some  of 
th?  buds  on  the  same  bush  are  ten  days  later  than 
others.  The  kinds  which  seem  to  attract  the  bees 
most  are  the  black  willow,  upon  which  the  kilmar- 
nock  is  budded,  and  those  wliich  produce  a  long 
cone-like  flower  similar  to  the  black  willow,  the  ac- 
companying cut  ffiving  a  fair  representation  of  the 
latter,  a  week  or  so  after  it  is  through  blossoming 
and  has  partially  gone  to  seed.  From  these  two 
kinds  the  bees  obtain  large  quantities  of  pollen,  but, 
so  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  no  honey.  As  this  pollen 
comes  the  first  of  any  which  we  have  which  amounts 
to  any  thing,  I  esteem  it  of  great  value  to  the  bees. 
Skunk  cabbage  gives  pollen  a  little  earlier,  but  we 
do  not  have  enough  of  it  to  amount  to  much,  com- 
pared with  what  these  willows  give.  The  flowers  are 
of  a  rich  orange  color,  and  consist  of  a  center  out  of 
which  spring  hundreds  of  little  thread-like  filaments, 
upon  which  the  pollen  is  supported.  It  is  very  in- 
teresting to  see  the  bees  work  on  these  flowers,  as 
you  can  see  their  motions  so  plainly,  for  the  tree  or 
bush  does  not  grow  so  h  gh  but  that  some  of  the 
lower  limbs  are  about  on  a  level  with  the  eye.  Here 
is  a  peculiarity  of  the  willows,  for  all  those  in  this 


PUSSY  WIt.L,OW. 


section  wliich  give  pollen  grow  in  a  bush  form,  while 
all  of  those  which  yield  honey  grow  to  be  quite 
large  trees,  often  reaching  six  feet  in  circumference. 
The  pussy  willow  naturally  grows  on  low  swampy 


ground;  but  with  a  little  culture  to  start,  it  will  grow 
readily  on  dry  ground.  They  grow  readily  from  cut- 
tings put  in  the  ground  in  early  spring,  as  do  all  of 
the  willow  tribe.  The  above  are  often  set  down  as 
"honey-plants;"  but  according  to  Quinby  and  my 
own  observation,  they  produce  no  honey.  As  they 
grow  very  plentifully  about  here,  I  have  had  much 
observation  regarding  them.  To  be  sure,  the  bee  is 
continually  poking  its  proboscis  into  the  blossoms, 
the  same  as  they  do  when  sucking  for  honey;  but 


GOLDEN  WILLOW. 


after  killing  many  bees  and  dissecting  them,  I  have 
been  unable  to  find  the  least  bit  of  honey  in  their 
sacs.  This  way,  if  used  when  the  bees  are  at  work 
on  any  of  the  honey-bearing  flowers,  never  fails  to 
reveal  lioney  accumulating  in  their  sacs. 

HONEY-PRODUCERS. 

Of  these  we  have  three  kinds— the  golden  willow, 
[  the  white  willow,  and  the  weeping  willow,  and  they 
are  of  value  as  honey-producers  in  the  order  named, 
although  the  weeping  willow  blossoms  about  three 
days  earlier  than  the  others.  This  would  make  it  of 
more  value  to  the  bees,  even  did  it  not  yield  honey 
quite  so  profusely,  if  there  were  enough  trees  to^ 
keep  the  bees  busy;  but  as  there  are  very  few  trees 
of  this  kind  about  here  there  is  not  enough  to  make 
any  account  of.  None  of  the  three  willows  men- 
tioned here  give  any  pollen  that  I  ever  could  dis- 
cover, for  none  of  the  bees  at  work  on  these  trees 
ever  have  any  pollen  in  their  pollen-baskets.  If 
I  there  is  any  species  of  willow  which  yields  bothhon- 
I  ey  and  pollen,  I  am  not  acquainted  with  it.  The 
flowers  are  similar  to  those  which  grow  on  the  birch 
and  poplar,  being  of  a  ;ong  tag-like  shape,  as  large 
as  a  slate  pencil,  and  from  one  to  two  inches  long. 
Those  on  the  golden  willow  are  the  longest,  and 
yield  honey  abundantly. 

The  engraving  presented  herewith  so  nearly  rep- 
resents the  golden  willow  that  any  one  should  know 
!  it  in  connection  with  its  yellow  bark,  which  dis- 
tinguishes it  from  the  other  kinds  of  honey-yielding 
I  willow,  as  all  of  the  rest,  so  far  as  I  know,  have  a 
[  light-green  bark.   Wlien  these  willows  are  in  bloom, 
j  and  the  weather  is  waim,  the  bees  rush  out  of  their 
j  hives  at  early  dawn,  and  work  on  it  all  day  long  as 
I  eagerly  as  they  do  on  clover  or  basswood.  The  blos- 
soms often  secrete  honey  so  profusely  that  it  can  be 
I  seen  glistening  in  the  morning  sun,  by  holding  the 
I  blossom  between  you  and  that  orb,  while  the  trees 


WILLOW-HERB. 


353 


WILLOW-HERB. 


t-esound  with  that  dull  busy  hum,  so  often  heard 
when  the  bees  are  getting-  honey,  from  morning-  till 
nig-ht.  As  this  is  the  very  first  honey  of  tlie  season, 
I  consider  it  of  the  greatest  of  value  to  the  bees,  for 
the  brood  is  now  crowded  forwai^d  with  great 
"vim,"  which  brood  gives  us  the  bees  which  work  on 
the  white  clover,  while  the  honej'  often  helps  very 
greatly  in  piecing  out  the  depleted  stores  of  the  hive. 
These  willows  blossom  a  little  in  advance  of  the  hard 
maple,  and  hold  out  as  long  as  they  do;  and  from  the 
fact  that,  when  I  kill  a  bee  at  work  on  these  willows 
I  alwavs  find  honey  in  i  s  sfic,  while  when  I  do  tlie 


best  colonies  gained  8  pounds,  while  on  apple-bloom 
they  did  not  get  more  than  a  living,  with  apple-or- 
chards white  with  bloom  all  about.  The  honey 
from  the  willow  is  quite  similar  to  that  from  the 
app^.e-bloom,  and  of  a  nice  aromatic  flavor.  As  the 
willows  gave  the  iirst  pollen,  and  also  the  first  hon- 
ey each  season,  it  will  be  seen  what  a  great  help 
they  are  to  all  who  have  them  in  pi'ofusion  near 
their  bees.  The  only  drawback  there  is,  is  in  the 
weather  often  being  unfavorable,  for  I  do  not  think 
that  more  than  one  year  in  three  gives  good  weather 
all  through  tlie  time  the  willows  are  i  i  b'ossom.  So 


1 4* 


WILLOW-HE lIB  AKD  ITS  HOM£  (FKOM  THE  BE E-KEEPERS'  REYIEW). 


same  with  a  bee  which  is  at  Avork  on  the  maple  I 
never  find  any  honey,  I  have  bsen  led  to  think  that 
perhaps  those  reporting  honey  might  be  mistaken, 
and  that  the  honey  really  came  from  the  willows. 
Again,  maple  blossoms  only  every  other  year  with 
us,  while  the  ^villows  never  fail ;  and  I  have  noticed 
for  years  that  I  got  fully  as  much  honey  in  the 
years  when  the  maples  did  not  bloom  as  I  did  the 
years  when  they  did.  From  the  few  trees  along  a 
small  creek  near  here,  my  bees  frequently  make  a 
gain  of  from  six  to  ten  pounds  of  honej"  while  the 
willows  are  in  bloom,  and  one  season  they  made  a. 
gain  of  15  pounds.  This  present  spring  some  of  my 

12 


far  as  I  know,  honey  and  pollen  are  always  present 
in  the  respective  kinds  when  they  are  in  bloom;  but 
the  trouble  is,  that  it  is  so  cold,  rainy,  cloudy,  or 
Avindy  for  the  bees  to  get  to  the  trees  so  much  of  the 
time,  at  this  season  of  the  year,  that  honey  or  pollen 
from  this  source  is  not  at  all  certain. 
Borodino,  N.  Y.  G.  M.  Doolittle. 

WIZiLOW-HERB.  Often  called  fire- 
weed,  sometimes  Indian  pink,  and  rose  bay. 
The  scientific  name  is  Epiobimn  angustifo- 
lium.   Its^gFdwth  is  [confined  "to  the  lumber- 


WILLOW-HERB. 


354 


VVINTERLN^G. 


ing  regions  of  Northern  Wisconsin,  Minne- 
sota, Michigan,  Canada,  and  Maine,  over 
those  areas  that  have  been  burned  over  by 
forest  fires,  and  hence  the  name  "  fireweed." 
After  the  fires  it  seems  to  spring  up  sponta- 
neously, monopolizing  the  soil  to  itself. 

It  is  a  handsome"  plant  having  a  beautiful 
pink  bloom  ;  usually  has  only  a  single  stalk, 
and  grows  from  two  to  six  feet  high.  The 
flowers  are  of  a  dark  pink,  and  arranged  in 
clusters  around  the  stalk.  As  the  season 
advances,  the  first  bloom  goes  to  seed  ;  and 
as  the  stalk  extends  upward,  more  blossoms 
appear,  so  the  plant  keeps  in  bloom  from 
July  till  frost.  Thus  aijpear  on  each  stalk 
buds,  blossoms,  and  seed-pods  at  one  and 
the  same  time. 

Willow-herb,  or  fireweed,  yields  quanti- 
ties of  white  honey.  Some  of  it  is  so  light- 
colored  as  to  be  actually  as  clear  and  lim- 
pid as  water,  and  the  flavor  is  simply  su- 
perb—at least  so  I  thought  after  eating  some 
at  one  of  the  Michigan  couventions  which  I 
attended  at  Grand  Rapids.  Mr.  Hutchinson 
styles  it  the  whitest  and  sweetest  honey  he 
ever  tasted,  and  says  the  flavor,  while  not 
very  pronounced,  is  suggestive  of  spiciness. 
The  quality  of  the  honey,  its  unfailing  sup- 
ply from  year  to  year,  that  it  follows  right 
after  clover  and  basswood,  and  blooms  from 
then  on  till  frost,  make  it  one  of  the  most 
valuable  honey  -  plants  known.  Unfortu- 
nately its  growth  is  confined  almost  exclu- 
sively to  the  regions  where  forest  tires  occur. 
But  fortunately  those  bee-keepers  who  are 
situated  in  its  vicinity  are  enabled  to  secure 
immense  crops  of  fine  white  honey.  Anoth- 
er remarkable  feature  of  the  plant  is,  it  yields 
every  year— at  least  so  continuously  that  a 
failure  has  scarcely  been  known,  even  by 
the  oldest  inhabitants  in  the  vicinity  where 
it  grows. 

Mr.  Hutchinson  estimates  there  are  thou- 
sands of  acres  in  Northern  Michigan  where 
this  plant  grows,  with  no  bees  to  gather  its 
delicious  nectar.  But  this  condition  certain- 
ly can  not  exist  long  ;  for  when  one  can  pro- 
duce anywhere  from  100  to  125  pounds  of 
comb  honey  per  colony,  the  unoccupied 
fields  will  soon  bs  covered  by  bee-keepers, 
after  the  manner  of  the  rush  of  the  gold- 
seekers  to  the  Klondike. 

For  the  fine  illustration  accompanying 
this,  1  am  indebted  to  the  editor  of  the  Bee- 
keeper.s''  Review.  The  picture  was  taken  when 
the  willow-herb  was  out  in  all  its  glory.  lu 
the  background  appear  the  straight  black 
shafts  of  dead  pine-trees  that  stand  out 
alone  as  the  only  survivals  of  their  class 


from  the  fires.  While  we  can  not  but  de- 
plore the  loss  of  the  pines  that  furnish  the 
only  timber  fit  to  make  hives  of,  we  can  re- 
joice that  they  have  been  displaced  by  so 
valuable  a  honey-plant. 

All  attempts  to  grow  this  plant  out  of  its 
native  habitats  have  proven  to  be  failures. 

WIl^JTEKma.  If  the  reader  has 
been  over  faithfully  what  I  have  written  in 
the  preceding  pages  he  is  nearly  ready  to 
sum  up  the  matter  of  wintering  with  me, 
with  but  few  additional  remarks.  Under 
the  head  of  Abscoj^ding  Swarms,  in  the 
I  opening  of  the  book,  he  is  cautioned  against 
I  dividing,  and  trying  to  winter  weak  colonies. 
See  Absconding  in  Early  Spring,  under  the 
head  mentioned.  In  regard  to  keeping  bees 
warm  through  the  winter  with  Artificial 
Heat,  see  that  head.  In  regard  to  the  effect 
of  different  kinds  of  food  or  stores  on  the 
welfare  of  bees  during  winter,  see  Dysen- 
tery, Feeding  and  Feeders,  Candy 
FOR  Bees.  In  regard  to  fixing  the  size  of 
the  entrances,  see  Entrances  to  Hives, 
Ventilation,  and  Propolis.  For  a  con- 
sideration of  the  different  sizes  and  shapes 
of  frames  for  wintering,  see  Hives.  For 
the  consideration  of  double-walled  or  chalf 
hiv^s,  see  Hives. 

WHEN  TO  COMMENCE  PREPARING  BEES 
FOR  WINTER. 

If  either  bees  or  stores  are  lacking  they 
should  be  supplied  during  warm  weather,  so 
that  all  may  be  quiet  and  ready  for  the  win- 
ter doze  which  nature  intends  them  to  take, 
long  enough  before  winter  weather  has  act- 
ually set  in.«-'=^ 

I  would  not  undertake  to  winter  any  col- 
ony unless  it  would  cover  well  as  many  as  4 
L.  frames. 

If  we  have  the  four  combs  average  about 
five  pounds  each,  we  shall  be  on  the  safe 
side.  If  our  colony  is  heavy  enough  to 
cover  6  combs,  clear  out  to  the  ends,  during 
a  cool  night,  they  will  perhaps  need  6  combs 
filled  so  as  to  average  5  lbs.  each.*  When 
we  get  the  bees  and  the  stores,  with  the 
chaff  cushions  on  each  side,  they  are  all 
ready  to  winter,  by  simply  putting  a  thick 
chaff  cushion  over  them.  This  arrangement 
is  not  as  good  as  a  regular  chaff  hive,  but  it 
has  answered  for  several  seasons  past,  quite 
well.  If  the  winter  is  very  severe,  a  colony 
that  would  cover  densely  5  or  (5  combs  would 
be  much  safer  than  a  smaller  one.  The 
main  points  are,  a  brood  -  apartment  closely 

*  Those  fig-nre.s  ;n  e  lased  on  outdoor  wintering-. 
For  indoor  iboy  m:.y  be  mc  down  abouD  one-third. 


WmTERIXG. 


355 


WIXTERI^TG. 


packed  ^th  bees,  and  plenty  of  good  sealed 
stores.  AVith  these  t-wo  conditions  alone, 
the  bees  will  generally  winter  through,  even 
in  a  hive  made  of  inch  boards,  but  it 
will  be  at  the  sacrifice  of  many  bees  that 
would  otherwise  have  lived.  If  the  bees 
are  not  enough  to  fill  the  hive,  reduce  the 
size  of  the  apartment  until  they  do  fill  it. 
This  is  usually  done  by  a  division-board.  If 
the  walls  of  this  wintering  apartment  are 
made  of  thin  wood,  the  bees  will  then  keep 
the  thin  walls  of  the  hive,  as  well  as  them- 
selves, warm  all  winter,  and  we  shall  then 


I  to  have  the  hives  double-walled  and  packed, 
i  so  as  to  be  ready  for  any  emergency.   But  it 
i  may  be  said  that,  the  more  snow  we  have, 
the  better  bees  will  winter,  and  the  less 
stores  will  be  consumed. 

The  question  is  often  asked  whether,  un- 
der such  deep  snow,  there  is  not  danger  of 
bees  smothering.  I  should  say  not.  unless 
the  snow  melts  and  freezes  again  so  as  to 
close  up  the  entrance  with  ice.  But  this  is" 
very  rare.  Some  bee-keepers  take  the  pains 
to  dig  away  the  snow  from  around  the  en- 
trance, but  this  is  usually  not  necessarv. 


A.  E.  3IAXU3l"S  HOME  APIARY  IX  WINTER. 


avoid  the  loss  that  often  ensues  by  bees  con- 
tinually freezing  in  the  outside  combs. 
This  is  the  purpose  of  the  chaif  hive. 

SNOW  AS  A  AVINTER  PROTECTIOX. 

In  colder  climates  there  is  a  great  amount 
of  snow,  and  this  aifords  the  very  be-t  kind 
of  ]  rotection  to  the  hive.  The  deeper  it 
is.  the  better.  Even  if  it  is  waist  deep,  as 
shown  in  the  illustration,  it  will  do  no  harm. 
It  is  well  known  that  snow  protects  vegeta- 
tion, and  keeps  the.  ground  from  freezing. 
]U'v)viding.  of  course,  it  was  not  frozen  be- 
fo:e  the  snow  fell.  In  a  similar  way  it  pro- 
tects a  hive  of  bees ;  and  if  we  could  be  sure 
of  having  deep  snow  all  winter,  single-walled 
hives  would  do  as  well,  perhaps,  as  the  dou- 
ble waUed.  But,  unfortunately,  it  is  liable 
to  melt  away  during  a  winter's  thaw,  and 
this  may  be  followed  by  cold  zero  weather 
without  snow.   It  behooves  us.  therefore, 


The  bees  w:il  winter  fully  as  well,  if  n^t 
better,  with  the  snow  all  around  in  front  of 
the  Lives  •  for  it  is  well  known  that  loose 
snow  contains  a  lai-ge  amoimt  of  air.  and 
that  air  will  percolate  all  through  it.  If, 
however,  snow  is  melted  enough  to  be 
mushy,  and  if  then  it  begins  to  freeze,  it 
would  be  better  to  look  carefully  to  all  en- 
trances. 

VEXTILATIOX.  AXD  ITS  RELATION  TO  FROST 
AND  DAMPNESS. 

I  think  the  subj'ects  of  chalf  packing  and 
ventilation  are  not  clearly  understood.  Bees 
become  damp  because  the  walls  of  the  hive 
are  so  cold  as  to  condense  the  moisture  from 
their  breath.  If  these  walls  did  not  become 
cold,  no  moisture  would  condense  on  them, 
and  no  dampness  would  accumulate  in  the 
hives.  On  a  cold  winter  night,  frost  some- 
times accumulates  on  our  windows  imtil  it 


WINTERING. 


356 


WINTERING. 


may  be  i  inch  in  thickness.  The  amount 
of  ice  depends  on  the  difference  in  the  tem- 
peratures of  the  air  on  the  two  sides  of  tlie 
glass.  If  the  air  outside  should  be  below 
zero,  while  that  inside  is  70  or  80,  and  at  the 
same  time  is  fully  charged  with  moisture 
from  the  kitchen,  perhaps,  as  is  the  case  fre- 
quently on  washing-days,  or  even  from  the 
breath  of  many  persons,  the  accumulation 
of  ice  on  the  glass  will  be  very  rapid.  If  the 
room  is  kept  warmed  up,  the  ice  will  melt, 
and  the  water  will  run  down  until  the  floor 
becomes  quite  wet.  While  running  a  small 
engine  one  winter,  in  a  room  having  large 
glass  windows,  the  water  accumulated  so 
rapidly  on  the  glass  that  we  had  to  attach  a 
tin  trough  to  the  window-sill  to  catch  it,  and 
In  a  little  time  we  caught  a  pailful  from  the 
end  of  the  spout.  The  cause  is  this :  Warm 
air  takes  up  and  holds  in  solution  a  large 
quantity  of  water.  This  water  is,  of  course, 
invisible,  and  we  have  scarcely  any  means 
of  detecting  it  so  long  as  the  temperature  of 
the  air  is  unchanged  by  coming  in  contact 
with  colder  substances,  or  currents  of  air  of 
a  lower  temperature.  If  the  walls  of  the 
room  are  kept  warm,  there  will  be  no  per- 
ceptible dampness.  Let  them  be  chilled,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  window-pane,  however, 
and  we  shall  have  the  warm  air  dropping  its 
water  the  very  minute  it  comes  in  contact 
with  the  cold  surface,  in  exactly  the  same 
way  that  dew  is  deposited  on  a  hot  summer 
day ,  on  the  outside  of  a  pitcher  containing 
cold  water.  The  process  with  the  window 
goes  on,  because  currents  of  air  are  started 
both  on  the  outside  and  inside  of  the  glass, 
by  the  heat  that  passes  through  the  glass. 
To  make  this  plain,  let  A,  in  the  cut  below, 
represent  the  pane  of  glass. 

The  arrows  represent  the  courses 
of  the  currents  of  air.  The  great-  \ 
er  the  difference  in  temperature  ^ 
between  the  outside  and  inside,  l 
the  more  active  are  these  currents,  | 
and  the  greater  is  the  deposition  * 
of  dew  jr  ice  on  the  surface  of  the 
glass  on  the  inside. 

now  BEE-HIVES  BECO:\rE  DAMP. 

In  the  warm  room  you  will  see  that  the 
air  is  chilled  as  it  strikes  the  window,  and 
then  falls  because  it  is  heavier ;  this  gives 
place  to  more  warm  air,  and  keeps  up  the 
circulation.  On  the  outside,  the  cold  air 
next  the  window  becomes  warmed,  and  ris- 
es on  account  of  being  lighter,  and  this 
keeps  up  a  similar  action  on  the  inside,  the 
direction  of  llie  currents  being  reversed. 


When  the  temperature  of  the  air  is  lowered 
it  discliarges  its  moisture.  When  the  tem- 
perature is  increased,  the  capacity  of  the 
air  for  holding  moisture  is  increased  also. 
Thus  you  see  how  the  water  from  the  air  is 
condensed  on  the  windows,  and  goes  down 
into  the  pail.  The  air  in  the  room  would 
soon  lose  its  moisture,  were  not  more  sup- 
plied from  the  brenthing  of  living  persons, 
or  from  the  kettles  on  the  stove,  from  damp 
air  rising  from  tlie  celhir.  or  from  something 
of  that  kind.  I  need  hardly  state  that  the 
same  operation  goes  on  in  the  bee-hive,  es- 
pecially if  the  walls  are  thin,  and  the  hive 
at  all  tight.  If  the  top  of  the  hive  is  a  thin 
honey-board,  with  cold  air  above  and  warm 
air  below,  ice  will  be  sure  to  collect  over  the 
cluster,  and  when  it  melts  will  dampen  the 
bees.  The  sides  of  the  hive  will  be  covered 
with  frost,  and  perhaps  a  heavy  coat  of  ice, 
by  the  circulation  of  currents  of  air  as  I  have 
explained.  Now  let  us  go  back  to  the  win- 
dow, and  place  one  of  the  chaff  cushions  I 
have  advised  for  wintering,  close  against  the 
window-glass,  on  the  outside.  This  will 
stop  the  outside  circulation,  and  the  light  of 
glass  will  soon  become  warmed  througli  to 
such  an  extent  that  no  ice,  or  dew  either, 
will  condense  upon  it.  To  make  a  further 
protection,  suppose  we  put  glass  or  boards 
on  the  outside  of  the  cushion,  or,  in  fact, 
make  two  walls,  with  chaff  between  them  as 
in  the  chaff  hive.  A  good  colony  of  bees 
would  warm  up  the  thin  walls  next  to  them , 
sufficiently  to  prevent  either  frost  or  mois- 
ture from  accumulating  on  them  at  all. 
Now,  if  the  walls  all  around  the  bees  are 
thus  protected  with  chaff  cushions,  they  can 
not  well  get  frosty  on  the  outside,  and  thus 
accumulate  either  moisture  or  dampness  on 
the  inside.  As  a  proof  of  this  I  have  win- 
tered a  colony  nicely,  with  a  covering  of  en- 
ameled cloth  over  them,  that  was  almost  ab- 
solutely impervious  to  air.  To  be  sure,  a 
thick  chaff  cushion  was  over  this  enameled 
cloth,  or  it  would  have  been  wet  very  quick- 
ly with  the  condensed  moisture;  in  fact,  sev- 
eral colonies  became  quite  wet  during  frosty 
nights  in  the  fall,  before  the  chaff  cush- 
ions were  put  on.  Now,  if  the  bees  are  to 
keep  these  walls  about  them  so  warm  that 
moisture  cannot  condense  on them,the  walls 
must  be  close  to  the  cluster  of  bees,  and  cer- 
tainly the  material  for  them  should  be  a 
non-conductor  of  heat,  and  they  should  be 
so  thin  that  they  will  readily  warm  through. 
Although  it  may  not  be  absolutely  necessary 
that  the  walls  and  covering  should  be  of 
some  porous  material,  which  will  absorb  any 


WINTERING. 


357 


WIXTElii:N^G. 


chauce  moisture  from  the  breath  of  the  bees, 
it  will  perhaps  be  better  that  thej^  should  be 
so,  and  manj^  experiments  seem  to  indicate 
that  straw  or  chaff  is  the  best  material  for 
this  purpose.  For  the  reasons  I  havenanu'd. 
the  old-fashioned  straw  hive,  which  has  for 
ages  been  emblematical  of  the  honey-bee. 
seems  to  be  very  nearly  what  is  wanted  to 
protect  them  in  the  way  they  seem  to  de- 
mand. The  straw  next  to  them  is  warm,  and 
therefore  proof  against  condvusation  ;  it  is 
thin,  and  hence  easily  warmed;  is  a  non- 
conductor of  heat:  and  while  it  may  permit 
the  air  to  pass  through  the  porous-  walls 
slowly,  it  does  not  admit  of  a  draft  of  cold  air 
through  the  hive,  as  does  a  badly  made  wood- 
en hive,  or  one  that  has  cracks  or  fissures 
here  and  there.   See  Straw  Skep.  | 

HOW  TO  WINTER  BEES  OUTDOORS^ 
PACKED  IX  DO  UBLE-  WALLED 
HIVES. 

One  of  the  requisites,  though  not  neces- 
sarily an  essential,  is  early  preparation.  If  ! 
I  had  every  thing  to  my  liking  I  would  have  I 
all  colonies  prepared  for  winter  by  the  first 
of  October  for  our  latitude.  41.  For  a  little 
further  north,  about  the  middle  or  first  of 
September.  A  good  many  bee-keepers  be- 
gin preparations  as  soon  as  the  honey  sea- 


TWO- STORY  DO  b^BLE- WALLED   OR  CHAFF 
HIVE. 

son  is  over;  lhat  is.  in  the  middle  of  Au- 
gust. This  preparation  means  early  feed- 
ing to  induce  brood- rearing,  so  that  the  colo- 
nies may  begin  the  rigors  of  winter  with  a 
large  force  of  bees,  the  majority  of  which 
are  probably  young,  and  not  old  worn-out 
fellows  that  will  die  in  a  month  or  so. 
Many  times  circunfistauces  are  such  that  we 
are  not  able  to  begin  preparations  before 
November.  We  have  fed  our  bees  as  late  as 
the  first  of  November,  and  packed  then),  and 
then  had  them  winter  successfully.  But  be- 
cause we  have  done  so  one  year,  two  years, 
or  more,  successfully,  is  no  reason  why  we 


would  urge  beginners  and  others  to  put  it 
off  until  that  time.  For  particulars  in  re- 
gard to  feeding,  you  are  referred  to  that 
heading  in  the  fore  part  of  this  work. 

HOW  ^lAT^TY   POUXDS  OF    STORES  FOR  OUT- 
DOOR  WINTERING  y 

Before  the  final  i^aeking.  I  would  see  that 
every  colony  had  iVum  20  to  25  lbs.  of  sealed 
stores,  the  same  distributed  on  from  four  to 
six  CO] libs.  Some  colonies  are  strong  enough 
to  vO^  r  eight,  but  usually  almost  all  colo- 
nies c  n  i  e  contracted  to  six  L.  frames.  As 
a  gent  vaI  rule,  give  the  bees  as  many  combs 
of  sealed  stores  as  they  will  cover  by  the 
time  we  have  frosty  nights,  and  the  da5'-s 
are  just  a  little  too  cool  for  bees  to  fly  very 
much— at  least,  before  the  latter  part  of  the 
day. 

Put  in  a  di\'ision-board,  as  described  un- 
der that  head  elsewhere,  to  take  up  the 
space  of  the  combs  taken  out ;  and  this  di- 
vision-board should  be  put  in  before  feeding 
has  been  entirely  finished,  and  should  be,  if 
possible,  put  on  the  north  side  of  the  brood. 

SIZE  OF  ENTRANCE. 

This  should  not  be  more  than  f  x8  inches 
for  strong  colonies  and  shorter  for  weaker 
ones.  All  summer  entrances  that  are  txl2 
inches  should  be  contracted  to  the  size  in- 
d.cated. 

SHALL  WE    SPREAD  THE  BKOOD-NEST  ? 

A  good  many  of  those  who  winter  suc- 
cessfully, urge  that,  before  the  final  pack- 
ing, the   brood-frames   should  be  spread 
from  the  regular  breeding  distance,  that  is, 
If  or  li  inches  fiom  center  to  center,  to 
about  If.   We  formerly  spread  our  brood- 
friimes  ;  but  in  later  years,  after  trying  both 
j  ways  we  can  see  no  difference  in  result.243 
j  We  now  leave  the  frames  spaced  just  as 
j  they  were  in  summer. 

I  WHAT  TO  COVER  FRAMES  \^'ITH. 

Some  authorities  prefer  and  recommend  a 
thin  board  just  large  enough  to  cover  the  top 
of  the  liive,  which,  of  course,  the  bees  will 
seal  down  hermetically  tight  with  propolis. 
Over  this  thin  board  is  plnced  a  cushion  or 
shallow  tray  containing  chaff,  leaves,  planer- 
shavings,  or  other  packing  material.  But 
other  authorities,  and  perhaps  the  majority, 
prefer  absorbents.  They  would  place  a  Hill 
device  on  top  of  the  brood-frames;  or,  if  they 
do  not  have  this,  two  or  three  little  blocks  01 
corncobs— any  thing  to  hold  the  absoibing 
material  far  enough  above  the  brood-frames 
:  to  leave  a  clustering-place.  Over  all  is  plac- 
ed a  sheet  of  burlap,  and  over  this  again  a 
chaff  cushion.   This  will  absorb  the  mois- 


WmTERING. 


358 


WINTERmG. 


tare,  or  sweat,"  as  some  call  it,  of  the  bees, 
leaving  the  brood  nest  dry.  But  along  in 
the  spring  this  packing  material  often  be- 
comes so  moist  as  really  to  be  a  detriment ; 
and  that  is  why  the  sealed-cover  advocates 
object  to  absorbents,  for  they  would  have 
the  top  of  the  brood-nest  sealed  tight. 


We  have  wintered  very  successfully  both 
ways  ;  and  after  tryiug  the  two  plans  side  by 
side  we  really  can  not  determine  which  is  the 
better;  although,  all  things  considered,  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  sealed  top  had  the  ad- 
vantage ;  for  then  the  packing  material 
above  the  brood-nest  is  always  kept  dry  ; 
and  the  moisture,  if  any,  is  compelled  to 
condense  and  run  out  of  the  entrance. 

With  the  modern  chaif  hives  it  is  not  prac- 
tical to  use  cushions,  for  it  is  difficult  to 
place  something  of  this  sort  under  a  tele- 
scopic cover,  and  yet  have  it  fit  down  over 
the  brood  -  nest  snug  and  warm.  A  tray 
about  five  or  six  inches  deep,  and  just  large 
enough  to  go  inside  of  a  telescopic  cover,  is 
made  out  of  f-inch  lumber.  On  the  bottom 
is  nailed  a  piece  of  burlap,  or  any  cheap 
cloth.  This  tray  is  now  filled  with  leaves  or 
packing  material  of  any  sort,  when  it  is 
ready  to  be  put  on  the  hive,  to  be  used  either 
with  a  sealed  cover  or  on  the  absorbing  plan 
as  already  described.  The  illustration  shows 


HILL  DEVICE  FOR  COVERmG  THE  FRAMES 
m  WINTER. 


the  modern  double-walled  hive  with  the  tray 
in  position  under  the  telescopic  cover.  Un- 
der the  tray  is  the  Hill  device  on  the  absorb- 
ent plan.* 


WHAT  TO  DO  WHEN  COLONIES  RUN  SHORT 
OF  STORES. 

We  will  suppose  that,  from  some  cause  or 
other,  some  colony  has  run  short  of  stores. 
You  ask,  "How  are  we  to  know  what  ones 
are  short  ?  "  Sometimes  in  filling  orders  for 
bees  and  queens,  late  in  the  fall,  we  are 
obliged  to  keep  our  colonies  running  till  very 
near  November,  and  we  have  to  do  our  feed- 
ing on  short  notice.  When  it  comes  on  cold 
weather,  and  we  are  unable  to  feed  any 
more,  we  put  a  little  stone  on  the  cover,  or 
some  mark  to  indicate  that  this  or  that 
colony  7nay  run  short  of  stores.  On  the  first 
warm  sunny  day  in  mid-winter — when  it  is 
warm  enough  so  the  bees  can  fly— we  go 
through  the  whole  apiary.  We  simply  lift 
the  tray,  pull  back  the  burlap,  and  peer 
down  into  the  cluster.  If  they  appear  quiet, 
and  there  seems  to  be  an  abundance  of  seal- 
ed stores,  we  close  the  hive  up  immediately, 
and  so  on  until  we  come  either  to  a  weak 
colony  that  needs  uniting  with  another 
weak  one,  or  a  strong  stock  that  has  con- 
sumed so  many  stores  in  brood-rearing  that 
they  need  feeding.  As  the  weather  may 
turn  cold  suddenly,  we  pick  out  of  the  hon- 
ey-house a  good  comb  of  sealed  honey,  and 
lay  it  horizontally  above  the  frames,  with  a 
Hill  device  under  it,  so  as  to  keep  it  from 
closing  up  the  passageway  over  the  frames. 
We  cover  the  whole  with  a  burlap  sheet ;  re- 
place the  cushion,  and  let  them  go  until  the 
next  warm  day,  when  we  again  make  an  ex- 
amination ;  and  if  a  little  short,  we  turn  the 
comb  over  and  give  them  the  benefit  of  the 
other  side.  If  we  do  not  happen  to  have  the 
sealed  combs,  we  give  them  a  cake  of  maple 
sugar  or  candy  (see  Candy),  on  top  of  the 
brood-frames,  and  all  will  go  well  ;245b-ut,  as  I 
stated  before,  it  should  not  be  necessary  to 
feed  colonies  during  mid-winter.  They 
should  have  enough  stores,  say  20  or  25  lbs., 
to  last  them  from  October  until  the  first  or 
middle  of  May. 

WINTERING  BEES  IN  TENEMENT  HIVES. 

Some  bee-keepers,  prominently  among 
whom  may  be  named  E.  and  N.  E.  France, 
of  Wisconsin,  and  W.  L.  Coggshall,  of  New 
York,  winter  their  bees  in  double-walled 
tenement  hives.  As  the  name  indicates,  it 
consists  of  two  or  more  hives  all  under  one 
roof.  Of  course,  one  double-walled  hive 
large  enough  for  four  or  five  colonies  can 
be  made  cheaper  than  four  or  five  single  hives, 
and  this  is  one  factor  in  their  favor.  An- 
other is,  that  one  or  more  colonies  will  con- 
serve the  heat.  But  the  objection  to  these 
big  hives  is  that  they  are  large  and  un- 


WINTERING. 


359 


WINTERING. 


ORTON   TENE3IEXT  HI  YE  OPEX — REAR  VIEW. 


vyiNTEKmG. 


860 


AYINTERmG. 


Avieldy,  and  not  suitable  for  out-apiary 
work  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  trans- 
portation. It  is  for  this  reason  that  so  few 
bee-keepers,  CDmparatively,  use  tenement 
hives. 

The  Orton  tenement,  the  one  shown  in 
the  accompanying  engravings,  is  built  to 
take  in  ten  colonies.  It  is  double-walled, 
and  made  of  ordinary  drop  siding.  The 
roof  is  a  simple  plain  gable,  shingled,  and 
hinged  so  as  to  tilt  back  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  at  any  particular  colony,  and  in  this 
connection  it  goes  without  saying,  that  any 
cover  so  large  as  this  w^ould  have  to  be 


worked,  the  operator  must  necessarily  stand 
in  front  of  the  entrances.  This  will  at  times 
irritate  the  bees  to  some  extent,  as  well  as 
cause  them  to  enter  the  wrong  entrance,  and 
possibly  kill  a  valuable  queen.  But,  happi- 
ly, the  defect  can  be  easily  remedied  by 
hinging  the  cover  on  the  other  side,  thus 
bringing  the  entrances  opposite  the  operator. 

THE  E.   FRANCE  TENEMENT  HIVE. 

This  was  devised  by  E.  France,  and  is 
what  he  calls  his  "  quadruple "  hive.  He 
and  his  son  have  used  them  for  a  good  many 
years,  and  still  use  them.  They  are  used  at 
their  outyards,  and  left  in  position  year  after 


THE  E.  FRANCE  TENEMENT  HIVE. 


hinged,  as  it  would  be  practically  out  of  the 
question  for  one  person  to  lift  such  a  cover 
oft  and  put  it  on  again.  The  w^hole  material 
for  making  the  Orton  hive  complete  costs 
about  $5.00;  and  if  one  is  handy  with  tools 
he  can  make  a  pretty  cheap  winter  hive  for 
ten  colonies.  The  general  shape  of  the  Or- 
ton tenement  is  such  that  by  putting  an  ex- 
tra reach  in  the  wagon,  after  taking  off  the 
box,  it  can  be  set  on  wheels  and  hauled  to  an 
outyard  very  easily;  so  it  is  less  objection- 
able than  some  others  that  are  too  wide  to 
go  between  the  standards  of  an  ordinary 
wagon. 

One  defect  in  this  Orton  hive  with  roof 
hinged  as  shown  is  that,  when  it  is  being 


year,  both  winter  and  summer.  If  the  four 
col  )nies  cluster  toward  the  center  of  the 
hive,  they  will  thus  be  able  to  conserve  the 
animal  heat,  and  in  this  respect  a  tenement 
hive  has  an  advantage  over  an  ordinary  dou- 
ble-walled chaff  hive  designed  to  hold  one 
colony. 

While  tenement  hives  are  cheaper  in  first 
cost,  and  have  some  very  decided  advan- 
tages, yet  a  very  great  majority  of  bee-keep- 
ers either  winter  in  one-colony  chaff  hives 
or  else  put  their  bees  in  the  cellar. 

ADVANTAGES   AND    DISADVANTAGES  OF 
OUTDOOR  WINTERING. 

(1)  Outdoor  colonies  can  6e  prepared  in  Oc- 
tober, and  left  without  examination  until 


361 


VVIXTERmG. 


the  first  part  of  May,  if  prepared  as  they 
should  be,  providing  one  does  not  fill  orders 
for  bees  and  queens  in  the  fall.  (2)  If  the 
bees,  from  a  long  spell  of  cold,  have  con- 
tracted dysentery,  the  first  warm  day  gives 
them  an  opportunity  for  a  cleansing  flight. 
(3)  Beginners  and  others  who  may  not  pos- 
sess the  requisite  skill  for  indoor  wintering 
will  ordinarily  be  successful  with  the  out- 
door plan.  (4)  The  colonies  of  the  home 
apiary  can  remain  year  after  year,  and  win- 
ter upon  the  same  stands ;  and  where  one 
can  afford  it,  an  out-apiary  of  chaff  hives 


The  disadvantages  are  :  (1)  The  first  cost 
of  hives.  Every  beginner,  not  knowing 
whether  he  can  make  the  business  success- 
ful or  not.  wishes  to  start  out  as  economi- 
cally as  possible,  and  accordingly  is  in  a 
quandary  as  to  whether  he  shall  go  to  a  great- 
er expense  and  purchase  chaff  hives,  or  be 
more  moderate  and  purchase  the  single- 
walled  hives.  (2)  It  seems  to  be  generally 
agreed,  that  colonies  indoors  consume  less 
stores  than  those  out — just  how  much  less, 
nobody  seems  to  know  exactly  ;  some  think 
half  the  stores  or  over :  others,  a  third.  The 


THE  W.  L.  COGGSHALL  TE:NE31ENT  HIVE. 


does  away  with  hauling  bees  in  the  spring 
and  fall.  (5)  The  chaff  hive  is  always  pre- 
ferred, even  for  a  cold  day  in  late  spring 
or  early  summer ;  whereas  single  -  walled 
hives  sometimes  give  rather  meager  pro- 
tection after  settmg  out.  The  outdoor  colo- 
nies in  chaff  hives  have  been  used  to  the 
rigors  of  winter ;  but  the  indoor  colonies,  be- 
ing set  out  about  the  middle  of  April  or  first 
of  May,  many  times  receive  a  setback  that 
takes  them  all  summer  to  get  over,  by  an 
unexpected^  cold  wave. 


latter  estimate  is  probably  nearer  correct. 
(3)  Chaff  hives,  as  I  have  already  stated,  are 
rather  heavy  and  imwieldy ;  and  in  swarm- 
ing, too,  it  becomes  necessary  many  times 
to  change  the  location  of  the  hives.  .  One 
person  can  hardly  handle  a  chaff  hive  with- 
out the  aid  of  a  wheelbarrow,  while  he  can, 
with  comparative  ease,  carry  a  single-wall- 
ed hive  wherever  he  pleases.  It  sometimes 
happens  that  a  bee-keeper  discovers  that  a 
certain  district  is  yielding  for  a  time  con- 
siderable nectar,  while  at  home  his  bees 


362 


are  doing  nothing.  He  desires  to  carry  a 
large  number  of  colonies  to  the  place  in 
question  as  soon  as  possible,  to  catch  the 
flow.  If  he  has  chaff  hives,  he  can  not  very 
well  carry  more  than  five  or  six  at  a  time  in 
a  wagon  ;  whereas  he  can  load  twenty-five 
or  thirty  single-walled  hives  ;  and  when  the 
flow  has  ceased,  he  can  take  them  to  anoth- 
er place.  In  these  days  of  out-apiaries, 
chafE  hives  have  the  very  disagreeable  fea- 
ture of  being  non-portable,  or  practically  so. 
Experienced  bee-keepers  will  winter  in  the 
cellar  with  perhaps  less  loss  of  bees  and  less 
consumption  of  stores  than  outdoors ;  and 
this  brings  us  to  the  subject  of 

WINTERING  IN  GELLABS  OR  SPE- 
CIAL REPOSITORIES. 

Years  ago  winter  repositories  were  unsat- 
isfactory to  say  the  least.  Within  the  last 
few  years,  however,  they  have  given  better 
results.  Instead  of  bee-keepers  losing  al- 
most every  winter,  and  having  troubles 
from  dysentery,  bee-journals  and  bee- con- 
ventions have  so  disseminated  information, 
that  indoor  repositories  are  now  wintering 
bees  as  successfully — perhaps  more  so— than 
double-walled  hives  outdoors,  if  we  consider 
the  matter  of  a  lesser  consurnption  of  stores. 
Indeed,  it  would  be  a  sad  comment  on  bee 
journals  and  conventions  if  bee-keepers  did 
not  finally  discover  means  whereby  they 
could  winter  successfully,  both  indoors  and 
out.  Among  the  very  first  who  were  able  to 
announce  to  the  bee-keeping  world  that  they 
wintered  every  year  without  loss  was  H.  R. 
Boardman,  of  East  Townsend,  Ohio.  At 
the  time  it  seemed  a  little  remarkable. 
Very  soon  after,  others  began  to  report  suc- 
cess. It  will  be  in  order,  then,  to  inquire 
what  are  the  elements  that  contribute  to 
successful  wintering  indoors,  and  at  the 
same  time  glance  briefly  at  some  of  the 
causes  that  contributed  to  failure  years  ago. 

One  of  the  first  and  most  important  causes 
was  taking  the  bees  out  too  early.  As  a 
general  thing,  the  heavy  losses  came  after 
setting  the  hives  out,  which  was  usually 
done  some  time  in  March ;  and  March  is  a 
month  in  our  locality  that  may  be  any  thing 
from  a  bright,  almost  summer  day,  to  a 
boisterous  zero  weather.  Bees  that  have 
wintered  successfully,  and  have  been  set 
out  too  early,  are  pretty  apt  to  succumb  be- 
fore actual  warm  weather  in  May  has  set  in. 
The  reason  bees  were  set  out  early,  was  be- 
cause bee-keepers  were  unable  to  keep  them 
quiet  in  the  cellar  ;  and  if  they  seemed  dis- 
posed to  dysentery,  the  only  thing  to  do  was 


to  set  them  out.g^The  problem,  then,  re- 
mained to  find  some  means  to  keep  them 
quiet  until  the  middle  of  April  or  to  the 
first  of  May.  It  is  generally  agreed  that 
there  are  three  or  four  essentials  to  accomplish 
this  end.  First,  a  temperature  of  about  45, 
aud  not  varying  very  considerably  either 
way  throughout  the  winter  ;  second,  plenty 
of  bottom  ventilation,  no  top  ventilation  ; 
third,  though  not  nearly  so  important  as  the 
others,  sealed  stores ;  fourth,  a  cellar  com- 
paratively dry.  A  few,  and  a  very  few, 
claim  that  they  can  winter  successfully  in  a 
cellar  reeking  with  dampness  if  only  the 
food  is  right ;  247  but  a  dry  place  should  be 
secured  if  possible. 

Having  outlined  briefly  some  of  the  es- 
sentials to  indoor  wintering,  I  will  now  pro- 
ceed more  in  detail.  As  with  outdoor  win- 
tering, early  feeding  is  important.  It  will 
not  be  necessary  to  give  the  bees  as  large 
an  amount  of  stores.  Ten  or  fifteen  pounds 
will  answer  very  well ;  though,  if  convenient, 
I  should  prefer  to  let  them  have  more.  If 
the  winter  should  be  an  open  one,  some  of 
the  stronger  colonies  will  rear  brood  during 
spring  quite  heavily,  and  consume  all  or 
nearly  all  their  stores.  What  bee-keeper  is 
there  who  likes  to  admit  that  his  bees  died 
from  starvation?  Starvation  means,  as  a 
general  thing,  pure  neglect. 

WHEN  TO  rUT  INTO  THE  CELLAR. 

In  IsTovember,  in  the  latitude  of  40  or  41, 
the  bees  should  be  prepared  to  be  set  into 
the  cellar  at  a  moment's  notice.  The  covers 
should  be  sealed  down  with  propolis,  to 
make  the  top  of  the  hive  air-tight.  It  is 
not  necessary  that  there  be  a  Hill  device  or 
any  thing  else  over  the  frames,  to  give  a 
passageway  —  simply  the  cover  over  the 
brood-nest  is  quite  sufficient. s^ggome  few  bee- 
keepers remove  it  and  leave  on  an  enamel 
cloth  or  quilt.  If  the  cloth  or  quilt  is  sealed 
down  tight,  it  will  answer,  perhaps,  as  well. 
But  for  reasons  presently  to  be  given,  I 
would  leave  the  cover  on.  Well,  along 
about  the  25th  of  November,  in  our  locality, 
we  put  our  bees  into  the  cellar,  the  time  be- 
ing varied,  of  course,  according  to  the  pe- 
culiarity of  the  season.  Whenever  it  turns 
cold  and  begins  to  snow,  and  the  prospects 
seem  pretty  good  for  a  continuance,  we 
open  up  our  cellar  and  proceed  to  carry 
them  in.250-623  Before  doing  so,  however,  with 
a  screwdriver  or  cold-chisel  we  go  around  to 
each  hive,  puff  a  little  smoke  in  at  the  en- 
trance, and  pry  the  body  loose  from  the  bot- 
tom-board, as  it  will  always  be  stuck  down 
with  propolis.   This  had  better  be  done  a 


WINTEEING. 


863 


WIXTEEIXG. 


day  in  advance  however,  as  it  sometimes 
distiu'bs  the  bees,  and  it  will  he  hoiu-s  be- 
fore they  will  qniet  down.  AVith  an  assist- 
ant and  a  couple  of  hive-carriers  we  proceed 
to  carry  the  bees  into  the  cellar. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  onr  hive-carriers 
are  simply  a  conple  of  lengths  of  wire  bent 


MANNER    OF    CAKRTIXG    BEES    INTO  THE 
CELLAR  WITH  HIVE-CARRIERS. 

in  the  shape  of  a  letter  T.  an  ordinary 
wooden-pail  handle  being  slipped  through 
to  the  middle  of  the  vdie.  Both  ends  are 
bent  down  in  the  shape  shown  in  the  cut  in 
the  enlarged  view.  The  ends  are  then  bent 
in  the  form  of  a  hook,  and  sharpened  so  as 
to  catch  on  the  bottom-board. 


MILLER'S  ROPE  CARRIER. 

Dr.  Miller  uses  a  rope  as  shown  in  the  ac- 
companying cut.  Of  course,  the  rope  can 
be  used  only  when  the  hives  are  cleated  at 
the  ends. 

AVhere  hives  are  carried  . to  any  distance, 
and  help  is  scarce,  the  yoke  will  be  better. 
One  man  can  carry  two  heavy  hives  quite 
easily;  ascend  cellar-steps,  and  go  through 
doors.  The  only  objection  is  the  rigging, 
and  loading  and  unloading.  For  short  dis- 
tances we  prefer  the  bails  lirst  illustrated. 
After  one  is  once  haruessed  and  loaded,  the 
McFarland  device  is  excellent. 


Having  picked  up  the  hive  or  hiA'es  we 
proceed  to  the  cellar,  and  deposit  the  hive 
near  the  place  where  it  is  sttpposed  to  stay 


3i"farland"s  neckyoke  for  carrying- 
hives. 

through  the  winter.  Along  on  two  sides  of 
the  cellar  we  have  previously  laid  scantling, 
say  14  or  15  inches  apart,  depending,  of 
couise.  upon  the  length  of  the  hive.  We 
then  pick  the  hive  j'ust  brought  in  up  by 
the  hand-holes,  lift  it  ofE  its  bottom,  and  lay 
it  at  one  end  on  top  of  the  scantling,  and  lay 
the  bottom-board  in  one  corner  of  the  cellar. 
In  like  manner  we  bring  in  another  colony, 
lift  it  olf  the  bottom-board,  and  deposit  it  by 
the  side  of  the  other  colony,  leaving  four 


inside  view  of  boardman's  repository. 

I  inches  between,  and  so  on.  TVe  bring  in 
other  colonies  until  the  scantlings  are  cov- 
ered with  hives  four  inches  apart.    We  are 

1  now  ready  to  commence  another  tier  on  top. 


WINTEEING. 


364 


WINTERmG. 


The  next  hive  that  is  brought  in  is  piled  on 
top  of  two  others,  in  such  a  way  that  the 
bottom  covers  the  space  between  two  hives 
below,  and  so  on  we  pile  the  rows  of  the 
hives.  The  next  tier  is  followed  up  in  the 
same  manner,  until  we  have  three  or  more 
tiers  high,  each  hive  placed  over  the  inter- 
vening space  between  the  two  below.  When 
I  visited  H.  R.  Boardman  in  1889  I  took  a 
photograph  of  his  winter  repository,  an  en- 
graving of  which  I  submit  on  page  863. 

It  w  ill  be  noticed  that  his  hives  are  piled 
up  in  the  manner  I  have  already  described ; 
namely,  each  hive  covering  the  si  ace  be- 
tween two  below.   The  reason  for  this  man- 


H.  11.  BOAliDMA.N^'S~HrVE-CATlT,  AND  METHOD  OF  CARRYING  BEES  INTO  THE  CELLAR. 


uniii  tne  same  is  suspenaea.  ne  tnen  pusn- 
es  it  to  the  door  of  his  winter  repository, 
when  he  afterward  stations  it  where  he 
wants  it.  This  same  device  can  be  attached 
to  hives  with  hand-holes  when  necessary. 

Erom  this  digression  we  wJl  return  to  the 
bees  in  the  cellar. 

They  have  been  piled  up  as  illustrated 
and  described,  and  provided  with  ample 
ventilation  from  the  bottom.  The  bottom- 
boards,  as  they  are  brought  in,  are  piled  up 
in  any  place  convenient  in  the  cellar,  and 
are  left  to  remain  until  it  is  again  necessa- 
ry to  remove  them  in  the  spring.  A  good 
many,  however,  leave  their  bottom-boards 


ner  of  piling  is,  convenience  in  the  first  j 
place  ;  and  in  the  second  place,  to  give  am-  j 
pie  bottom  ventilation.  You  will  now  see  an  j 
additional  reason  fur  leaving  the  cover  on.  If  | 
we  removed  the  cover  we  could  not  pi.e  the 
hives  one  upon  the  other  so  well. 

Before  I  proceed  further  I  wish  to  de- 
scribe another  method  of  carrying  bees  into 
repositories,  where  one  person  alone  does 
the  moving.  The  engraving  above  will  fully 
explain  itself. 

In  the  engraving  it  is  plain  that  it  is  sim- 
ply an  iron  axle  and  a  couple  of  cart-wheels. 
These  are  attached  to  a  couple  of  2  x  4 
scantling,  as  shown  above.  The  operator 
lifts  the  handles  up,  pushes  them  gently 
under  the  cleats  of  the  hive,  and  bears  down 


out  on  their  summer  stands  the  year  round. 
The  hives  are  carried  in  without  the  bot- 
tom-board, and  piled  up  as  described.  But 
some  have  complained  that  the  bees  fly  out 
and  bother.  While  we  have  succeeded  per- 
fectly in  carrying  them  in  without  bottom- 
boards,  yet  we  very  much  prefer  to  carry 
the  bottom-boards  in  with  the  hives ;  first, 
because  the  bees  are  less  liable  to  fly  out  and 
annoy  ;  and,  second,  because  the  bottom- 
boards  are  protected  from  the  action  of  the 
weather. 

SHALL  WE  PUT  THE    HIVES  BACK  ON  THE 
OLD  STAND  IN  SPRING? 

There  is  this  advantage  in  leaving  the 
bottom-board  out :  Mr.  H.  R.  Boardman  let- 
ters each  row  in  his  apiary,  and  numbers 


WIXTEllIXG. 


365 


WIXTEEIXG. 


each  hive,  each  body  and  "bottom-board 
bearing  the  nnmber  and  the  letter  of  its  i  e- 
spective  position.  In  the  spring,  in  carrying 
bees  out  he  is  able  to  deposit  his  hive  right 
where  it  was  the  preceding  fall.  "  C6,""  we 
will  say,  is  to  go  directly  to  the  C  row.  and 
on  arrival  it  is  replaced  on  bottom  Xo.  6. 
Mr.  Boardman  does  not  attach  very  much 
importance  to  bees  being  put  back  upon 
their  old  stands  :  though  if  he  can  do  it  just 
as  conveniently,  he  prefers  doing  so.  be- 
cause there  will  be  some  old  bees  that  will 
go  back  to  where  they  were  the  previous 
faU. 

If  one  should  desire  to  carry  out  Mr. 
Boardman's  plan  of  putting  them  upon  the 
old  location,  and  he  should  still  like  to  car- 
ry his  hives  in  with  the  bottom-boards,  he 
can  do  so  ;  but  when  he  returns  for  another 
colony  he  is  to  carry  the  l  otto-n  back  and 
deposit  it  in  the  same  place  whence  lie  had 
just  removed  it  a  tew  minutes  before.  In 
the  spring,  before  he  goes  in  to  get  a  colony, 
he  is  to  take  along  with  him  a  bottom,  de- 
posit the  colony  upon  it.  and  carry  it  to  the 
spot  where  the  bottom-board  had  just  been 
removed,  and  no  time  will  be  lost.  On  the 
whole.  I  should  prefer  to  leave  the  bottom- 
boards  in  the  cellar,  piled  up  hy  ihemselves, 
and  put  the  bees  where  it  is  most  conven- 
ient. As  most  of  the  bees  lose  their  old 
points  of  the  compass,  it  does  not  make 
much  difference  where  they  are  put  the  fol- 
lowing spring.  If  they  do  not  go  back  into 
their  old  hive  it  wiU  not  matter  very  much. 

BOTTOM   TENTILATIOX.  AXD   HOW   TO  SE- 
CURE IT. 

One  of  the  prime  causes  of  unsuccessful 
wintering  in  repositoiies  is  in  leaving  on 
the  bottom-boards  as  they  are  in  summer. 
The  bees  have  only  just  what  ventilation 
they  can  get  through  the  entrance.  |  inch 
wide.  The  majority  if  not  all  of  those  who 
winter  successfully  in  the  ce;lar  leave  the 
bottom-boards  off  entu-e  y. 

OTHER  METHODS  OF  C^IVIXG  B0TT03I  VEX- 
TILATIOX. 

I've  akeady  given  our  general  plan  of  win- 
tering bees  in  the  cellar.  Perhaps  it  would 
now  be  well  to  give  yotr  some  of  the  meth- 
ods employed  successfully  by  others.  Capt. 
J.  E.  Iletherington.  of  Cherry  Valley.  X.  Y.. 
the  most  extensive  bee-keeper  in  the  world, 
owning  some  BiXK)  colonies.  I  believe  has  a 
square  hole  cut  in  the  bottom-board  of  his 
hive.  Dr.  C.  C.  iMiUer  uses  a  reversible  bot- 
tom-board, as  sho^vn  in  the  cut. 

The  di'awiug  above  will  make  the  whole 
matter  plain.    By  rising  one  side  of  it  he 


has  simply  a  f  space  under  the  brood-fi^ame 
or  summer  use.    Eor  winter  use  the  bot- 
tom-board is  reversed,  and  this  gives  him 

DR.  MLLLER'S  reversible  BOTTOM-BOARD. 

two  inches,  or  thereabouts,  under  the  brood- 
frames,  with  entrance  two  inches  deep,  and 
the  fidl  width  of  the  hive.  The  doctor  likes 
this  bottom-board,  and  has  had  very  good 
success  with  it.   See  Extraxces. 

dJLLAHS  VEBSrS  SPECIAL  EEPOS- 
ITORIJES. 
Cellars  are  more  generally  used  than  up- 
groimd  buildings.  One  reason  i-.  that  al- 
most everybody  has  a  cellar  under  his  house. 
If  the  same  can  be  darkened,  and  during 
warm  days  wiU  not  go  much  above  50  de- 
grees, nor  cool  off  much  if  any  below  40, 


YIG.  1. — OUTSIDE  \mW  OF  D00LITTLE"S 
BEE-CELEAR. 


is  perfectly  dry.  and  can  be  partitioned  off 
fir  m  where  vegetables  are  kept,  we  have  a 
fair  wintering-place. But  a  good  many 
may  have  only  a  damp  cellar :  or  if  they 
do  not  have  that,  it  is  so  small  that  it  can 


VVINTERIN^G. 


366 


WINTERING. 


hardly  be  spared  for  the  bees.  Special  up- 
ground  or  partially  up-ground  cellars  are 
then  usually  constructed.  The  accompany- 
ing engravings  show  the  repository  that  Mr. 
Doolittle  has  used  for  a  number  of  years  with 
g(  od  success.  It  occupies  a  partial  side  hill. 
A  fence  is  put  in  the  rear  so  that  snow  will 
bank  over  the  roof.  Fig.  2  shows  exactly 
the  inside  of  the  structure.  It  will  be  no- 
ticed that  Mr.  Doolittle  has  three  doors. 
Two,  I  think,  are  sufficient.  The  ventila- 
tion at  6  gives  what  little  ventilation  is 
needed. 254  The  following  is  a  description, 
taken  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Doolittle : 

Fig".  1  represents  the  outside  appearance  of  the  cel- 
lar, as  viewed  from  the  southeast.  The  ground  should 
rise  gradually  from  tlie  foreground  up  to  tlie  fence, 
the  back  end  of  the  roof  at  the  peak  being  lower  than 
or  as  low  as  the  ground  opposite  to  it,  on  each  side. 
The  outer  roof  is  hemlock  boards  battened.  In  Mg.  3, 
1  represents  the  window  in  the  gable  end  of  the  ante- 
room, so  1  can  have  a  little  light  after  I  go  in  and 
shut  the  first  door.  In  this  ante-room  (see  Figs.  3  and 
3)  I  light  my  candle,  have  the  sawdust  to  carry  in  to 
spread  on  the  floor,  etc.  In  Fig.  3,  4  is  the  upper 
drain,  or  water-course,  to  carry  off  all  surplus  water 
coming  from  the  roof  and  elsewhere,  it  being  made 
in  a  large  scoop  form  by  taking  dirt  out  to  go  between 
the  two  roofs,  as  illustrated  in  Fig.  1.  The  fence  is 
shown  in  the  rear.   Tiiis  causes  tlie  snow  to  drift  on 


the  roof.  In  Fig.  3,  ( 
back  end  of  the  cellar. 


shows  the  ventilator  at  the 


Fig.  2  represents  the  front 
view,  also  the  gTOund-plan 
of  the  ante-room  and  doors. 
I  is  the  casing  that  the  outer 
door  hangs  on,  and  against 
which  it  shuts;  2  is  the  out- 
er door  which  swiifg's  in  and 
around  against  the  south 
side  of  the  ante-i'oom;  3  is 
the  first  door  toward  enter- 
ing the  cellar;  and  in  open- 
ing, it  swings  out  and  round, 
the  north  side  of  the  ante- 
room, finding  the  position 
when  open  as  represented; 
4  is  the  next  door,  two  feet 
further  in,  which  in  opening 
also  swings  around  against 
GROUND-PLAN  OF  BEE-CELLAR,  ^q.  3,  as  showu ;  5  Isthc  door 
entering  the  cellar;  and  in  opening,  it  swings  into 
the  cellar  around  against  the  south  wall,  unless  the 
cellar  is  full  of  bees,  in  which  case  a  stop  is  so  placed 
that  it  will  not  hit  the  hives. 

In  entering  the  cellar  I  first  go  into  the  ante-room 
and  shut  the  door,  as  I  have  explained;  then  I  open 
Nos.  3  and  4,  and  step  into  the  last  dead-alJ'  space, 
closing  No.  4  after  me,  but  allowing  No.  3  to  remain 
open.  I  now  open  No.  5  and  quickly  step  into  the  cel- 
lar, closing  5  after  me.  Tlius  it  will  be  seen  thatvery 
little  change  of  air  can  take  place  by  my  entering, 
especially  when  I  say  that  all  is  covered  overhead 
and  on  all  sides  with  dirt,  except  the  ante-room. 

Fig.  3  represents  the  inside  of  the  cellar.  1  repre- 
sents tlie  floor,  or  cellar-bottom,  i  This  is  always  quite 
dry,  as  there  is  a  drain  under  the  wall,  and  below  the 
bottom  all  around,  being  8  inches  deep  at  the  south- 


west corner,  and  20  inches  deep  at  the  northeast  cor- 
ner, or  outlet.  3  represents  the  south  wall.  The 
hives  are  put  up  along  both  walls  and  west  end,  put- 
ting one  on  top  of  the  other  ones  four  deep,  as  seen 
at  8;  also  by  H,  H,  etc.,  in  "Fig.  2. 

In  Fig.  3, 3  is  the  inner  roof,  which  is  made  by  using 
2x6  stuff  for  rafters  (which  are  a  foot  apart),  with  1- 
inch  boards*  nailed  on  them  at  the  top.  4  is  the  3  ft. 
of  dry  earth  between  the  two  roofs,  5  representing 
the  outside  roof.  6  is  the  ventilator,  showing  the  two 
elbows,  which  effectually  exclude  all  light.  The  hole 
in  it  is  6  X  8  inches  square.  7  is  tlie  sub-earth  venti- 
lator, which  is  4  feet  deep,  as  far  as  may  be,  and  100 
feet  long;  but,  as  I  have  said  before,  this  and  the  up- 
per one  are  closed  of  late,  winters,  while  the  bees  are 
in  the  cellar.  As  I  have  often  expressed,  I  believe 
this  is  the  best  underground  arrangement  possible 


riG.  3— BEE-CELLAR  WITH  tsOOe  TORN  AWAY. 

for  wintering  bees,  and  I  have  tried  to  make  it  all 
plain,  so  any  person  can  build  one  who  desires.  The 
cost  to  me  was  not  far  from  $80.00;  but,  of  course,, 
prices  of  lumber,  stone,  and  labor,  vary  in  different 
localities.  G.  M.  Doolittle. 

Borodino,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  T,  1888. 

Mr.  H.  R.  Boardman  uses  a  repository 
like  that  shown  in  the  engraving  with  the 
hive-cart.    The  diagram  below  will  give  the 


I  w  w  


www 

J, 


GROUND-rLAN. 


*  In  the  summer  of  1890  these  boards  had  become- 
rotted  so  much  that  the  roof  caved  in.  To  prevent 
a  recurrence  of  this,  Mr.  Doolittl'fe  uses  stone  flag- 
ging instead  of  the  boards.  If  the  latter  were  cov- 
ered with  tarred  paper  above  end  below,  it  might 
answer  equally  well,  and,  at  the  same  time,  be 
cheaper.— Ed. 


WINTERING. 


367 


WINTERING. 


plan  of  the  building.  It  is  divided  off  into  ; 
three  compartments.  A  is  an  entrj-way;  | 
B  B  are  places  where  the  bees  are  kept.  It 
is  double-walled.  50  x  12  feet,  one  story,  with 
walls  1-1  inches  thick,  packed.  C  is  a  door- 
way. To  enter,  we  pass  through  C,  close 
the  door,  and  then  enter  the  special  com- 
partments at  D  D.  The  entry  way  is  10  x  10 
square,  leaving  B  B  each  to  be  about  24  x  10, 
each  being  calculated  to  hold  from  75  to  100 
colonies.  The  diagram  just  shown  gives 
an  inside  view  of  one  of  the  compartments. 
W.  W,  W,  etc..  are  windows  hinged  at  the 
middle  in  such  a  way  that,  by  reversing  to  a 
horizontal  plane,  bees  that  are  collected  on 
the  inside  can  easily  pass  out.  An  inside 
close  wooden  blind  serves  the  purpose  of 
darkening,  as  well  as  keeping  out  the  ex- 
treme cold.  But  an  objection  to  an  up-  i 
ground  repository  is  that  it  is  too  subject  to 
extremes  of  temperature.  i 

THE  BINGHAM  BEE-CELLAR.  | 

The  accompanying  illustration,  together 
with  a  sectional  view,  shows  almost  the  en- 
tire detail  of  this  cellar.  It  is  cheaply  con- 
stracted,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  best  wintering- 
repository  of  any  that  I  have  so  far  shown.  \ 
The  cellar  bottom  in  this  case  is  12  ft.  square 


of  the  ground,  and  discharges  its  water  into 
conductors  leading  to  a  lower  ground.  The 
floor  above  the  ceUar  is  2  in<3hes  thick,  com- 
posed of  dry  one-inch  boards.  Access  to  the 
cistern,  for  that  is  really  what  it  is.  is  ob- 


tained by  means  of  a  trapdoor  of  the  same 
thickness  as  the  floor,  with  an  easy  stairway 
to  the  cellar  bottom.  A  thick  layer  of  saw- 
dust covers  the  whole  floor  between  the  up- 
per and  lower  compartments,  making  the 
cellar  proper  ohsolutely  frost-proof . 

Mr.  Bingham  says  the  total  cost  of  his  re- 
pository, made  as  described  above,  was  be- 
tween SoO  and  S55.  and  that  its  capacity  is 
from  175  to  200  colonies.  He  has  wintered 
90  colonies  in  it  with  extraordinary  success, 


THE  BIXGHAM  BEE-CELLAR. 

{though  it  can  be  of  any  size),  and  the  sides  the  death-rate  being  only  about  2  lbs.  of  dead 
•slope  a  little  so  as  to  make  the  top  16  feet  bees  per  month  for  the  90  colonies, 
square.  The  sills  upon  which  the  super-  A  ventilator-tube  incorrectly  shown  in  the 
■structure  rests  are  2  x  12  inches,  and  18  feet  sectional  view)  is  a  three-inch  conductor- 
long,  and  lie  "flat  in  the  cement  of  which  the  pipe,  reaching  within  two  feet  of  the  bottom 
sides  and  bottom  of  the  cellar  are  composed,  of  the  cellar,  and  running  up  thi'ough  the 
The  roof,  an  ordinary  cheap  gable,  made  of  floor,  and  on  through  the  peak  of  the  roof, 
•dry  one-inch  boards,  extends  below  the  level  This  affords  the  only  ventilation  that  the 


WINTERING. 


368 


WINTERING. 


bees  have.  Mr.  Bingham  says  the  vakie  of 
the  modifying  or  upper  room  will  be  better 
understood  when  it  is  known  that  it  is  really 
a  part  of  the  cellar,  and  not  merely  a  part  uf 
the  roof. 

But  the  chief  feature  of  this  cel'ar  lies  in  '\ 
the  fact  that  it  is  ivhoVy  under  ground.    The  ! 
average  bee-cellars,  es]  ec  ally  if  they  are  ! 
under  a  house,  are  two  feet  out  of  the  ground, ! 
or  just  enough  to  admit  of  ordinary  cellar- ' 
windows.   This  portion  of  the  wall  not  pro- 1 
tected  by  earth,  and  coming  in  direct  con-  ■ 
tact  with  the  air  outside,  has  a  tendency  to  : 
modify  the  temperature  inside,  so  that  dur- ' 
ing  very  cold  w^eather  the  temperature  will 
drop  below  the  desired  point,  and  in  very 
moderate  weather  w^ill  run  above  the  high 
point.   Mr.  Bingham  says  that  his  bee  eel- ; 
lar,  all  under  gr  ;und.  and  protected  as  it  is 
with  a  sawdust  floor  and  modifying  room 
above,  never  varies  more  than  4  degrees  dur- 
ing the  entire  winter,  being  below  50  all  the 
time,  and  at  no  time  as  1  )w  as  4.5.   Tliis  is  : 
important  in  a  bee-cellar,  especially  in  cli- ' 
mates  subject  to  extremes. 

Most  clay  soils,  if  the  sides  w^re  made 
sloping  as  shown  in  the  diagram,  would  not 
require  brick  w^alls,  so  the  expense  of  the 
brick  could  be  dispensed  with,  and  only  ce- ! 
ment  used  to  keep  out  tlie  water  and  prevent 
the  earth  from  crumbling. 

WHEN  TO  TAKE  BEES  rR03I  THE  CELLAR. 

If  they  do  not  get  too  restless,  I  would  al- 
low them  to  remain  until  the  soft-maples,  or 
willow  and  alder,  begin  to  furnish  pollen. 
Put  them  out  very  early,  in  the  morning  of 
a  warm  pleasant  day,  if  you  can  tell  w^hat 
morning  will  develop  into  a  pleasant  day. 
Set  each  hive  out  so  quietly  that  none  of  the 
rest  wall  be  disturbed,  if  you  can. 258-631 

After  they  are  all  out,  and  nicely  fixed  as 
they  were  the  fall  before,  keep  a  close  watch  i 
that  the  weak  ones  do  not  swarm  out,  as 
they  are  quite  prone  to  do  after  their  long 
confinement.259  635 

DEAD  BEES  UsT  THE  CELLAR. 

Do  not  be  alarmed  if  dead  bees  get  on  the 
cellar  bottom.  They  may  accumulate  to  the 
depth  of  half  an  inch,  or  po  sibly  more,  if 
you  leave  them.  I  would  addse  sweeping 
them  up  two  or  three  times  during  the  win- 
ter.'-'^o  039  Those  bees  that  come  out  are  usu- 
ally superannuated.  They  have  served  out 
the  1  ng^h  of  tht  ir  days ;  and  to  rid  the  col- 
ony of  their  presence,  they  fly  out  on  the 
floor  and  die.  If  you  st  e  b  es  on  the  floor 
that  ar^.  swoll-^n  or  distend  d,  it  indicates 
dys'  nt'  ry,  or  that  something  is  w^'ong.  Up- 
on the  other  hand,  if  they  are  dry.  all  is  well. 


WHAT  TEMPERATURE  TO  KEEP  CELLARS. 

While  upground  repositories  are  more 
convenient  for  carrying  bees  in  and  out  (no 
cellar  stairs),  they  have  the  one  disadvan- 
tage of  being  subject  to  considerable  range 
of  temperature,  those  only  partially  under 
ground  being  perhaps  excepted ;  and  while 
those  who  use  them  winter  successfully,  yet 
it  is  more  or  less  annoying  to  be  obliged, 
during  warm  weather,  to  be  continually 
opening  and  shutting  doors  to  regulate  the 
temperature.  When  I  visited  Mr.  Board- 
man  in  February,  1889,  he  had  to  open  the 
doors  to  lower  the  temperature  to  quiet  the 
bees.  A  good  cellar,  on  the  other  hand, 
would  be  less  affected  by  outside  tempera- 
ture. The  cellar  that  we  i  sed  during  the 
winter  of  1889-18i>0  was  sh>ided  on  three 
sides  by  a  porch  closeiy  latticed  under  the 
floor.  The  temperature  at  no  time  went 
above  50,  and  rarely  below  40  ;  45  seems  to 
be  the  average  temperature,  and  most  bee- 
keepeis  would  have  this  temperature  if  they 
could,  and  maintain  it.  Some  go  so  far  as 
to  argue  that  the  temperature  should  not 
vary  one  degree.  Our  own  experience,  as 
also  that  of  Mr.  H.  E.  Boardman,  seems  to 
prove  that  an  absolutely  imiform  tempera- 
ture is  not  essential,  but  that  extremes  are 
detrimental.  I  would  not  have  the  tempera- 
ture go  above  50  or  55,  if  I  could  help  it,  nor 
below  40.  But  it  is  important  not  to  have  it  go 
above  55. 

ARTIFICIAL  HEAT   IN  CELLARS. 

A  good  many  formerly  used  stoves  in  the 
cellar.  G.  M.  Doolittle  and  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller 
both  used  them  pretty  thoroughly.  Mr. 
Doolixtle  has  abandoned  tht  ir  use  altogether. 
Dr.  Miller  still  uses  one,'543  and  I  am  not  so 
sure  but  they  are  a  real  benefit  at  times. 
When  the  temperature  remains  several  de- 
grees below  zero,  as  is  the  case  with  Dr. 
Miller,  and  that  continuously  for  a  w^eek  or 
more,  it  is  advisable  then  to  raise  the  tem- 
perature, if  it  is  below  38,  by  the  use  of  ar- 
tificial heat.  As  it  will  be  inconvenient  for 
many  to  make  use  of  a  common  stove  in 
their  cellar,  an  ordinary  coal-oil  stove  or  a 
couple  of  good  lamps  will  answer  very  well 
in  lieu  of  it.  The  lamps  or  stoves,  h  owever, 
should  be  shaded  by  something  on  all  four 
sides,  so  as  to  shut  off  the  light.  Instead  of 
using  lamps,  some  use  ordinary  square  cans 
filled  with  hot  water.  If  these  are  left  in 
the  middle  of  the  cellar  over  night,  they  will 
make  quite  a  difference  in  the  temperature. 
On  the  Avhole  I  would  dispense  with  artifi- 
cial heat  if  possible  ;  and  I  am  not  so  sure 
that  it  is  necessary,  even  when  the  tempera- 


WINTERING. 


369 


WINTERING. 


ture  does  go  down  as  low  as  35.  Stoves  in 
the  cellar  have  proljably  done  more  harm 
than  good.261  But  from  what  I  am  able  to 
gather  now  from  a  large  correspondence, 
and  our  own  experience,  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  it  is  beneficial,  but  only  when 
the  temperature  has  been  below  38  for  sev- 
eral days. 

SUB-EARTH  VENTILATORS. 

The  sub-ventilator  should  be  from  four  to 
six  inches  in  diameter,  made  of  tile,  about 
100  feet  long,  and  from  four  to  six  feet  below 
the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  outer  end  is 
brought  to  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and 
the  inside  end  opens  near  the  bottom  of  the 
cellar.  The  cold  air  entering  the  ventilator 
is  warmed  while  in  its  passage  under  the 
ground  ;  and  when  it  enters  the  cellar  it  not 
only  supplies  the  latter  with  pure  air,  but  at 
the  same  time  raises  its  temperature  several 
degrees. 

Almost  all  bee-keepers,  though,  who  once 
used  sub-earth  ventilators  have  abandoned 
their  use.  It  is  generally  cons  dered  now 
that  they  are  a  useles  s  expense ;  and  while 
they  may  be  of  advantage  at  times,  they  are 
more  apt  to  be  detrimental.  Bees  do  not  re- 
quire so  mMch  cellnr  ventilation  as  was  for- 
merly supposed.  If  the  tem])erature  is  a 
little  high,  and  bees  are  restless,  open  the 
windows  at  night  and  close  in  the  morning. 
The  larger  the  number  of  <!Olonies  in  the 
cellar,  the  more  ventilation  will  be  required. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that  too  much 
cellar  ventilation  is  detrimental. 

DOES  IT  DISTURB  BEES  TO  ENTER  THE  RE- 
POSITORY WITH  A  LIGHTED   LA3IP  ? 

This  question  is  often  asked.  At  times  it 
evidently  does  create  some  disturb  nice ; 
but  usually,  if  you  enter  the  room  quietly, 
being  careful  about  making  unnecessary 
jarring,  and  avoiding  loud  talking,  and  re- 
maining for  only  a  short  time,  little  if  any 
harm  will  result.  I  would  not  enter  the  cel- 
lar or  repository  unless  necessary. eai  If  the 
temperature  goes  down  oiit<ide  to  or  about 
zero  I  would  ascertain  the  temperature  in 
the  repository.  If  below  35  I  would  raise 
the  temperature  by  ariificial  heat.  If  very 
warm  outside,  and  the  temperature  is  above 
50  in  the  cellar,  and  the  bees  seem  to  be  rest- 
less, ventilate  at  night,  when  it  is  cooler. 

HOW  TO   EXAMINE  COLONIES   IX  THE  CEL- 
LAR, AVIlHcjUr  B0TT03I-B()AIID<,  WITH- 
OUT OPENING  A  HIVE. 

With  a  small  hand-glr.ss  and  a  lamp,  en- 
ter the  ce.l  ir  quietly.  Hold  the  glass  be- 
neath, and  a  little  in  front  of  one  of  the 
hives  which  are  to  be  examined,    ^y\th  the 


other  hand,  hold  the  lamp  so  that  the  light 
strikes  the  bottom  of  the  hive.  Now  tilt  the 
glass  at  such  an  angle  that  tlie  bottom  of 
the  hive  can  bs  seen  in  the  glass.  The  con- 
dition of  the  bees  can  be  very  easily  learn- 
ed. If  they  are  in  a  nicely  compacted  clus- 
ter you  may  rest  assured  that  they  are  as 
they  should  be.  As  a  general  thing  you  will 
find  them  in  plain  sight  on  the  central 
frames,  just  over  the  openings.  Sometimes 
the  ball  will  be  hanging  a  little  below. 
With  a  hand-lamp  and  a  glass  I  find  I  can 
generally  see  nearly  all  parts  of  the  hive  in- 
side. A  dark  lantern  is  much  better  than  a 
hand  lamp  ;  for  with  this  you  can  shoot  the 
light  jiist  where  you  want  it.  As  the  light 
is  concentrated  in  one  place  only,  it  is  less 
liable  to  disturb  the  bees  elsewhere. 

WHAT  KIND  OF  STORES  ARE  PREFERRED? 

I  prefer  stores  made  of  granulated-sugar 
syrup  sealed;  but  good  combs  of  sealed 
ichite  honey  are  nearly  as  good.  As  a  gen- 
eral thing,  bees  will  winter  on  dark  honey, 
if  well  ripened  and  sealed.  I  certainly 
should  not  go  to  the  expense  of  extracting 
it  and  then  feeding  syrup.  Dark  honey  is  a 
little  more  apt  to  give  dysentery,  but  usual- 
ly it  does  not. 

WHEN  TO  USE  THE  OUTDOOR  AND  WHEN 
TO  USE   I  HE  IND  OH  METHOD 
OF  WINiERING. 

The  answer  will  depend  upon  the  weather 
conditions.  If  one  has  in  his  locality  cold 
weather  that  lasts  nearly  all  winter,  with 
only  now  and  then  a  day  of  temperature 
above  the  freezing-point,  I  would  recom- 
mend by  all  means  indoor  wintering  :  or  if 
the  weather  conditions  are  such  that  there 
is  a  month  of  cold  weather  ranging  from  10 
degre^s  above  to  10  below^  zero,  then  a  warm- 
er spell  a  little  above  the  thawing-point,  fol- 
lowed by  three  or  four  days  of  weather  at 
that  temperatm-e,  followed  again  by  freez- 
ing weather,  such  weather  continuing  clear 
up  till  actual  springtime,  then  I  would  ad- 
vise the  indoor  method.  But  if.  on  the  other 
hand,  the  winters  are  somewhat  open,  there 
bf ing  perhaps  a  month  of  zero  weather,  fol- 
lowed by  a  month  of  warm  open  weather, 
continuing  thus  through  the  winter,  the 
bees  should  be  wintered  outdoors  in  double- 
walled  hives.  We  may  have  in  our  locality 
a  month  of  real  cold  weather,  but  two  weeks 
is  about  as  long  as  it  lasts  at  a  time,  when 
we  will  have  a  general  breaking-up,  a  thaw, 
and  perhaps  rains.  This  will  last  for  three 
or  four  weeks,  when  we  will  have  another 
cold  spell,  lasting  possibly  a  month.  This 
kind  of  weather  will  continue  in  alternation 


wmTEKmo. 


37( 


0 


wmTERmG. 


till  along  in  April.  In  such  a  climate  the 
beginner  will  do  far  better  with  the  outdoor 
method. 

SPRING  DWrnDLING. 

I  do  not  know  whether  to  style  this  a  dis- 
ease, or  a  conditio]!  of  things  that  comes 
about  naturally  duriiig  cold  and  backward 
springs.  I  should  incline  to  the  latter,  were 
not  its  ravages  so  uncertain;  that  is,  it 
seems  to  affect  a  part  of  an  apiary  and  not 
another  part;  and,  at  times,  it  will  go  all 
through  one  apiary,  while  another,  a  few 
miles  away,  will  be  entirely  fi-ee  from  it.  It 
is  very  certain  that  it  afflicts  weak  colonies, 
as  a  general  thing,  more  than  strong  ones, 
but  there  are  exceptions  even  to  this.  It  is 
much  worse  after  a  long,  hard  winter,  and 
it  disappears  always  at  the  approach  of  set- 
tled warm  weather  and  new  honey.  Al- 
though it  does  not  generally  seem  to  affect 
stocks  before  March,  I  have  seen  them  af- 
fected by  it  from  Febiuai  y  till  June.  I  have 
even  known  colonies  to  be  listless  and  life- 
less from  its  elfects  until  others  in  the 
apiary  were  sending  out  rousing  swarms. 
Strong  colonies  that  are  raising  brood  vig- 
orously seldom  seem  affected  by  it;  but  I 
suspect  they  are  affected  more  or  less  by  it, 
or  by  the  condition  of  things,  but  have  suf- 
ficient vigor  and  strength — animal  heat,  if 
you  please— to  pull  through  until  there  is 
plenty  of  warm  weather,  new  pollen,  and 
new  honey. 

CURE  FOR   SPRmG  DWmDLIKG. 

As  I  have  said  before,  I  know  of  no  posi- 
tive cure  except  warm  weather,  and  this 
always  does  away  with  it  entirely ;  were  this 
not  the  case,  I  should  hardly  be  willing  to 
class  this  great  drawback  to  successful  bee 
culture  under  the  head  of  wintering.  The 
question  now  arises.  Can  we  not,  by  the  use 
of  artificial  heat,  bring  about  such  a  state 
of  affairs  as  is  produced  by  warm  weather  V 
In  other  words,  can  we  not,  by  going  to  the 
necessary  expense  and  trouble,  save  our 
bees  and  queens,  even  though  seasonable 
weather  does  not  come  ?  Many  experiments 
have  been  made  in  the  matter,  and  some  of 
them,  apparently,  have  succeeded;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  many  of  them  have  signally 
failed.  I  have  started  healthy  brood-rearing 
in  every  month  in  the  year,  by  means  of  ar- 
tificial heat;  but  to  take  a  whole  apiary  that 
is  running  down,  in  the  month  of  April,  and 
build  it  up,  prevent  the  colonies  from 
swarming  out,  and  the  queens  from  desert- 
ing and  dying,  is  something  I  have  never 
succeeded  in  doing. 


WHAT  TO  DO  WHEJf  YOTJR  BEES  GET 
SPRUNG  DWIKDLmG." 

Look  them  over  every  few  days,  if  neces- 
sary, and  close  up  the  di\dsion-boards,  tak- 
ing out  all  combs  they  can  not  cover.  We 
used  to  advocate  uniting  when  they  became 
so  weak ;  but  we  have  found  that  uniting 
several  weak  ones  does  little  if  any  good. 
Both  Dr.  Miller  and  G.  M.  Doolittle  agree, 
as  you  will  see  by  the  comment,-26^655.  n  you 
have  the  real  dwindling,  you  will  find  queen- 
cells  started  and  queens  missing,  at  almost 
every  round  you  take  among  the  hives. 
This  is  because  the  colonies  have  become 
disheartened  and  demoralized;  and  the  only 
thing  that  will  prevent  this  demoralization 
is  to  contract  them  until  there  are  num- 
bers enough  to  repel  the  frost. 

It  may  be  asked,  What  becomes  of  the  bees? 
I  believe  they  generally  fiy  out  of  the  hives, 
and  never  get  back  again.  Daring  cool  sim- 
shiny  days  they  may  be  seen  on  the  fences 
and  sidewalks,  on  the  grass  and  like  places, 
often  laden  mth  pollen,  showing  clearly 
that  they  are  trying  to  make  a  live  of  it,  and 
doing  the  best  they  can. 263  i  have  sometimes 
thought  they  became  so  chilled  in  their  mea- 
ger clusters  at  home,  that  they  had  not  suf- 
ficient vigor  to  withstand  the  chilly  spring 
winds  as  a  bee  from  a  powerful  and  prosper- 
ous colony  would.  As  the  Italians  are  more 
eager  for  stores  than  the  common  bees,  it 
may  be  that  this  is  one  reason  why  they  are 
often  said  to  be  more  liable  to  this  dwindling 
than  the  common  bees. 

Tliose  who  rear  queens  and  bees  largely 
late  in  the  season  are  apt  to  suffer  more 
from  spring  dwindling  than  those  who  let 
their  bees  alone  after  the  honey  harvest,  pro- 
viding they  were  good  and  strong  along  in 
August  and  September.  Many  contend 
that  we  must  go  into  winter  quarters  with 
young  bees.-  If  it  is  the  old  bees  that  die  off 
so  rapidly  on  account  of  the  loss  of  vitality, 
then  the  advice  (that  we  should  hav^e  young 
bees)  is  good.  We  hav^e  wintered  bet^s  well 
with  only  old  bees,  and  that  200  colonies,  one 
winter,  without  the  loss  of  a  sinsle  one. 
But  the  winter  was  favorable,  and  so  per- 
haps that  may  not  influence  the  argument 
one  way  or  the  other.  However,  I  think  it 
is  safer  to  have  as  many  young  bees  to  go 
into  winter  quarters  as  possible.  What  I 
mean  by youDg  "  bees  is  those  that  have 
not  borne  the  toil  of  the  season,  or  at  least 
only  the  latter  eiid  of  it. 

WHAT    TO    DO   WITH    COPIES  FROM  HIVES 
WHERE  THE  BEES  HAVE  DIED. 

Put  them  safely  out  of  the  way  of  bees, 
either  in  tight  hives  or  in  a  bee-proof  room  ; 


872 


WINTERING. 


and  if  you  have  not  bees  enough  to  cover 
them  by  the  middle  of  June,  or  at  such  a 
time  as  you  shall  find  moth  worms  at  work 
among  them,  be  sure  that  all  the  combs  are 
spread  at  least  two  inches  apart,  as  recom- 
mended in  Bee-moth.  Now,  whatever  oth- 
er precautions  you  take,  you  must  look  after 
these  empty  combs  occasionally.  They  are 
very  valuable,  and  must  not'  be  allowed  to 
be  destroyed.  A  very  good  way  to  keep 
them  is  to  put  them  in  empty  Dovetailed 
hives,  piled  one  over  the  other.  This  keeps 
them  perfectly  protected,  and  yet  you  can 
quickly  look  them  all  over  as  often  as  once 
a  week  at  least,  until  they  are  used.  But, 
suppose  they  do  get  moldy,  or  full  of  worms, 
what  then  ? 

WHAT  TO  DO  WITH  COPIES  THAT  ARE 
SOILED,  MOLDY,  AND  FILLED 
WITH  DEAD  BEES. 

AYhen  I  wrote  the  article  on  Dysej^tery 
I  forgot  to  mention  what  should  be  done 
with  the  combs  after  the  bees  had  died. 
Many  times  you  will  find  the  cells  full  of 
dead  bees;  and  anyone  who  has  tried  it  will 
know  what  an  endless  task  it  is  to  try  to 
pick  them  out.  Well,  do  not  try;  but  just 
take  these  combs  and  set  them  away  until 
you  want  empty  combs  to  build  up  stocks, 
and  then  hang  them,  one  at  a  time,  in  the 
center  of  a  populous  colony.  After  a  few 
hours,  just  take  a  peep  at  your  comb,  and 
see  how  the  bees  do  it.  If  it  is  at  a  season 
when  honey  is  coming  in,  it  will  have  un- 
dergone such  a  transformation  that  you  can 
scarcely  believe  your  eyes  when  you  come 
to  take  a  look  at  it.  I  have  put  in  combs 
that  were  full  of  dead  bees,  filthy  from  the 
elfects  of  dysentery,  and  moldy  besides,  and 
found  them  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same 
day,  clean,  bright,  and  sweet,  holes  patched 
up,  and  partly  filled  with  eggs,  honey,  and 
pollen.  In  one  case  I  hunted  the  hive  all 
over  for  my  bad  comb,  and  then  came  pret- 
ty near  declaring  somebody  had  taken  it 
away;  there  was  no  comb  there  that  could 
be  identified  as  the  bad  one.  Do  not  ex- 
tract the  honey,  pick  out  the  bees,  or  fuss  to 
wash  them  off  with  water ;  just  let  the  bees 
try  their  hand  at  it,  and  see.  Do  not  give 
them  too  many  bad  combs  at  once,  or  they 
may  get  discouraged,  and  swarm  out.  Give 
them  one ;  after  a  few  hours,  another ;  and 
you  will  very  soon  have  them  all  right. 
How  do  they  do  it  so  quickly  ?  Well,  each 
bee  takes  a  cell;  and  when  it  has  its  cell 
finished,  they  are  all  done. 

WIN^TE  lilX^  IN  the  S  )UTnERN  STATES. 

Tlie  directions  so  far  given  apply  particu- 
larly to  localities  that  are  subject  to  zero 


i  weather  at  times,  that  have  more  or  less  of 
I  snow,  and,  during  the  greater  portion  of  the 
j  year,  a  large  amount  of  frost  in  the  ground, 
i  extending  down  perhaps  two  feet 
!    Where  bees  can  fly  almost  every  day  in 
the  year,  and  for  ten  months  in  the  year 
i  can  gather  a  little  honey  or  pollen,  outdoor 
wintering  in  single-walled  hives  is  recom- 
mended.  Double- walled  hives  would  do  no 
harm,  and  might,  during  the  coldest  of  the 
weather,  sa^  e  a  little  brood  ;  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful whethei  tlie  added  expense  for  the  extra 
walls  and  i  acking  will  compensate  for  the 
possible  slight  loss  of  brood  and  bees  during 
a  few  cold  days.  While  I  would  recommend 
!  single  hives  for  the  southern  portions  of  our 
j  con  itry,  and  for  some  parts  of  the  West,  I 
j  would  always  urge  that  the  same  be  located 
I  in  an  inclosure  of  trees— a  tight  high  board 
I  fence,  a  hedge  fence,  or  any  thing  in  the 
I  way  of  buildings  that  will  afford  a  wind- 
j  break  against  the  prevailing  winds.  The  es- 
tablishing of  windbreaks  is  one  of  the  most 
important  requisites  in  either  the  northern 
or  southern  portions  of  the  country. 

While  it  is  no  great  trick  to  winter  bees 
in  such  localities  as  are  found  in  Florida, 
South  Carolina,  Texas,  Louisiana,  Geo;gia, 
Alabama,  South  Carolina,  yet  one  must  be 
careful  to  see  that  his  bees  do  not  run  out 
of  stores,  as  it  seems  to  be  a  generally 
acknowledged  fact  that  bees  wintered  in 
the  South  consume  a  much  larger  percent- 
age of  stores,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
colony,  than  those  in  the  North.   Those  in 
cold  climates  are  compelled  to  contract  into 
i  a  very  small  ball  for  the  purpose  of  concen- 
:  trating  the  animal  heat ;  and  while  in  that 
\  conditio  n  they  go  into  a  sort  of  semi-dormant 
:  state,  during  which  tliey  consume  a  compar- 
j  atively  small  quaniity  of  food.  On  the  other 
hand,  bees  in  the  ^>outh,  especially  in  the 
warmest  portions,  will  have  access  to  all 
i  parts  of  the  hive,  will  be  rearing  more  or 
:  less  brood,  and,  as  a  consequence,  when 
'  natural  flora  does  not  secrete  nectar  they 
\  will  be  liable  to  run  short  of  stores,  and 
starve.   To  the  Southlander  let  me  urge 
that  the  greatest  danger  is  starvation,  and 
;  the  next  greatest  is  more  or  less  of  robbing 
;  during  a  dearth  of  honey.  Indeed,  all  things 
I  considered,  I  believe  that  the  Southern  bees 
1  require  more  watching  than  those  of  the 
North. 

In  localities  like  Virginia,  Tennessee,  and 
other  States  lying  in  about  the  same  lati- 
I  tude,  it  might  be  advisable  to  use  double- 
I  walled  hives  :  but  we  do  know  that  the 
!  majority  of  bee  -  keepers  in  that  latitude 


TTIXTEEIXG. 


373 


WIXTERIXG. 


winter  their  bees  successfully  in  single- 
walled  hives ;  but  I  believe  it  is  the  general 
practice  to  place  on  top  of  the  hive  a  super 
containing  chaff,  leaves,  planer- shavings,  or 
some  good  warm  packing-material:  then  if 
the  colony  is  not  very  strong  it  is  advisable 
to  place  a  chaff  division-board  on  each  side 
of  the  cluster.  In  all  cases  the  bees  should 
not  be  given  a  lar^rer  cubic  capacity  than 
they  can  comfortably  fill  with  bees  spread 
out  as  tliey  usuallv  are  on  a  day  when  the 
temperature  is  not  below  70  F. 

In  Colo]-ado  it  is  customary  to  winter  in 
single-walled  hives.  A.  shall  'W  cap  or  tray 
containing  an  inch  or  so  of  packing  is  placed 
on  top  of  the  hive.  Very  often,  for  fmther 
protection,  a  sort  of  shed  or  roof,  as  shown 
in  the  accompanying:  illustration,  wiih  its 
back  to  the  prevailing  winds,  is  I  uilt  over  a 
row  of  hives.  The  Colorado  bee-keepers  are 
troubled  some  with  sandstorms,  and  with 
fierce  p  ercing  T^inds  ;  and  while  the  tem-  j 
perature  may  go  down  below  zero,  it  is  not 
likely  to  remain  so  for  more  than  a  few 
hours,  when  one  extreme  will  be  changed 
for  a  temperatiu-e  of  60  or  70  F..  and  the 
bees  flying.  For  such  conditions  double- 
walled  hives,  and  an  excess  of  packing-  : 


material,  has  been  foimd  to  be  not  at  all 
necessary. 

BEST  KIXDS  OF  PACKING  MATERIAL. 

Wheat  or  oat  chaff  was  formerly  recr>m- 
meuded  as  being  the  best  material  to  use. 
While  these  are  certainly  good,  and  perhaps 
the  most  available  of  any  material  to  the 
average  farmer,  we  now  know  that  other 
packings  give  quite  as  good  results  :  but  as 
between  wh^^at  or  oat  chaff  the  former  has  a 
little  the  preference.  The  next  material  that 
is  used  very  largely  is  planer-shaviugs.  such 
as  come  from  the  ordinary  planing-mill : 
and  I  do  not  know  but  I  would  just  as  soon 
have  them  as  any  kinl  of  chaff.  Another 
packing  that  has  given  most  excellent  re- 
sults is  dry  leaves  of  forest  trees.  These 
may  be  gathered  up  and  stored  in  a  dry 
place,  and  then  when  the  bees  are  packed 
the  leaves  are  ready  for  use.  But  when  dry 
leaves  are  used,  there  should  be  more  of 
them,  because  they  dj  not  afford  quite  so 
dense  a  packing.  Sawdust  from  ordinary 
sawmills  is  another  material  that  is  some- 
times used  :  but  if  any  thing  it  is  a  little  too 
dense,  and  the  cushions  made  of  it  are  very 
heavy.  Still.  I  would  use  it  if  nothing  else 
were  available. 


TEMPORARY   SHED  FOR  WINTERIXG-  BEES    IX  COLORADO. 


Answers  to  Questions  from  Beginners. 

-^^-^  6  9  ©  d^^^^ 

Although  this  book  is  supposed  to  cover  every  subject  upon  which  beginners  desire  in- 
formation, tliat  information  or  answer  may  be  scattered  over  several  pages.  Then,  again, 
it  seems  impcsiible  to  write  a  general  text-book  so  that  it  shall  cover  every' condition  that 
may  arise.  To  lill  this  want,  a  department  with  the  heading  as  above  was  begun  in 
Gleanings  in  Bse  Culture  several  years  ago.  If  the  answers  to  these  questions  have  been 
found  helpful  to  readers  of  Gleanings  we  have  thought  they  might  be  equally  helpful  to 
the  readers  of  this  book,  embodied  in  permanent  form.  The  answers  are  by  E.  E.  Boot, 
who,  as  you  will  see  by  the  preface,  has  re-written  a  large  part  of  this  work.  To  facili- 
tate reference,  the  questions  are  classified  under  headings,  as  will  be  seen  upon  the  fol- 
lowing pages ;  that  is,  there  will  be  a  list  of  questions  and  answers  under  "  Comb  and 
Extracted  Honey  ;  "  under  "  Feeding,"  and  so  on  through  the  list.  Those  that  can  not 
well  be  classified  are  put  under  "  Miscellaneous.' 


Comb  and  Extracted  Honey. 

C.  B.  B.,  of  Texas,  would  like  to  know  how  many 
pounds  of  starter  foundation  it  requires  to  make 
1000  lbs.  of  section  honey.  Ans. — We  fig-ure,  on  the 
full  sheets,  4^  sections,  about  10  lbs.;  for  smaller 
sheets,  proportionally  less. 

K.  A.  M.,  of  Ohio,  inquires  whether  it  is  necessary 
to  wire  shallow  or  half-depth  frames  for  extracting-. 
Ans. — We  would  advise  putting-  in  two  wires  — first, 
to  fasten  the  foundation  centrally  in  the  frames; 
and,  second,  to  prevent  any  liability  of  the  combs 
breaking-  out. 

J  P.  P.,  of  Iowa,  asks,  "  If  3^  as  a  bee-space  be- 
tween super  and  frame  is  rig-ht,  why  not  between 
top-bars  and  frames  above  ?  "  Ana.— There  oug-ht 
to  be  the  same  bee-space  in  both  cases ;  but  practi- 
cally there  is  a  slight  difference  in  the  Dovetailed 
hives  as  we  now  make  them.  We  are  not  able  at 
present  to  equalize  the  spaces  exactly,  without  run- 
ning- into  a  snag  still  more  objectionable. 

E.  N.,  of  Illinois,  asks  if  the  bees  will  not  store 
more  surplus  over  drawn  combs  than  over  starters 
only,  in  the  brood-frames,  ^ns.— No.  It  would, 
rather,  be  the  other  way,  provided  that  the  bees 
were  hived  on  the  starters,  and  honey  was  coming 
in  with  a  rush  at  the  time.  If  they  had  drawn 
combs  below,  they  would  pile  the  honey  Into  the 
brood-frames,  and  put  in  the  sections  what  remain- 
ed. E  N.  also  asks  whether  Italian  queens  reared 
in  a  colony  of  black  bees  would  not  be  more  prolific. 
Ans. — We  do  not  think  it  would  make  any  difference. 

P.  W.,  of  New  York,  writes:  "  Please  tell  me  what 
I  can  put  on  the  separators  to  keep  the  bees  from 
fastening  the  honey  to  them.  TJiey  spoil  lots  of 
boxes  on  the  new  boards."  ^ns.— This  Is  a  difficulty 
that  practical  bee-keepers  find  to  a  slight  extent, 
but,  so  far  as  we  know,  not  enough  to  make  any 
great  trouble.  In  your  case  it  may  be  that  the  hive 
did  not  stand  level;  that  the  foundation  was  not 
])erfectly  centered  in  the  sections,  or  that  the  sec- 
1  ions  themselves  did  not  have  wide  enougli  open- 
ings. Any  and  all  of  tliese  might  combine  to  aggra- 
vate comb-attaching. 

H.  C.  B.,  of  South  Carolina,  asks  what  causes  hon- 
ey to  su^ar  in  the  hive  during  midsummer.  Ans.— 
We  can  nob  explain  the  reason,  only  that  we  know 
that  honey  from  some  sources  lias  a  peculiar  habit 
')f  candying  almost  as  soon  as  gathered.  If  H.  C.  R. 
could  tell  us  the  source  whence  it  comes,  we  might 
tell  iiim  more  about  it.  He  also  asks,  further,  how 
to  get  this  candied  stuff  out  of  the  combs.  There  is 
no  practical  way  that  we  know  of.  We  would  s?t 
aside  the  combs  containing  such  honey,  and  use 
them  for  supplying  bees  with  stores  when  they  re- 
quire it.  In  your  locality  you  will,  quite  likely,  re- 
quire to  use  them  before  next  summer. 

S.  P.  J.,  of  Florida,  wants  to  know  how  to  keep  ex- 
tracted honey  from  candying.   .<lns.— The  only  way 


we  know  of  is  to  let  it  get  thoroughly  ripened  in  the 
hive  —  that  is,  evaporated  down  so  it  will  be  thick. 
Such  honey,  without  any  further  treatment,  will 
sometimes  keep  all  winter  without  candying.  As  a 
rule,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  heat  the  honey  over 
hot  water  to  about  150°,  and  then  seal  it,  while  hot, 
in  bottles  or  tin  cans.  But  there  is  no  method  that 
is  infallible.  If  possible  the  heating  should  not  be 
resorted  to,  as  some  think  that  a  littl  e  bit  of  the  del- 
icate aroma  is  lost.  The  Californians  allow  the  hon- 
ey to  evaporate  in  large  shallow  vats  until  it  be- 
comes thick.  Such  honey  will  keep  a  long  time 
without  candying. 

W.  C.  B.,  of  Illinois,  wishes  to  know  whether  it  is 
advisable  to  take  off  the  sections  as  fast  as  they  are 
filled,  or  leave  them  on  the  hive  until  after  honey- 
gathering  is  over.  Ans.— In  large  apiaries  it  would 
hardly  be  practicable  to  take  off  every  section  as 
soon  as  it  is  nicely  completed.  The  usual  practice  is 
to  leave  the  crate  on  until  most  of  the  sections  are 
filled  out,  and  then  remove  it.  The  partly  finished 
sections  can  be  put  together  in  one  or  more  crates, 
and  put  back  on  the  hives  for  the  bees  to  complete, 
providing  the  honey  season  has  not  already  ceased. 
The  only  objection  to  leaving  the  honey  on  longer 
than  when  fully  completed  is,  that  it  becomes  trav- 
el and  propolis  stained,  and  hence  is  less  salable. 

F.  L.  S.,  of  Minnesota,  wants  to  know  what  is  the 
net  profit  per  hive  of  bees  in  California.  Ans.— We 
can  make  only  a  very  poor  guess.  In  a  fair  season 
a  fair  colony  under  good  management,  in  a  fair 
locality,  ought  to  yield  75  or  100  lbs.  of  extracted 
honey,  and  5 J  or  75  of  comt,  although  these  are  con- 
servative figures.  Extracted  in  large  lots  will  net 
the  bee-keeper  from  4  to  5  cts.,  or  $3.50  per  colony. 
The  comb  would  net  him  about  10  or  12  cts.,  or  $5.00 
per  colony.  From  this  must  be  subtracted  the  cost 
of  managing  the  bees,  cost  of  foundation,  cost  of 
carting  to  the  nearest  railroad  station  or  market, 
cost  of  square  cans  for  the  extracted  honey,  or 
shipping-cases  for  the  comb  honey— cost  of  sections, 
interest  on  the  money,  losses  from  absconding 
swarms,  etc. 

F.  W.,  of  Connecticut,  says  he  has  three  colonies 
of  bees  in  Dovetailed  hives,  and  wants  to  know  how 
he  shall  manage  them  to  obtain  the  most  comb  hon- 
ey. J-71S.— This  question  requires  too  long  an  answer 
to  be  given  here  in  detail,  but  in  a  general  way  we 
may  say  that  early  brood-rearing  should  be  encour- 
aged so  that  there  may  be  a  large  force  of  bees  a 
couple  of  weeks  old  when  the  honey  season  opens 
up.  To  procure  either  comb  or  extracted  honey, 
this  is  the  most  important  factor  to  be  considered. 
A  large  force  of  bees  of  the  right  age,  and  a  reason- 
able honey-flow,  means  honey.  A  small  force  of 
bees,  or  even  a  large  force  too  young,  means  a  prac- 
tical failure  so  far  as  the  production  of  honey  is 
concerned.  But  our  querist  may  ask  how  to  start 
early  brood-rearing.  As  soon  as  the  weather  opens 
up  warm,  feed  the  bees  daily  about  half  a  pint  of 
sugar  syrup.   It  is  assumed  that  the  colonies  have 


A>;SWEES  TO  QUESTIONS  FEOM  BEGIXXEES. 


be^n  earefuUy  packed  in  douWe-walled  hives,  other-  | 
wise  there  Wiil  be  Times  wlien  the  brood  wlU  be  | 
chilled  from  this  early  stimulative  feeding-.  i 

R.  M,  C.  of  California,  has  just  extracted  some 
honey  from  unfinished  sections  of  last  season,  and 
desires  to  know  whetlier  it  will  start  robbing  to  set 
these  out  where  the  bet- s  can  clean  them  tzp. 
Instead  of  putting-  them  outdoors  wliere  the  bees 
can  have  a  regular  jubilee  over  them,  said  jubilee 
finally  ending  up  in  a  row.  put  the  sections  in  crates 
and  stack  them  over  the  brood-nest  of  a  strong  col- 
ony. If  the  hives  are  made  so  that  fuey  may  tier 
up  one  above  anotht- r.  this  can  be  done  v^^iy  easily. 
Sections  might  also  be  put  in  stacked-up  hives. 
witliout  the  full  culony  under  providing  the  en- 
trance is  contracted  to  the  space  of  one  bee.  so  the 
bees  could  clear  them  out  slowly,  on  the  plan  of 
gentle  robbing,  which  of  late  has  been  practiced  suc- 
cessfully. R.  M.  C.  asks,  again,  whether  it  would  be 
prudent  to  transfer  in  Marcli.  We  do  not  see  any 
reason  why.  in  his  locahty.  he  could  not  do  it  almost 
any  month  in  the  year.  'Tlie  short  method  spoken 
of  in  our  price  list  is  the  one  we  recommend. 

J.  E.  31..  of  South  Carolina,  desires  to  know,  1, 
whether  he  shoitld  extract  what  honey  the  bees  may  | 
have  in  their  hives  in  [he  spring,  so  as  to  stimulate  I 
them  to  greater  energy,  or  let  them  have  what 
they  may  have=   2.  "  Do'you  recommend  putting  in  1 
full-sized  sheets  of  foundation  in  sections?  "  3.  Is 
it  necessary  to  wire  foundation  In  frames  if  we  do 
not  expect  to  extract?"  ^ris.—l.  No.  no.  Leave 
the  honey  In  the  hive.   It  is  poor  policy  to  try  to 
starve  the  bees  to  work,  on  the  principle  of  "  sink  or 
swim."   Let  tliem  have_aU  the  stores  they  have,  and 
more  too.   2.  les.   3.  2so.it  is  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary, but  decidedly  advisable.   Wliy  any  one  should 
think  wiring  is  unnecessary,  when"  it  costs  so  little 
to  make  a  sure  thing-  of  the  combs,  is  beyond  our 
comprehension.   The  expense  of  the  wiring  materi-  > 
al  is  about  U  cents  per  10]  combs:  and  the  labor,  if 
performed  during  the  winter  months,  when  nothing  ' 
else  can  be  done,  is  practically  nothing.   A  few  bro- 
ken-do-^Ti  combs  tliat  have 'not  been  previously 
stayed  by  wires  will  pay  for  the  cost  of  the  work 
many  times  over. 

TT.  H.  J.,  of  Ontario,  asks  how  we  ship  comb  hon- 
ey. J.n-5.— We  follow  no  invariable  method.  AYhile 
we  ship  in  12.  24.  and  48  lb.  cases,  we  prefer  the  2i-lb. 
single  tier.  If  we  have  half  a  dozen  or  so  of  cases  to 
ship  at  once,  we  crate  them  up  in  such,  a  way  as  to 
leave  convenient  handles  at  each  end  of  the'  crate. 
On  the  bottom  slats  of  the  crate  is  piled  straw  deep 
enougli  to  make  a  sort  of  cushion  between  the  crates 
and  said  slats.  The  handles  at  each  end  of  the  crate  j 
tend  greatly  to  injure  careful  treatment.  As  an- 
other precaution  the  cases  are  crated  up  so  the 
glass  shows  on  the  outside.  If  freight-men  see  that 
the  crate  contains  something  easily  broken,  they  will 
be  more  apt  to  handle  with  care.  In  shipping  honey 
by  the  carload  we  recommend  strewing  considera- 
ble straw  on  the  floor  of  the  box  car.  The  cases  can 
then  be  piled  up  with  spaces  in  between,  so  that  the 
separate  combs  are  parallel  to  the  rails.  Be  sure 
not  to  put  them  in  the  ear  the  other  way.  In  small 
shipments  we  put  on  a  caution  label,  printed  in  red 
letters,  with  a  finger  on  one  end.  The  directions 
below  this  are,  to  tjad  with  the  finger  pointing  to- 
ward the  locL^motive. 

J.  V.  31..  of  Ohio,  inquires  what  we  recommend  for 
covering  sections  while  the  bees  are  working  in 
them,  and  Avhat  sort  of  cover  we  use  over  the  brood- 
frames  when  the  sections  are  off,  A/<n.— AVith  the 
Dovetailed  hive,  we  use  no  other  cover  than  the 
liive-cover  itself .  This  will  leave  scant  bee-space 
above  the  sections.  Bnc  a  great  many  —  and  we  be- 
lieve it  is  a  decided  disadvantage  — put  on  the  sec- 
tions old  carpets,  old  cloths,  etc.  So  far  as  the 
amount  of  honey  is  concerned,  these  old  cloths  do 
not  make  any  particular  difference  either  way;  but 
far  cleaner  sections,  and  hence  comb  lioney  that 
will  bring  a  higher  marke'^  price  than  that  which  is 
secured  without  the  use  or  any  carpet  or  cloths.  wHl 
be  secured  because  many  bee-men  do  not  scrape 
their  sections.  Wherever  the  cloth  comes  against 
the  sections,  the  bees  will  daub  a  line  of  propolis; 
and  if  they  can  push  the  cloths  up  they  will  chink  in 
propolis  in  the  crevices,  providing  it  "is  less  than  a 
hee-space.  Practically  the  same  reasons  apply  for 
not  using  enamel  cloths  or  any  tiring  of  the' sort 
over  the  brood-frames.  The  thick  fop-bars  have 
practically  no  burr-combs.  If  hives  are  properly 
constructed  Avith  bee-spaces,  then  cloths,  old  carpet, 
enamel  cloths,  etc.,  are  worse  than  useless. 


Feeding. 

L.  M.  B..  of  Louisiana,  says  sugar  is  expensive, 
but  New  Orleans  molasses  is  cheap.  Wouxd  .it  be 
safe  to  feed  the  latter?  A/i.;,— In  your  climate  we 
should  not  be  afraid  to  risk  it.  as  we  assume  that  the 
bees  wij  have  opportunity  for  occasional  flights. 
The  best  sugar  scores  are  net  necessary,  except  in 
the  extreri^e  North:  and  even  then  the  bees  winter 
well  on  buckwheat  honey,  cheap  molasses,  and  other 
inferior  sweets.  But  up  here  m  the  Xorth.  granu- 
lated-sugar syrup,  as  it  contains  so  large  an  amount 
of  sweet  for  the  money,  is  about  as  cheap  as  any 
thing  that  can  be  given  to  the  bees. 

J.  D.  B..  of  Alichigan,  wants  to  know  if  he  can  use 
percolator  feeders  as  late  as  December,  as  described 
by  Dr.  Miller  and  myself  on  page  T.iS  uf  Gloinings  in 
Btc  Culnirr.  1S9-4.  A/is.— No.  The  mere  fact  that  the 
syi'up  is  made  of  sugar  and  water,  half  and  half, 
makes  the  syrup  so  thin  that  the  bees  have  got  to 
thicken  it.  and  this  they  can  not  do  in  cold  weather. 
The  syrup  should  be  made  in  the  old  way.  and  fed 
thick,  in  the  proportion  of  two  of  sugar  "to  one  of 
water.  Better  still,  feed  early— not  fater  than  the 
middle  of  October. 

L.  T.  r..  of  New  Jersey,  says  that,  the  honey-flow 
having  ceased,  he  has  ciivided  lli:^  bees,  and  would 
like  to  have  them  build  up  strong  fc^r  the  fall  now. 
He  asks  whether  sweetened  waterwuuid  cause  tliCm 
to  do  this;  and  if  so.  is  there  any  liabiuty  cf  its  re- 
maining in  combs  unevaporated  or  souring?  An^.— 
Sweetened  water,  given  in  small  amounts  daily, 
ought  to  cause  the  bees  to  rear  enough  brood  so  as 
to  put  them  in  fair  shape  for  winter.  Sweetened 
water  -will  give  no  trouble.  be.:ause  the  bees  will 
soon  evaporate  it  down.  It  is  usually  preferable  to 
mix  the  sugar  and  water  in  about  the  proportion  of 
two-thirds  of  the  former  to  onc-thii-d  of  the  latter, 
by  bulK:. 

J.  P.  B..  of  Ohio,  wants  to  know.  1.  whether  a  hive 
21 X  13x11  is  too  large  to  secure  good  results:  2.  To 
obtain  a  big  supply  of  bees  early,  should  they  be 
stimulated  by  feeding  ?  3.  Do  bees'  gather  any  stores 
from  corn-blossoms  ?  A/i-*.— 1.  No:  but  it  is 'usually 
best  to  have  the  dimensions  standard,  so  as  to  cor- 
respond with  regular  goods.  2.  Yes.  it  is  desirable 
to  feed  the  bees  a  little  every  day.  if  they  require  it 
in  the  spring,  or  when  the  weather  is  settled  enough 
so  that  they  can  fly  almost  every  day.  Feeding  too 
early  to  stimulate  is  bad.  3.  Thi's  is  a  disputed  ques- 
tion. They  do  gather  pollen  from  corn-blossoms, 
but  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  get  any  honey  gen- 
erally from  them. 

'  A.  P.  H..  of  IlUnois.  inquires  whether  it  is  too  late 
to  feed.  O'jt.  1.  Ans.—lt  colonies  are  short  of  stores 
we  would  feed,  even  up  to  and  into  cool  or  cold 
weather:  but  the  syrup  should  be  next  thing  to  hot 
when  given  to  the  bees:  and  if  placed  under  chaff 
cushions,  we  think  there  will  be  no  trouble  alout 
the  bees  taking  it  d  jwn:  but  when  they  are  fed  so 
late,  the  syiup  should  IjO  a  lltrle  thicker'than  usual. 
The  u-ual  proportion  is  2  lb.-,  of  sugar  to  a  gallon 
of  water.  During  cold  weather  we  would  make  the 
syrup  about  -CS  lbs.  of  sugar  to  a  gallon  of  water,  be- 
cause during  cold  weather  the  bees  will  not  be  able 
to  evaporate  the  honey  down  as  well.  If  the  weath- 
er is  freezing,  or  down  near  zero,  we  would  give  the 
bees  cakes  of  iiard  candy.  Full  I'articuiars^of  how 
to  make  are  given  under  'the  head  of  C^yDY. 

Bee  Pasturage. 

R.  3L  C.  of  South  Carolina,  wishes  to  know  what 
Idnd  of  cLjver  i--  ..  est  to  sow  for  bees.  A  Alsike 
will  grow  everywhere  that  white  clover  d^je-;  ai.d  it 
is  the  kind  of  clover  that  we  usuall}"  r'.-commend. 
Four  pounds  of  it  should  be  sown  per  acre.  It  can 
be  purchased  of  any  of  your  dealers. 

IT.  A.  R.,  of  Florida,  asks  what  plants  we  recom- 
mend for  honey  in  Ms  State.  A/!6,— We  would  grow 
nothing  that  would  not  pay  independeutlv  of  any 
supply  of  honey  that  he  migrit  get  rriom  it.  If  there 
is  an  orange-grove,  or  field  ot  alfalfa,  in  his  vicinity, 
it  would  probably  pay  to  move  the  bees  to  it, 

H.H.  B.,  of  Pennsylvania,  wishes  to  know  whether 
we  would  recommend  the  Simpson  honey -plant  for 
his  locality.  A;(>.— It  is  in  some  respects  a  remark- 
able honey-plant;  and  as  it  l^lossoms  soon  after  clo- 
ver, and  c'ontinues  in  bloom  till  nearly  frost,  a  srcall 
field  of  it  g'.">es  a  long  way  toward  keeping  the  bees 
out  of  mischief,  as  they  work  on  it  from  morning  till 
night;  but  after  having  tested  it  carefully,  the  ex- 


ANSWEES  TO  QUESTIO^TS  FROM  BEGINis^ERS. 


pense  of  setting-  out  the  plants  and  keeping-  them  in 
order  is.  many  times,  more  tlian  can  be  gotten  out  of 
It.  There  are  some  places  where  it  grows  naturahy; 
but  it  is  not  advisable  to  grow  this  or  any  other  hon- 
ey-plant that  is  not  valuable  aside  from  the  honey 
it  produces.  Artificial  bee-pasturage  should  be  con- 
fined to  the  clovers,  buckwheat,  and  seven-top  tiir- 
nip.   See  further,  under  Artificial  Pasturage. 

S.  F.  r.,  of  Illinois,  wants  to  know  how  to  make 
his  bees  work  on  buckwheat  that  is  two  miles  dis- 
tant from  the  apiary.  Ans.— It  is  not  always  that 
buckwheat  >aelds  honey;  and  under  such  cirrum- 
staoces  it  would  be  impossible  to  g-et  the  bees  to 
work  on  it,  even  if  it  were  within  a  few  rods  of  tho 
apiary;  and  in  the  second  place,  bees  do  not  us'ia'ly 
work  to  advantage  at  points  further  distant  than  a 
mile  and  a  half  ;"so  that,  even  if  the  buckwheat  ;n 
question  did  yield  a  little  honey,  it  would  be  'Mu=t 
a  little  fur  off."  In  this  connection  it  would  be 
proper  to  remark  that  bees  have  been  known  to 
work,  and  work  well,  on  fields  two  or  three  miles 
from  the  apiary.  In  some  instances  they  have  been 
known  to  go  seven  miles  over  water  or  over  prai- 
ries ;  but  ail  these  are  exceptions  to  the  g-eneral  rule. 

Foundation. 

TV.  B.  R.,  of  Virg-inia,  asks  us  how  we  prevent  the 
wax  from  sticking-  to  the  Daisy  foundation-roller, 
^ns.— See  that  the  roller  is  clean  in  the  first  plac^- 
Dip  it  occasionally  in  water  while  in  use,  and  you 
will  have  no  trouble. 

B.  F.  TJ.,  of  Canada,  asks  how  long-  foundation 
may  be  kept.  Aiis.  —The  experiments  conducted  by 
JR.  L.  Taylor  g-oto  show  that  old  foundation  is  nearly 
if  not  quite  as  good  as  new.  Foundation  aoes  be- 
come a  little  harder  with  age,  biit  it  maybe  softened 
Tjy  immersing  in  water  that  feels  hot  to  the  hand. 

W.  F.  A.,  of  Pennsylvania,  desires  to  know  how 
white  wax  is  made.  4ns.— Generally  by  the  use  of 
chemicals.  See  Wax.  It  may  also  be  bleached  by 
leaving  it  exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  so  as  to  be 
practically  white.  If  the  wax  is  left  in  the  solar 
wax-extractoi  long-  enough  it  will  become  white. 

Oa  n.  H ,  of  Illinois,  asks  whether,  when  putting 
foundation  into  brood-framps,  the  same  should 
touch  the  bottom-bar.  4r?s.— Except  for  perpendic- 
ular wiring  there  should  he  a  quarter-inch  space 
between  the  bottom  edge  of  the  found ation  and  the 
bottom  bar.  Tlie  foundation  sag's  a  little  when  the 
bees  draw  it  out,  and  a  little  allowance  should  be 
made. 

F.  F.  C,  of  Ohio,  has  75  or  80  lbs.  of  wax,  and  in- 
quires how  many  pounds  of  foundation  he  can  get 
out  of  it.  Ans. — You  ought  to  get  as  many  pounds 
of  foundation  of  any  kind  as  you  liave  pounds  of 
wax.  less  the  impurities  that  may  have  been  in  the 
original  cakes;  and  this,  in  case  of  g-ood  wax,  is 
practically  nothing-.  Of  course,  if  you  are  slovenly 
and  wasteful  in  your  work  you  will  have  propor- 
tionally less  foundation. 

M.  M.  B.,  of  Pennsylvania,  has  some  25  lbs.  of  last 
year's  foundation.  He  says  it  is  too  old  and  brittle, 
and  wishes  to  know  if  there  is  any  practical  way  of 
restoring  it  to  its  former  condition,  or  a  condition 
soft  enough  so  as  to  be  used  over  again.  Ans^.— 
Some  one  recommended,  some  time  ago,  putting 
such  foundation  into  a  warm  tepid  bath  for  a  while, 
and  claimed  that  it  would  make  it  so  the  bees  would 
take  to  ic  as  readily  as  any  foundation.  We  have 
never  tried  it,  and  can  not  speak  positively  as  to 
whether  it  would  work  or  not. 

L.  H.  Jj.,  of  Pennsylvania,  wishes  to  know  how 
much  acid  to  use  to  a  two-g-allon  bucketful  of  comb. 
Ans.  —  For  wax  that  has  not  been  rendered  into 
cakes  — that  is,  broken  combs  — more  acid  must  be 
used.  A  good  deal  depends  upon  how  old  the  comb 
is— that  is,  how  many  cocoons  are  in  the  cells  them 
selves.  At  best,  out  of  two  buckets  of  comb  only, 
Fou  will  not  get  very  much  wax.  If  you  have  a  so- 
lar wax  extractor  we  would  advise  you  to  use  that. 
A  tablespoonf  ul  of  raw  sulphuric  acid  to  about  half 
a  pail  of  water  would  be  suflicient  for  the  quantity 
of  comb  you  mention. 

T.E.  77,  of  Arkansas,  notices  that  we  advertise 
starters  for  brood-fraraes,  and  would  like  to  know 
how  wide  these  starters  should  be.  .^l?is.— Tliey  mav 
be  anywhere  from  half  an  inch  to  full  width  of  the 
frames;  but  g-eneral ly  about  half  an  inch  is  used. 
The  main  purpose  of  the  starter  is.  to  g-et  tho  bees  to 
build  the  comb  centrally  in  the  frames.  Without 


starters  there  Is  danger  that  the  bees,  as  you  say. 
will  build  crooked  combs,  sometimes  crosswise  of 
the  frames.  The  only  way  that  we  know  of  to  make 
straig-ht  comb  is,  to  use  starters,  or,  better,  full 
sheets  of  foundation,  wired  with  horizontal  wires. 

W.  T.  H.,  of  Iowa,  wants  to  know,  1,  whether  our 
foundation-machines  will  make  both  brood  and  sur- 
plus foundation;  3.  If  bees  are  put  in  the  cellar,  a 
few  yards  from  their  old  stands,  and  then  allowed  a 
flight  occasionally  during-  warm  days,  will  they  go 
back  to  their  old  stands  ?  Ans.—\.  Our  standard  10- 
inch  mill  is  made  so  as  to  make  both  brood  and  sur- 
plus foundation,  a  change  from  light  to  heavy  being- 
made  by  adjusting-  the  screws,  about  as  you  squeeze 
wring-er-rolls  down  to  dry  the  clothes  out  more.  2. 
When  bees  are  put  in  the  cellar  they  should  be  kept 
there,  and  not  allowed  a  flig-ht  until  they  are  set  cut 
permanently  next  spring.  Experience  has  shown 
that  it  is  bad  policy  to  move  bees  in  and  out  of  the 
cellar  every  warm  day. 

C  C.  M.,  of  Ohio,  asks  what  time  of  the  year  is 
best,  and  what  condition  the  bees  should  be  in,  to 
produce  all  worker-cells  from  wired  foundation  in 
brood-frames.  -4ns.— At?  any  time  of  the  year,  and 
under  all  conditions,  so  far  as  we  know,  you  can  se- 
cure worker  comb  from  worker  foundation.  During 
the  height  of  the  honey-flow,  with  only  starters  of 
foundation,  the  bees  are  apt  to  build  drone  comb, 
because  they  can  make  this  quicker,  and  thus  soon- 
er have  a  receptacle  in  which  to  store  their  hard 
earnings.  Drone  comb  may  result  from  worker- 
foundation,  providing  said  foundation  is  adulterat- 
ed with  paraffine  or  ceresin  wax.  Put  we  believe 
that  there  are  no  foundation-makers  in  this  country 
who  make  use  of  any  thing  but  pure  beeswax.  No- 
thing- else  seems  to  answer,  for  other  things  have' 
been  tried.   See  Wax. 

Swarming. 

M.  S.  W.  asks  if  he  can  Italianize  easily  at  swarm- 
ing-time  by  putting-  drone-traps  over  the  entrances 
of  colonies  having  impure  drones.   Am.— Yes. 

C.  P.  H.,  of  Iowa,  inquires  whether  it  will  prevent 
swarming  to  introduce  a  young  queen.  Ans.—l^o: 
but  colonies  with  young  queens  are  not  quite  so  lia- 
ble to  swarm  as  those  with  older  ones. 

W^H.  S.,  of  New  Jersey,  has  a  larg-e  lot  of  second 
swarms,  all  of  them  weak,  and  he  wants  to  know 
what  to  do  with  them.  Ans.— We  would  first  see 
that  each  has  a  laying-  queen;  and  then  by  stimula- 
tive feeding-  we  would  cause  them  to  rear  as  much 
brood  as  possible,  so  as  to  be  of  g-ood  strength  for 
winter.  If  so  many  colonies  are  not  desired,  unite 
them.  See  further,  under  head  of  Uniting. 

G.  A.  C,  of  Tennessee,  wants  to  know  how  to  move 
a  swarm  of  bees  that  has  clustered  on  the  trunk  of  a 
tree,  Ans. — Blow  a  little  smoke  on  them  to  cause 
them  to  be  a  little  more  peaceable,  and  then  with  a 
brush,  or  handful  of  heavy  weeds,  brush  the  bees 
into  a  large  tin  pan.   The  brushing  should  be  ac- 

•companied  Avith  a  few  vhiffs  of  smoke,  otherwise 
the  bees  may  be  ang-ered. 

J.  W.  M.,  of  Michigan,  has  a  grood  many  empty 
hives  filled  with  honey  fi'om  which  bees  have  died 
during-  the  winter.  He  wants  to  know  if  he  can 
hive  new  swarms  on  them  again  the  same  summer. 
Ai^s.—Yes.  sir.  Those  hives  will  be  as  g-ood  as  any, 
and  the  new  swarm  will  very  soon  sweeten  things 
up  if  the  hive  has  been  befouled  vrith  dysentery. 
But  the  entrances  should  be  kept  closed,  otherwise 
there  will  be  robbing-. 

L.  L.  TT.,  of  Virginia,  asks  whether  bees  can  be 
kept  from  swarming  by  cutting  out  queen-cells. 
Ans.— The  cutting  of  queen-cells  only  discourages 
swarming-.  For  no^:.iial  colonies  run  for  comb  hon- 
ey, we  know  of  no  method  that  Avill  absolutely  pre- 
vent swarming  m-^^ariably.  For  extracted,  the  matr 
ter  is  far  easier.  Giving  lots  of  room,  both  to  the 
queen  for  brood-rearing  and  to  the  bees  for  the 
storage  of  honey,  will  generally  prevent  swarming. 

H.  N.  J  ,  of  New  Hampshire,  says  lie  has  20  colo- 
nies of  bees;  but  as  his  bnsiness  calls  him  away 
throush  the  swarming  season,  he  wishes  to  know 
how  it  would  do  to  put  Alley  drone-traps  on,  and 
catch  the  would-be  runaway  swarms.  Ans.— This 
can  be  and  has  been  done,  although  an  attendant, 
soon  after  the  swarm  returns  and  clusters  about  the 
trap,  should  remove  the  bees  and  hivethem  in  a  new 
hive.  We  should  prefer,  however,  to  use  the  Pratt 
automatic  hiver. 


AlsTSWEES  TO  QUESTION'S  FROM  BEGINNERS. 


G.  R.,  of  Indiana,  wants  to  know  what  to  do  with 
the  queens  of  after-swarms  that  are  returned  to  the 
parent  colony,  Aus. —As  ;i  general  thing-  there  will 
be  queens  in  tlie  apiary  that  are  either  pretty  old  or 
else  not  very  prolitic— or,  what  is  more  likely  to  be 
the  case,  queens  whose  bees  are  poorly  marked. 
These  queens  can  be  removed,  and  selected  queens 
from  the  after-swarms  introduced  in  their  place.  In 
this  v/ay  the  apiary  can  be  requeened  very  cheaply. 

R.  F.  R.,  of  Virginia,  asks,  1.  Is  it  a  good  time  to 
introduce  to  or  change  the  queen  of  a  colony  when 
the  i)ees  swarm  ?  2.  When  both  honey  and  increase 
are  wanted,  is  it  a  good  plan,  after  swarming,  to 
divi  iG  the  old  colony  into  nuclei  ?  3.  He  would  like 
to  h  we  us  give  a  good  plan  to  manage  seven  hives 
ill  spr  ing  for  comb  honey.  Aiis. — 1.  Yes.  2.  Yes.  if 
you  are  willine  to  spend  a  little  money  in  feeding 
up  your  nuclei,  you  may  divide  to  advantage:  but 
if  honey  is  your  object,  and  you  wish  to  proceed  as 
economically  as  possible,  we  would  adviso  you  to 
let  Mature  take  its  own  course.  3.  See  text-books. 

.7  E.  L.,  of  Virginia,  says  he  has  a  colony  of  bees 
in  a  patent  hive,  and  they  will  not  swarm,  although 
they  cluster  out  at  the  entrance.  yl?!S.— Bee-keep- 
ers have  for  yeai-s  been  racking  their  brains  for  a 
system  or  hive  that  would  prevent  swarming,  or  a 
strain  of  bees  that  have  no  desire  to  swarm.  Better 
get  a  patent  on  the  bees,  and  sell  the  daughters  of 
th3  nueen.  If  the  bees  c'ustcr  out  at  the  entrance, 
pDssibly  there  is  a  lack  of  shade  or  a  lack  of  i-oom. 
Picnty  of  room,  good  big  entrances,  and  shade,  will 
usually  cause  the  bees  to  go  inside.  Give  tliem  a 
super  of  empty  s-^ctions,  one  of  said  sec' ions  being 
filled  with  partly  drawn-out  comb  and  honey.  If  ex- 
tracted honey  is  the  object,  put  an  upper  story  on, 
with  a  frame  of  brood  above,  and  emi^ty  frames  on 
each  side. 

E.  R.\  of  West  Virginia,  asks:  "Can  I  use  perfo- 
rated zinc  as  a  screen  on  the  entrance  of  the  hive 
during  the  swarming  season,  1o  prevent  swarming  ? 
If  not,  why  not?"  ^!;8.— Yes.  yovi  can,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  it  will  check,  or,  ralher,  prevent,  run- 
away swarms;  but  it  is,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
unsatisfactory.  The  bees  must  cither  be  gratified 
in  their  natural  desire  f(^r  swarming  or  they  will 
fritter  away  their  time  in  making  unsuccessful 
attempts  in  swarming  out.  trying  to  get  the  queen 
to  go  out  with  them;  and  their  failure  to  thus  ac- 
complish their  purpose  will  end  . up  in  th^ir  killing 
their  queen;  and  in  all  probability  the  honey  season 
will  have  gone  hy,  and  no  honey  will  have  been 
gathered.  If  you  have  an  out-apiary,  entrance- 
guards  may  very  of  ten  be  used  to  a'^lvantoge:  but 
we  should  prefer  to  use  the  Pratt  automatic  hiver. 
See  Swarming. 

J.  R.  of  California,  wants  to  know  how  to  get 
bees  out  of  rocks.  ^)is.— If  you  want  to  have  a  little 
fun,  blast  the  rocks;  but  perhaps  you  may  then  get 
neither  bees  nor  honey  in  shape  to  be  of  any  service. 
We  do  not  know  how  the  bees  can  be  gotten  out 
except  by  trapping  them  out  with  a  bee-escape. 
Ke(^p  the  escape  on  for  three  weeks  till  every  last 
bee  has  gone  out  In  the  meantime  put  the  first 
catch  of  bees  in  a  hive  on  the  outside,  near  t!ie  en- 
trance of  the  rocks.  After  the  bees  have  all  hatched 
out,  and  gone  from  the  cavity  in  the  rock,  we  are  of 
the  opinion  that,  if  the  escape  were  removed,  the 
bees  now  in  the  hive  would  rob  the  honey  out  of  the 
rock,  and  put  it  into  their  new  quarters.  J.  R.  C. 
asks  further  whether  turpentine  or  any  other  liquid 
of  strong  scent,  if  poured  into  the  entrances,  Avould 
probably  drive  the  bees  out.  ^ns.— We  do  not 
know.  Possibly  a  weak  solution  of  carbolic  acid 
poured  in  might  drive  them  out.    Try  it  and  repoi't. 

J.  K.  R.,  of  Illinois,  has  a  colony  of  bees  in  a  tree 
in  the  dooryard.  Not  desiring  to  cut  the  tree,  he 
would  like  to  know  how  to  get  the  bees  out.  Ans. — 
That  is  a  rather  diflBcnlt  job.  If  there  is  any  other 
hole  to  the  cavity  in  the  tree  (in  the  absence  of  one, 
one  can  be  made  with  an  auger),  a  stream  of  smoke 
could  be  blown  in,  driving  all  the  bees,  including  the 
queen,  out  at  the  entrance.  Before  they  can  re- 
turn, plug  both  holes  up,  and  then  hive  the  bees  in  a 
hive  near  the  tree  — of  course,  keeping  the  old  en- 
i  ranee  in  the  tree  plugged  up  tight  for  two  or  three 
weeks,  or  tmtil  the  bees  are  entirely  accustomed  to 
their  new  location.  If  it  is  impracticable  to  use  any 
smoke,  place  a  wire-cloth  cone  bee-escape  over  the 
hole  in  the  tree.  Not  a  bee,  as  it  comes  out  of  the 
tree,  of  course,  can  get  back;  and  if  the  escape  be 
attached  on  a  warm  day,  when  the  bees  are  flying 
heavily,  there  will  be  quite  a  swarm  cluster  on  the 


outside.  Tliese  may  be  hived  as  first  directed ;  but 
as  you  will  not  be  likely  to  secure  the  queen,  it  will 
be  better  to  put  them  in  an  entirely  new  location  a 
couple  of  miles  away,  with  another  queen.  Leave 
them  there  for  two  or  three  weeks,  and  then  put 
them  where  you  like.  Of  course,  the  brood  and 
comb  will  have  to  remain. 

N.  V.  A.,  of  Wisconsin,  would  like  to  know,  1,  how 
to  make  a  swarm  cluster  upon  something  from 
which  they  can  be  easily  taken.  2.  He  requires  a 
mold  for  beeswax,  upon  which  his  name  may  always 
appear  in  raised  or  depressed  letters.  3  He  also 
asks  whether  Norway  spruce  would  stand  the  cli- 
mate of  his  Sta'c.  A)?s.— The  spray-pump  recom- 
mended under  1  he  head  of  Swarmixg,  will,  if  prop- 
erly used,  drive  a  swarm  of  bees  in  the  air  like  a 
1-Ock  of  sheep;  and  wo  have  not  only  made  the  bees 
not  cluster  on  places  of  their  own  choice,  but  in 
some  cases  we  liave  been  successful  enough  to  cause 
them  to  alight  on  some  low-growing  tree.  It  is  al- 
ways best  to  have  low-growing  shrubbery,  or,  better 
still,  grapevines,  growing  around  and  among  the 
hives.  Bees  are  pretty  apt  to  cluster  upon  any 
tiling  accessible  after  entering  the  air.  3.  A  mold 
lor  wax  would  be  very  expensive.  You  might  be 
able  to  get  a  wood-carver  to  scoop  out  a  block  of 
wood  with  5'our  name  in  the  bottom  of  it,  so  that  the 
impression  would  be  left  on  the  wax  when  it  is  cold. 
A  tin  receptacle  with  your  name  stamped  upon  the 
bottom  in  raised  or  depressed  letters  would  be  the 
best;  but  a  special  die.  costing  perhaps  $30.G0,  will 
bo  required:  but  when  this  die  is  once  made,  thou- 
sands of  the  tins  could  be  turned  out  from  it.  3.  We 
could  not  advise  you  regarding  the  Norway  spruce 
in  your  locality. 

Transferring. 

J.  W.  M.,  of  Arkansas,  wishes  to  know  whether  the 
combs  in  box  hives,  from  which  the  bees  have  died, 
will  be  suitable  to  transfer  into  l)rood-frames.  Ans. 
—Some  of  them;  but  the  majority  (;f  them  will  be 
crooked,  and  had  better  be  made  into  wax. 

S.  W.  P.,  of  ^Nlaine,  asks  whether  bees  can  be  trans- 
ferred in  the  fall.  ^?!.s. — Any  time  when  Ijees  can 
Hy :  but  it  should  be  done  early  enough  so  that  they 
will  have  time  to  patch  up  the  combs  and  take  in  a 
little  extra  syrup  if  it  should  be  necessary. 

G.  A.  3f.,  of  Ohio,  wants  to  know  whether  bees  can 
be  transferred  successfully  hy  the  Heddon  short 
way  during  th-^  latter  part  of  Augnst.  ^)i.s.--They 
can.  In  fact,  that  is  a  very  good  time  to  do  it.  Any 
t  ime  is  good  to  transfer  when  the  bees  are  not  work- 
ing heavily  in  the  fields,  though  perhaps  the  best 
time  in  the  year  is  in  the  spring. 

n.  C.  C,  having  read  our  article  on  transferring, 
in  our  price  list,  wants  to  know  when  transferring 
should  be  done.  ^?!S.— Preferably  in  the  spring, 
when  bees  are  getting  a  little  lioney  from  some 
source;  and  when,  too,  there  is  very  little  honey  in 
the  combs.  However,  we  transfer  anytime  during 
the  season.  Mr.  Heddon's  short  method  is  the  one 
we  prefer. 

J.  P.  G.,  of  Kentucky,  refei-ring  to  the  Heddon 
short  method  of  transferring,  would  like  to  know 
whether  there  is  any  danger  in  leaving  the  old  hive 
with  the  few  bees  to  take  care  of  the  brood,  honey, 
and  combs.  A  ns. — No,  there  will  be  enough  bees  to 
take  care  of  it ;  but  the  entrance  should  be  con- 
tracted so  that  the  few  bees  may  be  better  able  to 
resist  robbers. 

B.  T.  S.,  of  West  Virginia,  asks  liow  to  get  a  black 
queen  out  of  a  patent  hive,  without  movable  frames. 
Ans  —Turn  the  hive  upside  down,  if  it  has  an  open 
bottom,  and  place  over  it  a  small  inclosed  box,  on 
the  under  side  of  which  is  a  hole  smaller  than  the 
patent  hive.  Drum  on  the  sides  of  the  hive  until  all 
or  nearly  all  of  the  bees  run  up  into  the  box.  Pre- 
sumably, the  queen  will  go  Avith  them.  As  Wack 
bees  run  and  scamper  over  each  other,  it  is  very  dif- 
ficult to  find  the  queen,  especially  if  you  are  not  an 
expert.  Place  perforated  zinc  over  the  hole  in  the 
box;  set  the  patent  hive  back  on  its  stand,  or,  better, 
put  a  new  hive  with  movable  frames  on  the  old 
stand.  Now  place  the  box,  with  its  perforated  zinc, 
in  front  of  the  liive;  smoke  or  drum  the  bees  out. 
As  the  queen  is  larger,  she  will  not  be  able  to  pass 
the  perforated  zinc,  and  wiU  be  detained  in  the  box. 
If  no  zinc  is  at  hand,  shake  the  bees  ail  out  on  the 
ground  in  front  of  the  hive,  a  short  distance  from 
the  entrance ;  and  then,  as  they  crawl  into  the  hive, 
look  sharp  for  the  queen.  We  might  add,  as  a  seo- 


ANSWEES  TO  QUESTIONS  EKOM  BEGINNEES. 


ond  thoug-ht,  that  it  may  be  better  to  put  the  perfo- 
rated zinc  in  front  of  the  entrance.  The  queen  will, 
Of  course,  be  barred  from  passing  into  the  hive. 

Queen=rearing. 

H.  D.  P.,  of  Kansas,  inquires  whether,  if  he  begins 
with  the  pure  Italians,  they  will  be  likely  to  remain 
pure.  They  can  be  kept  pure  by  using  perfo- 

rated zinc,  and  destroying-  tlie  impure  drones  in  the 
neighborhood.   See  fui'ther,  under  head  of  Drois[es. 

T.  B,  S.,  of  Arizona,  wants  to  know  where  the  roy- 
al jelly  comes  from  for  gTafting-  queen-cells  after 
swarming-~time.  ^hs.— Usually  there  will  be  cells 
enough  from  the  queenless  colonies  in  the  various 
parts  of  the  apiary,  containing  royal  jelly  with  which 
to  supply  grafted  cells. 

W.  A.  A.,  of  Texas,  sends  us  a  drone  having  a 
whitehead.  The  drone  is  a  regular  ** sport." 

Althougb  the  liead  is  white,  it  is  of  a  gi-eenish  cast. 
These  are  simply  a  freak  of  nature,  or  what  may  be 
properly  called  •' sports."  This  sporting,  so  far  as 
the  variously  colored  heads  are  concerned,  seems  to 
be  coufiued  entirely  to  drones.  See  Drones. 

B.  B.  F.,  of  North  Carolina,  writes  that  sometime 
ago  he  hived  a  swarm  of  hybrid  bees  that  had  six  or 
seven  queens,  and  that  a  neighbor  who  keeps  bees  in 

gums  "  reports  a  swarm  with  several  queens.  Ans. 
— A  swarm  is  quite  apt  to  have  more  than  one  queen 
with  it,  especially  if  it  is  a  second  swarm.  In  that 
case  there  may  be  four  or  five  virgin  queens. 

J.  A,  S.,  of  Yirginia,  desires  to  get  as  many  Italian 
drones  as  possible  from  his  two  Italian  colonies.  AH 
the  rest  of  his  stocks  are  blacks.  Ans. — Uncp  all 
til 3  drone  brood  in  the  black  colonies.  Give  tnc  two 
Italian  colonies  each  a  frame  of  drone  comb,  putting 
the  combs  in  the  center  of  the  brood-nest.  If  no 
honey  is  coming  in,  feed  them  about  half  a  pint  of 
syrup  daily.  As  soon  as  drones  from  Italian  colo- 
nies are  hatched  out  and  ready  to  fly,  put  drone- 
guards  over  the  entrances  of  the  black  colonies,  and 
the  chances  are  that  your  queen  will  be  fertilized 
by  Italian  drones. 

A.  K.  T.,  of  Illinois,  desires  to  know  when  it  is  the 
best  time  to  requeen.  Ans. — During  the  swarming 
season.  A  number  of  nice  and  choice  cells  will  be 
at  hand,  and  hybrid  or  other  undesirable  queens  can 
be  disposed  of,  and  the  choice  cells  put  into  queen- 
pi-otectors  can  be  given  to  the  colonies.  This  will, 
for  the  time  being,  stop  all  swarming;  and  by  the 
time  the  young  queen  is  laying,  all  ideas  of  swarm- 
ing will  be  given  up.  There  is  no  use  of  talking, 
we  get  better  queens  from  cells  reared  during  the 
swarming  season.  We  formerly  disputed  that,  but 
we  now  take  it  all  back. 

B.  N.  L„  of  Nebraska,  asks  how  far  drones  and 
queens  will  fly  from  the  apiary  in  mating.  Ans. — 
No  one  can  tell  positively;  but  it  has  been  observed 
that,  of  two  apiaries  five  miles  apart,  one  containing 
Italian  drones  and  the  other  black,  there  will  be  hy- 
brids in  both  in  time,  even  when  it  is  known  that 
there  are  no  bees  between— certainly  no  Italians  ex- 
cept those  in  the  Italian  apiary,  showing  that,  if  the 
queens  and  drones  each  fly  about  half  way,  It  would 
make  it  2V2  miles.  From  various  facts  that  have 
come  up,  it  is  evident  that  mating  may  occur  two 
miles  trom  the  apiary,  or  about  tiiat,  though,  as  a 
general  rule,  it  will  lake  place  within  half  a  mile,  and 
generally  a  little  remote  from  the  apiary  at  least. 

T.  T.  F.,  of  Tennessee,  asks  how  to  have  a  queen 
fertilized  by  select  drones.  Ans.— The  only  way  is 
to  place  perforated  zinc  over  the  entrances  of  the 
colonies  having  undesirable  drones.  For  this  pur- 
pose, drone-guards  or  Alley  traps  may  be  used. 
Drone  comb  should  be  given,  and  stimulative  feed- 
ing should  be  practiced  on  the  colony  or  colonies 
having  select  drones.  Unless  such  bees  are  fed 
daily  a  small  amount  of  sugar  syrup  when  honey  is 
not  coming  in,  they  will  be  liable  to  kill  off  the 
drones,  or  refuse  altogether  to  rear  them.  The  con- 
ditions of  an  ordinary  honey-flow  should  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  colony  as  nearly  as  possible. 

H,  T.  G.,  of  Floi-ida,  desires  to  divide,  and  give 
queens  to  the  queenless  halves  of  the  divided  colo- 
nies in  the  most  economical  and  satisfactory  way. 
He  has  had  difficulty  in  rearing  queens.  Ans. — Dur- 
ing the  months  of  August  and  September,  untested 
queenfa  will  be  down  quite  low.  In  lots  of  a  dozen 
they  can  probably  be  purchased  for  60  or  65  cents 
apiece.  These  queens,  while  cheap  in  price,  vill, 
most  of  them,  prove  to  be  as  profitable  and  sej-  vice- 


able  as  any;  and  it  is  certainly  an  advantage  to  buy 
queens  occasionally,  outsiue  01  your  own  iocalitj . 
In  this  way  an  infusion  of  new  blood  will  be  secur- 
ed. If  our  correspondent  prefers  to  rear  his  own. 
queens  we  would  reconmiend  to  him  any  of  the  vari- 
ous methods  in  the  text-books. 

R.  H.  S.,  of  Ohio,  nas  several  colonies  in  his  apia 
ries  that  have  only  virgin  queens,  and  asks  whether 
it  would  be  advisable  to  replace  these,  or  whether,  if 
left,  they  will  be  fertilized  nex',  spring.  Ans.—^ 
gin  queens  left  over  during  winter  aie  sometiu^e 
fertilized  the  following  spring;  but  the  cases  ai 
rather  rare;  and  in  many  of  the  instances  when  it 
was  thought  that  such  delayed  mating  took  place, 
the  queens  were  actually  fertilized  the  previous 
fall;  but  as  it  was  past  the  time  for  egg-laying,  they 
passed  for  only  virgin  queens.   Referring  particu- 
larly to  the  question,  we  would  recommend  that  the 
virgins  be  removed,  and  laying  queens  be  inserted 
in  their  stead.   The  latter,  at  this  time  of  year,  can 
be  bought  to*'  a  trifling*  sum 

H.  H.  (?.,  of  Florida,  says  that,  after  tne  honey  sea- 
son, he  has  great  strong  colonies.  Desiring  to  in- 
crease, he  wants  to  know  the  best  way  to  divide 
them,  and  how  to  supply  the  queenless  half  with 
queens  the  most  economically.  Ans. — After  having 
prepared  new  hives  on  separate  stands,  divide  one 
of  the  colonies  by  putting  two-thirds  of  the  bees  and 
all  the  sealed  brood,  with  the  queen  on  the  new 
stand.  This  will  leave  the  unsealed  brood  on  the  old 
stand  with  one-third  of  the  bees.  Most  of  the  bees 
on  the  new  stand  will  return,  giving  the  old  stand, 
perhaps,  In  the  end,  the  larger  share.  But  as  the 
new  hive  has  all  the  hatching  brood,  young  bees,  and 
the  old  queen,  it  will  very  soon  be  equal  in  rtrength 
to  the  old  one.  After  the  old  queen  is  removed,  the 
old  colony  may  rear  cells  from  the  unsealed  brood; 
but  it  will  be  better  to  give  them  cells  from  some 
choice  colony  previously  made  queenless  for  the 
purpose.  These  cells  should  be  eight  or  nine  days 
old.  If  economy  is  not  so  much  of  an  object,  pur- 
chase some  good  untested  queens  of  some  reliable 
queen-breeder.  In  August  they  are  as  low  as  they 
will  be  —  generally  about  75  cents  each. 

J.  K.  C,  of  Louisiana,  wishes  to  know  whether  it 
is  possible  to  breed  a  queen  whose  workers  shall  be 
extra  honey-gatherers,  by  doctoring  or  tinkering 
with  the  larva  of  said  queen  before  she  hatches. 
Ans.— Certainly  not.  This  thing  has  been  brought 
up  several  times  before,  and  certain  old-fogy  bee- 
keepers have  wisely  said  they  had  the  secret  of  ma- 
nipulation, which  they  said  they  would  sell  for  a 
certain  sum.  Man  can  not  step  in  and  interfere  in 
this  fashion  with  the  processes  of  nature.  The  only 
way  to  get  extra  honey-gatherers  is  to  breed  by  se- 
lectton  — that  is,  by  breeding  from  queens  whose 
progeny  excel  others  in  the  yard ;  and  by  this  pro- 
cess, in  time,  a  race  of  workers  more  energetic  than 
the  average  might  be  secured.  For  some  reason  or 
other,  but  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  bees  for 
business.  The  whole  rage  nowadays  seems  to  be  for 
color — five  bands,  etc.  That  is  all  right  in  its  place; 
but  we  hope  as  much— nay,  more— attention  will  be 
paid  to  bees  for  energy  and  longevity  —  in  general, 
bees  for  business,  because  it  is  from  these  that 
come  the  dollars  and  cents  Extra  color  alone  will 
not  add  another  cent  to  the  pocketbook,  except— 
that  of  the  queen-breeder,  who  breeds  them  just  be- 
cause his  customers  demand  them. 

W.  n.  C,  of  Michigan,  asks,  1:  "As  I  want  to  Ital- 
ianize this  season,  I  want  to  know  whether  it  would 
be  a  good  plan  to  introduce  strange  queens  to  colo- 
nies that  have  just  sent  out  the  first  swarm,  pie- 
viously  cutting  queen-cells,  or  leave  the  new  queen 
to  tear  them  down."  Aiis.— We  would  always  advise 
tearing  down  the  queen-cells.  It  is  true,  that  tl.e 
queens  to  be  introduced  may  do  it;  but  you  always 
run  the  danger  of  a  young  virgin  hatching  out,  in 
wliich  case  the  bees  are  liable  to  take  up  with  their 
young  mistress  rather  than  with  their  old  one,  and, 
of  course,  the  latter  is  killed.  In  introducing  queens 
it  is  always  safer  to  tear  down  the  old  cells,  because, 
after  bees  get  cells  nicely  started,  they  are  inclined 
at  times  to  lay  their  hopes  on  them  so  strong  that, 
when  a  new  queen  is  introduced,  they  carry  out 
their  original  purpose,  and  the  introduced  mother 
is  sacrificed.  W.  H.  C.  asks  further:  2.  Would  this 
process  prevent  after-swarming?  3.  If  I  order 
queens,  and  receive  them  before  I  need  them,  how 
may  I  keep  them  alive  till  I  do  need  them  ?  Am.— 
2.  To  a  certain  extent.  3.  You  want  to  manage 
somehow  so  as  not  to  receive  queens  before  you 
want  them.  You  can  keep  them  in  smaU  nuclei. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUESTIONS  FEOM  BEGINNERS. 


however,  as  explained  by  Mrs.  AtcUey  on  page  740 
of  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  for  May  15, 1894. 

Wintering. 

W.  W.  C,  of  the  District  of  ColumlDia,  asks  wheth- 
er, in  warm  spells  in  winter  weather,  bees  will  rear 
brood,  ^ns.— Yes,  almost  im^ariably— especially  to- 
ward spring. 

L.  A.  W.,  of  Ohio,  would  like  to  know  whether  the 
outdoor-packed  colonies  should  have  tull  width  en- 
trances, ^ns.— Yes  ;  and  be  sure  they  are  kept 
clear  of  any  dead  bees  that  may  lodge. 

W.  C.  -D.,  of  Connecticut,  desires  to  know  whether 
sawdust  would  answer  just  as  well  for  packing  dou- 
ble-walled hives  as  chaff.  J.ns.— Sawdust  will  do 
just  as  well,  we  think,  so  far  as  protection  is  con- 
cerned. The  only  objection  to  its  use  is,  that  it  is 
heavier  than  chaff. 

S.  S.  S.,  of  Wisconsin,  asks,  "If  the  weather  is 
warm  enough  for  the  bees  to  fly  during  winter, 
would  you  take  the  packing  from  the  top  of  the 
frames  and  give  them  all  a  chance  for  a  cleansing 
flight,  or  let  them  alone?"  4ns.— Let  them  alone, 
by  all  means.  If  you  are  sure  the  bees  have  stores 
the  previous  fall,  do  not  tinker  with  them  till  next 
spring. 

W.  E.D.,  of  Virginia,  wants  to  know  whether  the 
cover  should  be  put  on  the  hive  again  after  putting 
the  chaff  cushion  in.  Why.  friend  D.,  what 

reason  should  there  be  for  leaving  it  oft  ?  Of  course, 
you  want  to  put  it  on,  otherwise  the  cushion  would 
become  soaked  from  rains,  and  thus  defeat  the  very 
object  of  the  cushion— namely,  making  a  non-con- 
ductor to  the  cold. 

I.  C.  L.,  of  Pennsylvania,  has  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  honey-dew  in  his  combs,  and  wishes  to  know 
whether  it  would  be  safe  to  give  it  to  his  bees  for 
winter.  J.?is.— We  would  risk  it.  because  the  major- 
ity of  the  reports  show  that  bees  have  wintered  suc- 
cessfully on  such  inferior  stores.  Of  course,  it  is 
safer  to  give  the  bees  sealed  clover  or  basswood 
honey,  or,  better  still,  sugar  syrup  that  has  been 
fed  in  the  early  fall. 

C.  &  C,  of  North  Carolina,  write  that  they  left 
their  supplies  on  the  hives  during  winter  because 
they  feared  that,  if  they  took  oft'  the  supers,  the 
bees  would  not  have  enough  to  winter  on.  They 
ask  if  they  should  be  removed  next  spring.  Ans.— 
Yes;  otherwise  the  bees  will  soil  the  sections;  and, 
besides,  the  bood-nest  should  be  reduced  to  the 
smallest  capacity  during  the  brooding  season,  so  as 
to  conserve  the  warmth. 

E.  W.  S.,  of  Alabama,  asks  how  long  burlap  covers 
shall  be  kept  on  under  cushions  for  oiitdoor  winter- 
ing. J.7JS.— We  usually  make  it  a  practice  to  keep 
the  burlap  covers  on  until  settled  warm  weather, 
say  about  the  middle  of  May  with  us.  Sometimes 
we  leave  them  on  until  the  first  of  June.  It  is  not 
advisable  to  change  the  burlap  to  enamel  cloth  very 
early  in  the  season;  in  fact,  we  do  not  use  enamel 
cloth  at  all  nowadays  with  the  Dovetail  hive, 

S.  W.  S.,  of  Indiana,  says  his  bees  are  spotting  up 
the  hives  pretty  badly;  bees  seem  to  be  weak,  and 
he  is  inclined  to  believe  they  are  affected  with  what 
is  called  dysentery.  He  desires  to  know  what  to  do. 
Ans.— No  doubt  the  bees  have  the  regnalar  dysente- 
ry. The  only  thing  to  do  is  to  let  them  alone.  If 
you  unite  a  lot  of  these  weak  bees  they  will  all  die 
just  the  same.  The  only  cure  we  know  of  is  good 
warm  weather.  The  entrances  must  be  contracted 
pretty  close  to  prevent  robbers  from  utterly  annihi- 
]  ating  them . 

J.  M.  C,  of  New  York,  writes  that  his  bees  in  the 
cellar  are  flying  out  of  their  hives,  and  dying  on  the 
cellar  bottom.  Ans.  —  Perhaps  your  cellar  is  too 
warm.  In  this  case,  give  ventilation  but  not  light. 
We  should  not,  however,  worry  over  them.  They  are 
generally  bees  that  are  too  old  or  diseased  to  stay  in 
the  hive.  For  the  health  of  the  occupants  above  the 
room,  as  well  as  for  the  bees,  we  would  keep  the 
floor  swept  up.  Do  not  be  alarmed  if  you  take  out 
half  a  peck  of  bees  at  a  time  in  a  cellar  containing 
25  or  30  colonies. 

M.  A,  B.,  of  Pennsylvania,  has  a  large  family  of 
small  children  that  play  and  romp  on  a  floor  under 
which  is  a  cellar  containing  some  35  or  40  colonies  of 
bees.  He  would  like  to  know  whether  the  general 
noise  and  disturbance  will  do  any  harm.  Ans.— In 
scores  of  instances  of  this  kind  we  do  not  remember 
to  have  seen  any  reports  showing  bad  results  follow- 


ing from  such  disturbance  above.  We  have  T^intered 
bees  in  a  cellar  for  three  winters,  unaer  the  liv.ng- 
room;  and  while  they  were  in  the  cellar  we  have  not 
discovered  that  romping  or  walking,  on  the  part  of 
children  or  adults,  did  any  harm. 

M.  J  R.,  of  Minnesota,  writes  that  the  snow  has 
piled  up  around  the  entrances  of  his  hives,  and  he 
inquires  whether  there  is  danger  of  the  bees  smoth- 
ering by  leaving  them  so.  Ans.— If  the  snow  is  light 
and  not  soggy,  we  would  let  it  be.  A  general  tln.w, 
followed  by  a  freeze,  may  close  up  some  of  the  en- 
trances, and  it  is  possible  that  it  should  be  cleared 
away.  But  ordinarily,  if  the  colonies  have  absorb- 
ents such  as  big  chaff  cushions  over  the  frames,  we 
would  let  them  alone=  They  will  get  enough  air 
through  the  cushion;  so  we  think  there  will  be  no 
danger  of  their  smothering. 

F.  C.  F.,  of  Wisconsin,  is  rather  hard  up  for  money 
this  year,  and  can  not  afford  winter  cases  or  chaff 
hives.  He  has  a  wet  cellar,  and  also  a  garret.  Wheie 
would  it  be  best  to  put  the  bees?  Ans  — A  garret  is 
a  poor  place  at  best.  We  have  known  of  scarcely 
anyffocd  results  in  winte-  'ng  bees  insuth  a  place. 
We  would  risk  a  damp  celiar.  But.  friend  F„  for  the 
health  of  your  family,  if  not  for  the  health  of  your 
bees,  drain  that  cellar  out  as  soon  as  possibie.  If  the 
bees  do  not  have  dysentery,  your  children  may  have 
typhoid  fuver,  diphtheria,  and  all  the  other  bad  ail- 
ments resulting  Irom  a  wet  cellar. 

E.  N.  R.,  of  Micliigan,  asks  what  sort  o.:  packirg 
material  we  recommend,  and  wh'other  it  would  i:;  y 
to  send  out  into  the  country  when  he  has  plane. - 
shavings  or  foi-est-l eaves  in  abundance  on  hand. 
A)!S.— After  experimenting  with  the  various  pack- 
ing materials,  we  can  discover  but  ^  ery  little  differ- 
ence in  favor  of  any  of  them.  We  have  wintered 
bees  as  well  under  planer-shavings  as  under  the  best 
wheat  chaff.  Chaff  has  the  preference  for  ciishions 
because  it  is  lighter,  and  is  more  available  for  the 
average  farmer.  Where  forest-leaves  are  used,  the 
racking  should  be  made  thicker,  and  pressed  down 
so  as  to  be  more  compact. 

N.  E,  J.,  of  Ohio,  says  his  bees  are  flying  out  upon 
the  snow,  and  dying  by  tlie  hundreds,  on  warm 
bright  days.  He  desires  to  know  the  cause,  and  how 
the  trouble  can  be  stopped.  Ans.— Bright  sunshine 
will,  many  times,  call  out  the  old  and  diseased  bees. 
It  may  also  draw  out  a  few  others.  But  generally 
we  consider  that  these  old  bees  might  just  as  well  be 
out  of  the  colony  os  not;  and  if  they  are  to  die  soon 
they  had  better  die  with  their  carcasses  outside. 
But  even  if  some  young  bees  do  fly  out  with  the 
rest,  the  loss  is  generally  so  small  as  to  be  hardly 
worth  considering.  A  bee  here  and  there  means  a 
very  small  number  from  individual  colonies  in  a 
large  apiary, 

C.  F.  F.,  of  Minnesota,  wishes  to  know  whether  we 
would  advise  him  to  winter  liis  bees  in  the  cellar,  or 
outdoors  in  double-waUed  chaff  hives.  An^.— In  the 
very  coldest  climates,  or,  at  least,  where  the  winters 
are  severe,  and  the  temperature  runs  for  several 
weeks  below  zero,  cellar  wintering  seems  to  prevail. 
Whether  this  is  because  bees  can  best  be  wintered 
that  way  or  not.  we  can  not  say;  but  it  is  usually 
safer  to  follow  the  prevailing  custom.  Indeed,  some 
bee-keepers  say  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  winter 
on  summer  stands,  even  when  packed  in  hives  of  the 
most  improved  pattern.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
are  some  bee-keepei's— for  instance,  E=  Sturgeon,  of 
Kincardine,  Ont.,  Can.— who  can  not  winter  indoors, 
but  always  have  success  in  outdoor  packing.  For 
the  latitude  of  Northern  Ohio,  the  outdoor  method 
generally  gives  the  best  result— that  is,  the  beginner 
seams  to  succeed  better. 

P.  W.,  of  Pennsylvania,  asks:  "What  is  the  best 
covering  on  top  of  the  brood-frames  for  wintering 
colonies  outdoors  in  double-walled  hives  ?  "  A?is.— 
We  always  make  it  a  practice  to  remove  the  enamel 
cloth  (if  in  a  chaff  hive)  and  put  on  top  in  its  place  a 
sheet  of  burlap.  Any  old  carpet  or  old  cloth  that 
has  not  been  waxed  or  smeared  up  with  propolis 
would  do  just  as  well.  On  this  put  the  chaff  cush- 
ion, but  be  sure  there  is  a  passageway  over  the 
combs,  under  the  burlap.  We  use  Hill  devices ;  but 
many  others  use,  with  equally  good  results,  sticks 
or  corncobs  across  the  frames.  P.  W.  asks,  again, 
how  it  would  work  to  place  on  top  of  a  strong  colo- 
ny, in  the  spring,  to  get  increase,  another  hive  filled 
with  foundation;  after  the  queen  was  laying  above, 
to  lift  the  top  hive  off,  and  set  it  on  the  old  stand,  and 
take  the  old  one  and  put  it  on  a  new  stand  a  few 
feet  away,  Ans.— This  would  work  all  right  providr 
ing  your  colony  is  extra  strong.  But  usually,  in  the 


ANSWEES  TO  QUESTIONS  FROM  BEGINNERS. 


spring,  such  a  plan  would  only  be  working  mischief. 
You  would  have  a  lot  of  Aveak  spindling  colonies 
that  would  he  practically  good  for  nothing  at  the 
time  of  the  honey-flow^  It  is  better  to  secure  all  the 
increase  possible  inside  of  the  original  parent  colony. 

Miscellaneous. 

M.  C.  D.,  of  Connecticut,  asks  if  black  bees  work 
cn  alsike  clover  to  any  extent.  ^)(s.— Yes,  as  well 
as  ;my  bees,  though  they  are  not  so  good  for  work- 
ing on  red  clover  as  are  the  Italians. 

W.  E.  D.,  of  West  Virginia,  asks  whether  we  use 
chiifl  hives  summer  and  winter.  Av!<. — We  do;  but 
at  the  approach  of  warm  weather  we  remove  the 
chaff  cushions— otherwise  the  colonies  are  protected 
the  same  as  in  winter. 

P.  J.  W.,  of  New  York,  asks  if  drones  are  ever 
raised  in  worker  comb,  yl;/,-.— Yes,  very  frequent- 
ly, particularly  if  Iheie  is  no  drone  comb  available. 
Drones  from  fertile  workers  or  drone-laying  queens 
are  raised,  as  a  general  thing,  in  woi-ker-cells. 

H.  G.  S.,  of  New  York,  wishes  to  know  whether  it 
is  advisable  to  crowd  a  ten-frame  colony  on  to  six 
frames.  ^?;s,— If  the  colony  is  good  und  strong,  we 
would  not  reduce  the  ten-frame  brood-nest  to  less 
than  eight  frames,  nor  an  eight-frame  to  less  than 
six. 

C.  M.  McC,  of  West  Virginia,  would  like  to  know 
what  to  do  with  ola  moldy  combs.  4?.s.— Put  them 
in  or  over  a  strong  colony  of  bees.  They  will  clean 
them  up  and  make  them  sw^eet  in  sliort  order.  If 
moldy  and  worm-eaten,  throw  them  into  the  solar 
wax- extract  or.  If  moldy  and  crocked,  put  them  in 
the  siime  place.  It  docs  not  pay  to  fuss  with  any 
thing  but  straight  first-class  combs. 

R.  A.  M.,  of  Illinois,  wishes  to  move  liis  bees  a 
distance  of  five  miles,  and  would  like  to  do  it  during 
the  winter  months.  4?is.— It  is  usually  desirable  to 
move  bees  in  the  spring,  about  the  time  they  will 
begin  to  fly.  But  it  can  be  done  during  mid-winter; 
but  we  would  select  a  day  when  the  sun  is  shining, 
when  the  temperature  is  above  freezing,  else  the 
combs  wall  be  more  liable  to  break,  and  disturbance 
to  the  bees  be  more  serious, 

D.  S.  J.,  of  Colorado,  asks  how  many  pounds  of 
honey  there  are  in  one  of  beeswax.  A}is  — It  varies 
in  diffei-eut  localities,  and  during  different  seasons 
of  the  year.  If  I  remember  correctly,  half  an  ounce 
of  comb,  on  the  average,  will  hold  a  pound  of  honey. 
"When  this  comb  is  made  from  foundation,  the 
weight  is  inci-eased  according  to  the  weight  of  the 
foundation  used,  because  the  bees,  it  seems,  do  not 
do  very  much  thinning-down  of  the  septum. 

T.  V.  B.,  of  Ohio,  desires  to  move  to  a  location 
where  bees  may  be  kept  with  the  greatest  profit. 
.4);8.— California,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  and  Colora- 
do are  good  bee-countries;  but  as  a  general  thing  we 
would  not  advise  any  one  to  move  if  he  has  any  oth- 
er business  he  can  tie  to  in  connection  with  bee- 
keeping where  he  now  is.  Bee-keeping  is  a  success 
or  a  failure  in  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union.  A 
great  deal  depends  upon  the  man. 

A.  B.  S.,  of  Ohio,  wants  to  know  if  there  is  any  law 
to  protect  bees  from  being  trapped  and  scalded,  or 
poisoned.  Avs.-  -  A  case  of  this  kind  came  up  some 
time  ago;  and,  if  we  remember  correctly,  the  de- 
stroyer of  the  bees  was  compelled  to  pay  damages. 
A  good  deal  liiuges  on  the  point  as  to  whether  the 
bees  in  the  first  place  were  trespassing— that  is,  roo- 
bing  from  broken  fruit.  This  is  one  of  the  nice 
questions,  and  sh_ould  be  submitted  to  competent 
legal  authority. 

J.  W.  7?.,'  of  Virginia,  writes:  "  I  have  some  bees; 
I  do  not  know  what  they  are.  They  are  very  small. 
Some  of  them  are  as  black  as  coal,  and  some  have 
one  yellow  band."  ^??s.— There  seem  to  be  two  va- 
rieties of  black  bees  in  this  country— one  a  sort  of 
brownish  bee.  of  good  fair  size,  and  another  that  is 
coal-black  and  smaller.  The  bees  you  have  are  un- 
doubtedly of  the  latter  kind,  with  a  very  little  Ital- 
ian blood  mixed  in,  or  what  we  should  call  very 
dark  hybrids. 

H.  A.  E.,  of  North  Carolina,  referring  to  the  sure 
way  of  introducing  valuable  queens,  mentioned  in 
tins  book,  by  giving  said  queens  to  hatching  broofl, 
wants  to  know  how  long  the  hive  should  be  kept 
closed  up.  Ans.—Jf  brood  is  hatching  readily,  there 
will  be  young  bees  enough  to  care  for  the  queen  in  a 
few  hours.  But  the  hives  should  not  be  closed  air- 
tight. A  wire  screen  should  be  placed  over  the  en- 


trance, so  as  to  allows  of  a  little  ventilation.  In  two 
or  three  days  the  young  bees  will  be  old  enough  to 
defend  the  entrance. 

W.  E.  F.,  of  Virginia,  would  like  to  know  how  to 
prevent  bees  from  mixing,  ^hs.— We  do  not  under- 
stand exactly  what  is  meant  by  this  question.  If 
W.  E,  F.  nieuiis  that  he  wants  to  know  how  to  pre- 
vent queens  fiom  mating  with  inferior  or  other 
drones  we  would  say,  put  on  drone-traps  or  entrance- 
guards  to  all  entrances  of  hives  containing  undesir- 
able drones.  As  to  the  mixing  that  takes  place  from 
entrance  to  entrance  of  hives  that  are  situated  close 
together— />ees  going  from  one  hive  to  another— that 
will  make  no  serious  trouble. 

H.  C.  M.,  of  Illinois,  would  like  to  know  whether 
it  makes  any  dificjence  w  hether  a  honey-house  be 
made  of  brick  or  not.  Avis.— Brick  would  be  consid- 
erably moi'e  exi  ensive,  and  we  doubt  whether  it 
would  be  as  good.  While  brick  dwellings  do  very 
i.icely  because  artificial  heat  is  used  inside,  they 
would  be  poi.r  ]  laces  for  the  storage  of  honey  with- 
out that  artificial  heat.  He  asks  further  as  to  the 
advisability  of  putting  honey  into  empty  molasses 
barrels  or  keys.  Ans,  —There  w^ould  be  no  objection, 
providing  such  receptacles  were  washed  out  with 
hot  water. 

C.  E.  P.,  of  Colorado,  wants  to  know  why  bees  will 
cluster  on  the  outside  of  the  hive.  Ans.~The  clus- 
tering on  the  outside  is  usually  caused  by  too  hot 
weaUier  or  an  entrance  that  is  too  small,  or  both. 
Of  course,  it  is  at^sumed  that  they  would  not  thus 
cluster  out  w^ere  it  not  f  cr  the  hot  weather;  and,  the 
entrance  being  small,  they  are  unable  to  keep  the 
hive  sutficientlj^  cool  by  fanning.  You  can  smoke 
the  bees  into  the  hives  again,  but  they  will  come 
out.  If  the  hive  is  too  small,  give  them  more  room 
by  means  of  an  extra  super,  and  see  that  the  whole 
hive  is  properlj'  shaded. 

D.  J.  P.,  of  New  Mexico,  having  purchased  an  Al- 
ley trap,  says  the  drones,  as  soon  as  trapped,  die 
very  last  in  it,  and  wishes  to  know  if  this  is  as  it 
ought  to  be.  Ans— Yes.  The  drones  will  not  live 
more  tnan  a  few"  hours  after  being  trapped,  accord- 
ing to  our  experience.  They  will  worrj-  themselves 
trying  to  pas-s  the  metal,  or,  wh;,t  is  probably  true, 
starve  to  death.  The  trap  is  generally  used  for  ex- 
cluding undesirable  drones;  and  if  unde.^;irable,  their 
early  demise  is  not  much  to  be  regretted.  It  desir- 
ing to  capture  select  drones  for  an  out-yard,  they 
should  be  fed  and  taken  care  of  at  once 

W.  17.  R.y  of  Florida,  asks  us  what  we  prefer  for 
shading  bees  — trees  or  a  shed.  Ans.— In  hot  cli- 
mates, especially  in  Jamaica,  long  low  sheds  are 
used.  In  the  North,  we  prefer  trees.  But  experi- 
ence has  proven  that  bees  that  have  direct  sunshine 
during  the  early  part  of  the  spring  build  up  quicker 
in  the  North  than  when  under  some  sort  of  shade. 
Asa  general  thing,  on  account  of  the  very  hot  weath- 
er that  is  usual  in  most  of  the  Northern  States,  we 
prefer  to  1  ave  the  bees  in  the  shade.  They  are  l-ss 
liable  to  lie  out  at  the  entrance,  and  loaf;  and  it  is 
much  more  comiortable  to  the  apiarist  to  work  in 
the  shade. 

W.  L.  M.,  of  Ohio,  has  20  colonies  of  bees  to  move 
a  distance  of  20  miles,  and  wants  to  know  when  it 
would  be  the  best  time  to  do  it;  and  would  we  ad- 
vise him  to  do  it  at  night?  Am. — You  can  move 
them  at  anytime  after  settled  weather.  If  the  wea- 
ther is  not  too  hot  you  can  make  it  do  as  well  or 
better  in  the  day  time.  M  ake  sure  that  your  frames 
are  secured,  and  that  the  bees  have  plenty  of  venti- 
lation. Wire  cloth  over  an  ordinary  entrance,  if  the 
colony  IS  not  too  strong,  or  weaiher  hot,  will  afllord 
sufficient  ventilation  ;  otherAvise,  remove  the  top 
and  tack  mosquito-netting  or  wire  cloth  over  it.  If 
t  he  day  is  frosty,  ventilation  at  the  entrance  may 
be  sufficient 

P.  S.  L.,  of  New  York,  wan^s  to  know  how"  to  make 
vinegar  of  honey.  Ans.-  lu  takes  two  pounds  of 
honey  to  made  a  gallon  of  vinegar,  and  from  one  to 
two  years'  time.  Uie,  as  a  general  thing,  only  ref- 
use honey  —  such  as  can  not  be  used  for  any  other 
purpose.  Put  water  enough  into  the  hor,(  y  so  it  will 
just  float  an  egg,  and  allow  the  swectei:ei  piodm  t 
to  stand  in  a  barrel  with  one  head  out,  under  shel- 
ter. Cover  ilie  barrel  with  apiece  of  clieese  cloth, 
to  keep  out  the  dirt  and  f  ics.  I'his  sweetened  water 
will  soon  begin  to  "work,"  and  occasionally  the 
scum  should  be  taken  off  with  a  skimmer  until  no- 
thing rises.  It  will  take  anywhere  from  a  year  to 
two  years  to  make  good  vinegar  Rut  honey  vine- 
gar is  not  profitable  Unless  old  refuse  is  used. 


ANSWEES  TO  QUESTIONS  FEOM  BEGINNEKS. 


J.  M.  G.,  of  Pennsylvania,  says  he  lias  one  of  our 
eig-iit-f  rame  hives,  but  does  not  know  what  the  divi- 
sion-board is  for.  ^us.— With  spaced  (or,  rather, 
. SB 'f -spacing)  frames,  it  is  best  to  have  a  division- 
board  so  the  frames  can  be  removed  without  rolhng- 
over  and  iiilliug  bees.  After  removing-  the  division- 
board,  space  over,  from  tlie  middle,  three  or  four 
frames  close  up  to  the  hive  Tliis  can  be  done  at 
one  operation  prov  ding  Hoffman  frames  are  used: 
you  will  then  havf  i  plenty  of  room  to  pull  out  the 
frame  j'ou  desire  to  examine.  The  division-board  is 
also  a  convenience  in  reducing-  the  hive  capacity 
when  the  colony  oo  .u  pies  iess  than  the  regulation 
eig-lit  frames. 

J.  M.  S.,  of  Indiana,  'STaats  to  know  what  is  a  good 
remedy  to  keep  ants  from  hives,  ^/ks.— Find  the 
nest  if  possible,  and  pour  about  half  a  pint  of  coal 
oil  on  it.  A  better  way  (according-  to  Pi-of .  Cook)  is. 
to  buy  an  ounce  or  two  of  bisulphide  of  carbon  at 
t  h3  drug-^tore-  With  a  crowbar  make  a  liole  rig-lit  in 
the  center  of  the  nest.  Pour  in  the  bisulphiae,  and 
close  the  hole  bv  tamping-  around  the  edges.  That 
will  be  the  end  of  tliosc  ants.  Anis  do  no  particular 
hai  m  in  the  hives  liere  in  the  North,  although  they 
do  considerable  mischief  in  tlie  South.  Be  sure  you 
keep  all  tire  away  from  the  bisulphide,  as  it  ignites 
at  quite  a  distance  from  fire,  even  a  lighted  cigar, 
and  explodes  with  terrific  violence. 

J.  R.  S..  of  Indiana,  has  a  weak  colony,  and  he  in- 
quires liow  to  strengthen  it  up  for  the  coming  sum- 
mer, — Contract  their  biood-nest  to  as  small  a 
space  or  io  s  few  combs  as  they  can  possiblj^  cover, 
having  n  ade  sure  that  they  have  pleniy  of  stores. 
Wlien  tbe  we  ither  is  warm  enough  so  they  fiy  a  lit- 
tle every  duy,  give  them  a  little  stimulative  feed- 
ing-, with  half  a  pint  of  warm  sugar  syrup.  Such 
weak;  stocks,  however,  should  be,  if  not  already,  put 
into  double-walled  hives  with  some  good  soft  warm 
packing  around  them.  For  that  matter,  this  '\\iil  ap- 
ply equally  well  to  strong  colonies,  for  no  stocks  do 
as  well  in  the  single-walled  hives  in  early  spring  as 
those  having  adequate  protection. 

J.  L.  A.,  of  Kentucky,  Inquires  whether  it  ever 
gets  so  hot  that  the  bees  can  not  make  comb.  Ans.— 
If  the  hive  is  painted  a  dark  color,  and  is  not  shel- 
tered in  some  way  from  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun, 
it  may  be  so  hot  that  the  bees  would  refuse  to  build 
comb,  or,  in  fact,  do  anything  else.  Indeed,  there 
are  times  when  the  inside  of  the  hive  becomes  so  hot 
that  the  combs  melt  down,  and  then,  of  course,  noth- 
ing can  go  on  decern  tly  and  in  order,  Asa.  general 
thing,  however,  bees  can  keep  the  hive  cool  by 
means  of  the  currents  they  make  with  their  wings; 
and  it  is  only  when  they  can  not  do  this  that  the 
combs  melt  down.  We  must  not  expect  our  bees  to 
accomplish  too  much.  Give  them  a  Uttle  assistance 
in  the  way  of  a  shade. 

C.  N.  W.,  of  New  York,  asks  why  the  bees  uncap 
sealed  brood.  .4);s.  —  The  brood  may  have  been 
overheated  or  chilled  at  some  time,  or  possibly 
moth-worms  may  be  making  their  way  unobserved 
by  you  tinder  the  cappiugs.  Any  or  all  of  these 
causes  may  result  in  the  bees  uncapping  the  brood. 
He  also  aslis  why  the  bees  sometimes  come  tum- 
bling out  of  the  hive  it  lots  of  two  or  three,  clinging 
togetlier  by  the  feet,  and,  after  struggling  a  while, 
free  themselves.  This  is  evidently  a  case  of  a  rob- 
ber or  two  getting  past  the  sentinels  at  the  entrance, 
and,  final'y,  being  discovered  by  the  workers  far- 
ther in  the  hive,  they  are  grabbed.  A  struggle  im- 
mediately follows,  in  which  more  of  the  bees  grab 
the  robber;  and  the  result  is,  they  come  tumbling- 
out  of  the  hive  as  stated,  but,  as  a  general  thing,  the 
robber  frees  itself 

J.  W.  D.,  of  New  York,  asks:  1.  What  is  the  legal 
distance  for  a  hive  of  bees  to  stand  from  a  street  or 
highway?  2.  How  close  can  the  bee  entrances  be  for 
a  house  apiary,  onsidering  the  welfare  of  the  bees, 
and  economy  o1  space  inside  the  house?  3.  Toward 
what  point  of  \ae  compass  is  it  best  for  the  en- 
trances to  fnce?  4.  Will  a  wall  of  inch  boards,  two 
thicknesses,  wich  paper  between,  be  any  injury  to 
the  bees  in  summer?  4),s.— In  most  States  there  is 
probably  no  legal  distance.  However,  there  may  be 
a  municip-.il  ordinance  regulating  the  distance  of 
bees  from  the  liichway  2,  Generally  not  closer 
thaa  two  feet.  3.  Toward  the  east  or  south.  4.  No. 
Better  make  a  space  between  the  walls,  and  pack 
with  sawdust. 

F.  M.  M.,  of  Arkansas,  desires  tc  move  80  colonies 
in  Dovetailed  hives  to  Southern  Ohio.  Ans.— We 
would  fasten  the  bottom-boards  and  close  up  the 
entrances.  We  would  then,  in  place  of  the  covers, 


tack  on  rims,  made  out  of  stuff,  of  the  sa'me  width 
and  length  as  the  hive,  outside  measure,  and  2 
inches  deep.  These  rims  should  be  covered  with 
wix-e  cloth  or  cheese-capping.  If  you  are  goin.<.'-  to 
move  your  household  etfecis  also  to  Ohio,  you  had 
better  put  the  hives  in  one  end  of  the  car,  ;.nd  \  our 
goods  in  the  other  end;  it  will  be  safer  for  ,\  6u  to 
accompany  the  car,  as  the  jostling  and  Lumping 
will  disarrange  the  hives.  To  partially  remove  the 
jar,  it  is  a  good  plan  lo  strew  the  bo;  torn  ot  1  he  car, 
where  the  hives  are  to  be  placed,  with  four  or  five 
inches  of  straw.  We  omitted  to  say  any  thing  about 
fastening  the  frames,  for  we  assume  that  your  bees 
are  on  the  Hoffman  frames,  which  require  no  fas- 
tening. If  not,  we  would  use  the  spacing- sticks 
illustrated  m  our  catalog 

C.  <k  C,  of  North  Carolina,  inc  uire  whett-.er  we 
would  recommend  putting  f-upei  s  (iii  new  .sv  arms 
the  fii-st  season;  al&o,  hecher  a  Siarter  should  bo 
put  in  the  bottom  of  the  ."section  as  well  as  at  the 
top.  Their  bees  are  in  old  I  ox  hives,  becau!-e  they 
do  not  believe  they  are  equal  to  the  ta^k  of  trans- 
ferring, Ans.—li  y  ou  are  speaking  of  rst  swarms, 
or  swarms  that  are  strong,  we  Avouid  s;»y.  put  the 
supers  on,  providing  h  niey  seems  to  L  e  .'oming  in. 
Starters— that  is,  narrow  ones— may  with  advantage 
be  fastened  to  the  bottom  of  the  sections  as  \\  ell  iis 
at  the  top.  Dr.  Miller  uses  a  wide  staitei-  at  the 
top,  letting  it  hang  down  t  wo-thirds  of  the  way.  He 
also  fastens  a  narrow  one  at  the  bottom.  In  this 
way  he  finds  that  the  bees,  in  drawing  out  the  c(  mb, 
leave  a  good  attachment  at  both  top  and  bottom  — 
the  upper  starter,  as  it  were,  growing  into  and  unit- 
ing with  the  lower  one.  As  to  the  difficult  y  of  trans- 
ferring, that  is  a  smcill  matter  providing  you  follow 
the  Heddou  short  method.   See  Transferring. 

D  O.,  of  Nebraska,  h.ns  quite  a  number  of  colonies 
that  had  foul  brood  last  fall,  and  asks,  1,  wheth.cr 
the  honey  in  the  foui-broody  hive  would  be  fit  to 
eat,  without  extracting-  and  heating:  and,  2.  wheth- 
er, after  boiling,  it  would  do  to  feed  to  bees  with 
safety;  and,  3,  is  there  anyway  of  disinfectii  g  the 
hives  so  that  they  may  be  used  with  perfect  safety  ? 
A?is,— 1.  Such  honey  would  taste  all  right;  but  we 
would  not  advise  you  to  make  anj^  use  of  it,  for  bees 
will  very  of  ten  make  their  way  into  the  house;  and 
if  one  of  them  should  happe.i  to  get  a  sip  of  this 
infected  honey  it  would  carry  the  disease  to  its  col- 
ony, and  thus  spread  5t  all  over  the  apiary  again. 
2.  Yes  3.  Hives  maybe  cleansed  by  immersing  in 
boiling  water,  as  directed  under  Fouij  Buood.  It  is 
also  possible  that  they  may  be  disinfected  bi  the  use 
of  carbolic  acid  reduced  50  times,  the  same  painted 
on  the  inside  and  outside  of  the  hive.  That  is  the 
way  we  painted  our  house-apiary  before  putting 
any  more  bees  in  it. 

F.  F.'c,  of  Michigan,  asks  when  Is  the  best  time 
to  double  up  to  get  the  most  surplus.  He  does  not 
wish  to  keep  over  25  colonies,  and  these  lie  would  in- 
crease evei  y  summer  to  50,  uniting  down  to  25  again 
for  the  falL  flow.  Anf.—I  haidly  know  how  to  ans- 
wer this  question.  Better  keep  down  increase  in 
the  first  place.  If  you  must  unite,  1  suppose  you 
will  have  to  doit  just  before  the  honey-fiow;  but:, 
dear  me!  you  will  make  ihem  swarm  fearfully  if  it 
is  any  thing  of  a  honey-flow  and  you  are  running  for 
comb  honey.  Of  course,  a  good  deal  depends  upon 
the  size  of  your  hive,  and  whether  you  v  ill  produce 
comb  or  extracted  honey.  The  usual  practice  is,  to 
let  the  bees  alone,  so  far  as  uniting- is  concerned,  un- 
til along  toward  fall— that  is,  providing  the  colonies 
are  normal.  If  they  are  only  iialf  strei  gth,  of 
course  i^  pays  to  unife  in  summer,  providing  you 
can  do  th  without  too  much  loss  of  bees,  and  this 
surely  would  be  one  trouble  just  befon^  the  honey- 
flow.  Uniting  can  not  usual  ly  be  pract  iced  satisfac- 
torily except  in  ihc  fall,  when  the  days  are  too  cool 
for  the  bees  to  fly  much. 

C.  C.  &  S.,  with  several  others,  say  that  their  bees 
seem  to  be  suffering  from  fits;  that  xhey  come  out 
and  flop  and  crawl  around,  i^n  1  finally  collapse; 
that  they  have  a  sort  of  ti  emulous  mot  on  to  their 
wings,  the  bees  themselves  n.  \  ing  a  swollen  and 
greasy  appearance.  ^))s.— Th  s  is  what  is  called 
"bee-pai-alysis"  —  a  disease  ih  t  is  getting  to  be 
quite  common,  although  it  h  isnc-^  er  piovi  n  to  be 
anything  serious  excei)t  on  one  or  two  occasions, 
and  is  generally  confined  to  two  or  three  colonies. 
We  have,  in  the  past,  recommended  removing  the 
queen  and  introducing  another;  but  reports  show 
that  this  does  not  always  work.  Some  recommend 
giving  the  bees  a  fine  spray  of  slightly  salted  water, 
the  spray  being  scattered  over  the  combs  and  bees. 


A^SWEES  TO  QUESTIONS  EROM  BEGINNERS. 


Soi^ie  insist  that  this  always  cures,  while  otliers  say 
it  hXis  no  effect.  As  the  disease  sometimes  disap- 
pears of  itself,  we  are  obUged  to  confess  that  we 
know  of  no  remedy  that  can  he  surely  relied  upon, 
althoug-h,  if  we  had  diseased  colonies,  we  would  ad- 
minister the  salted  spray.  Fuller  particulars  will 
he  found  under  the  head  of  Diseases  op  Bees. 

S.  A.  S.,  of  New  Hanapshire,  is  bothered  with  an 
excess  of  drones  and  cfrone  comh,  and  asks  for  a 
remedy.  Am.— Use  foundation  in  f  uU  sheets  for  the 
hrood-nest,  and  cut  out  or  dispose  of  all  your  drone 
comb,  Very  few  drones  will  he  reared  from  a  nor- 
mal queen  if  nothing  but  worker  comh  is  given  the 
hees. 

J.  L.  L.,  of  Kansas,  would  like  to  know  whether 
the  drones  of  a  pure  Italian  queen  are  all  yellow,  or 
whether  there  is  an  occasional  one  with  a  black 
band.  A?i^)'.— Drones  of  a  queen  producing  the  ordi- 
nary normal  three-banded  Italians  are  rather  dark- 
colored,  viiXh  a  very  little  yellow.  There  is  usually 
not  so  much  yehow  showing  on  them  as  on  the 
workers  from  the  same  queen.  Drones  from  tlie  so- 
called  flve-banded  Italian  stock,  in  some  instances, 
are  nearly  all  yellow. 

D.  E.  E,,  of  Arizona,  says  he  has  a  colony  that 
reared  a  queen,  and,  after  she  had  been  laying  in 
the  hive  nicely  for  seven  days,  the  bees  balled  and 
killed  her.  He  says  that  there  was  no  robbing  going 
on  at  this  time,  and  that  the  bees  were  gathering 
alfalfa  honey/  He  asks  why  the  hees  killed  her. 
-d.Jis.— There  was  probably  something  wrong  with 
the  queen.  The  bees  can  sometimes  detect  weak- 
nesses or  undesirable  qualities  in  the  queen  sooner 
than  the  ^ipiarist.  If  robbing  had  been  going  on  we 
might  surmise  that  a  few  of  the  outsiders  were,  cj^t 
the  bottom  of  the  trouble. 

E.  J.  C,  of  Ohio,  asks  how  many  bees  it  will  take 
to  gather  a  pound  of  honey  per  day.  Ans.--Jt  aU 
depends  upon  the  source  from  which  honey  is  com- 
ing—that  is,  the  amount  of  flow.  From  basswood, 
yielding  at  its  best,  a  single  colony  will  gather  from 
3  to  30  lbs.  of  nectar  per  day— probably  3  to  7  would 
he  a  fair  average.  A  good  fair  working-  colony — 
that  is,  the  bees  themselves— weighs  from  5  to  8 
lbs  ;  and  as  we  know  from  careful  experiment  that 
there  are  about  4500  bees  in  a  pound,  there  will  be 
anywhere  from  20,000  to  40,000  bees.  This  number 
should  be  reduced  anywhere  from  a  third  to  a  half, 
so  as  to  include  only  the  working  force,  or  that  force 
tliat  brings  in  the  honey.  We  may  assume,  then, 
that  it  takes,  on  this  basis,  anywhere  from  1.5,000  to 
25,000  field-bees  to  gather  3  to  5  lbs.  of  nectar  from 
hasswood;  or,  to  get  right  down  to  your  question, 
5300  bees  all  day  will  gather  a  pound  of  nectar,  and 
that  "all  day"  may  mean  12  or  14  hours.  From 
clover  the  bees  will  be  able  to  gather  less  than  half 
as  much  per  day.  Mr.  E.  E.  Hasty  figures  that  from 
3.500  to  TOJJ  bees. can  carry  a  single  pound  of  necfar. 
Averaging  the  number  at  5JU0  it  would  seem  that 
either  there  is  a  less  number  of  working  bees  or 
else  they  make  only  a  few  trips  to  tlic  helds.  Dur- 
ing basswood,  bees  are  generally  loaded  down. 

B.  C.  S.,  of  Arkansas,  has  a  lot  of  bees  on  a  farm 
IS  miles  distant,  and  he  desires  to  know  whether  he 
can,  at  this  season  of  the  year  (June>,  bring  them 
home  safely;  and  if  so,  how.  Ajis.— We  would  avoid 
moving  bees  in  the  height  of  a  honey-flow;  and  un- 
der no  circumstances  would  we  do  so  then  unless  we 
were  sure  that  the  bees  would  get  more  honey  in  an- 
other location.  If  the  weather  is  warm,  or  what 
maybe  termed  "hot."  with  the  mercury  running  up 
to,  say,  90o  la  the  shade,  we  should  prefer  to  fix  up 
the  bees  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  We 
would  fasten  the  frames,  if  they  are  loose  or  the 
old-fashioned  kind  ;  tack  wire  cloth  over  the  en- 
trances, and  fasten  some  of  it  over  the  top.  During 
hot  weather,  bees  should  not  have  any  regular  hive- 
cover  on  while  being  moved.  If  a  colony  should  be 
a  very  strong  one  (and  such  is  pretty  apt  to  be  the 
case),  the  bees  should  be  put  into  two  hives  or  else 
have  an  empty  upper  story,  with  wire-clotli  cover. 
As  soon  as  the  bees  have  quit  flying,  load  them  on 
the  wagon  and  bring  them  home  by  moonlight,  if 
you  can  select  such  a  night  in  the  month.  As  soon 
as  you  arrive  home,  place  the  hives  on  their  perma- 


nent stands  and  remove  the  wire  cloth  from  the  en- 
trances, so  that  if,  in  any  case,  the  bees  should  be 
suffering  from  want  of  air,  they  can  be  reheved. 

E.  A.,  of  West  Virginia,  wants  to  know  if  it  is 
a  good  plan  for  a  beginner  to  open  his  hives  every 
day  or  two  to  examine  the  brood-comb.  Ans. — An 
enthusiast  will  probably  do  this  whether  it  is  ad- 
visable or  not.  It  might  and  it  might  not  do  harm. 
During  a  honey-flow,  however,  we  would  not  disturb 
them  unnecessarily.  Every  little  interruption  pre- 
vents .iust  so  many  tiny  drops  of  honey  from  coming 
in  in  the  regular  way.  W .  E.  A.  also  asks  what  to  do 
when  all  the  brood  combs  get  full  of  honey  in  the 
midst  of  a  full  flow  of  honey,  so  that  the  bees  make 
combs  all  over  the  tops  of  the  frame,  even  when 
they  have  section  boxes  in  the  super.  Ans.—lt  the 
flow  of  honey  continues,  the  bees  ought  to  go  above; 
but  sometimes  they  get  quite  content  with  what  is 
already  stored  in  the  brood-nest,  and  then  you  must 
set  them  at  work  in  some  way  if  possible.  If  you 
have  other  colonies  that  are  started  in  sections,  re- 
move two  of  the  sections  with  comb  partly  drawn 
out,  and  filled  with  honey,  from  one  of  the  supers 
where  the  bees  are  working,  and  place  it  in  the  su- 
per where  the  bees  seem  disinclined  to  go.  Give  the 
bees  plenty  of  shade  5  and  if  they  then  fail  to  go 
above,  we  should  be  vempted  to  clip  the  queen's 
liead,  and  introduce  one  of  a  strain  whose  bees  go 
into  sections  readily. 

G.  P.  B.,  of  Arkansas,  asks  the  following  ques- 
tions: 1.  Is  It  ever  necessary  to  extract  from  the 
brood-chamber  to  give  the  queen  room  to  laj'?  2. 
Will  bees  winter  on  buckwheat  honey  entirely,  and 
rear  liealthy  brood  in  the  spring?  3.  Is  sorghum 
sj^rup  a  good  feed  for  bees?  4.  Will  a  populous  colo- 
ny store  honey  without  a  queen  or  brood?  Ans.—l. 
Not  generally,  but  sometimes  it  may  be  advisable. 
A  better  way  is,  to  take  out  the  combs  of  honey  en- 
tirely, store  them  away  for  Avinter  feeding  or  some 
future  extracting,  and  put  empty  combs  or  frames 
of  foundation  in  their  places.  2.  Yes,  generally. 
Buckwheat  honey  was  once  considex-ed  unwhole- 
some for  bees;  and  while  it  is  generally  admitted 
tliat  it  is  not  as  good  as  white  honey,  or,  tetter  still, 
sugar  syrup,  as  a  general  rule  the  bees  will  go 
througli  on  it  in  good  shape,  3  In  the  South,  sor- 
ghum syrup  may  answer;  but  as  a  general  thing 
bee-keepers  in  the  North  prefer  something  else  for 
a  winter  teed.  4.  Yes;  but  tees  usually  have  more 
vim  when  they  have  a  good  thrifty  queen  with 
them;  but  in  order  to  prevent  swarming,  some  bee- 
keepers remove  the  queen  entirel  j'  during  the  lieight 
of  the  honey-flow— first,  to  prevent  swarming;  and, 
secondarily,  to  prevent  the  raising  of  a  lot  of  bees 
that,  later*^  on,  will  be  consumers.  These  bee-keep- 
ers are  reported  to  get  pretty  good  crops  of  honey. 

O.  B.  K.,  of  Maine,  is  greatly  troubled  with  rob- 
bing. He  has  about  thirty  colonies,  and  has  lost 
five  already.  What  is  he  to  do?  yl?7S.— First,  study 
up  on  the  subject  of  robbing,  as  given  in  this  book 
or  any  standard  work.  But  I  may  suggest  right 
here  that  there  are  a  few  important  things  to  be  ob- 
served. See  that  the  hive-covers  fit  tightly ;  that  the 
hives  are  well  made,  and  the  joints  tight-fitting— or, 
at  least,  bee-proof.  After  the  honey  season,  if  the 
colony  is  not  of  normal  strength  the  entrance  should 
be  contracted  It  should  be  contracted  any  way  if 
robbing  is  progressing.  If  the  bees  get  started  bad- 
ly on  a  colony,  close  the  entrance  nearly  tight  with 
grass.  After  a  while,  when  robbing  has  qitieted 
down,  the  grass  will  have  wilted  away  and  fallen 
out  of  the  entrance.  It  is  usually  best  not  to  close 
the  entrance  up  entirely  with  blocks  of  wood.  Even 
if  you  do  not  forget  to  take  them  away  alter  robbing 
has  quieted  down,  the  bees  are  liable  to  smother.  If 
you  are  careless  about  letting  the  bees  help  iln  m- 
selves  to  your  honey-tank,  you  will  have  robbing  all 
the  season.  Every  thing  containing  honey  shou  d 
be  made  absolutely  bee-proof.  When  you  see  bees 
buzzing  around,  and  increasing  in  numbers  around 
a  can  of  honey  or  case  of  comb  honey,  do  not  be  too 
sure  that  they  can  not  get  at  it.  If  they  continue  to 
buzz  around,  you  may  rest  assured  that  they  are 
getting  honey;  and  the  only  way  to  stop  them  is  to 
find  the  place  where  they  are  getting  in. 


i  Glossary.  i 


^b(J  jmen  of  Bet'.— The  terminal  division  of  the  in- 
sect, c.  imposed  of  a  variable  number  of  rings. 

Absconding  Sicann.  —  One  that,  from  any  cause. 
leaA'es  its  hive  and  starts  for  parts  unknown, 
either  without  first  clusreriug  or  because  neg- 
lected when  clustered. 

After-SicannA.— Those  issuing  after  the  first  swarm. 

AligMing-Board.—A  board  in  front  of  the  entrance 
to  a  hive,  on  which  the  bees  alight. 

Apiarian.  —  An  adjective;  of  or  relating  to  bees. 
Often  incorrectly  applied  to  one  who  keeps  bees. 

Apiarist.— One  who  keeps  bees. 

Apiary. — A  spot  of  ground  where  bees,  hives,  and 

all  the  paraphernalia  are  kept :  also  a  number  of 

colonies  kept  in  one  place. 
Apiculture. — The  culture  of  bees. 
Apidce  (Latin.  —Family  to  which  bees  belong. 
Apis  (Latin*.— The  genus  to  which  bees  belong. 
Aphis,  pi.  Aphides.- A  genus  of  plant-louse  that 

emits  a  liquid  sometimes  gathered  by  bees,  and 

called  honey-dew.   iSte  Aphides. i 
Artificial  Fertilization.— Im-pregnaXion  of  queens  in 

confinement,  or  by  mechanical  means. 
Artificial  Heat.— V^drmXh  artificially  produced,  and 

applied  to  bees. 
Artificial  Pasturage.— Tlants  and  trees  cultivated  for 

the  honey  they  yield. 
Artificial  PoUen.—B.ye  meal  or  other  substances  fed 

to  bees  as  a  substitute  for  natural  pollen. 
Artificial  Sicai'm.-A  colony  made  by  the  division  of 

one  colony. 

BaUing.—The  maimer  in  which  bees  cluster  about  a 

queen,  in  attempting  to  sting  her. 
Bee-Bread.— See  Pollen. 
Bee  Culture.— The  care  of  bees. 

J5e€-Drt;^s.— Suit  adapted  to  prevent  stinging  by  bees. 

Bee-Kscape.—Adexice  forgetting  bees  out  of  supers. 
See  Comb  Honey  in  the  body  of  the  work. 

Bee-Gum.— Term  applied  to  that  part  of  a  tree  or  log 
which  is.  or  has  been,  occupied  by  wild  bees.  Ap- 
plied, by  our  friends  in  the  South,  to  all  kinds  of 
bee-hives. 

Bee-Hu^e.— A  box.  or  other  receptacle,  made  by  man, 
to  be  used  as  a  home  for  the  honey-bee.  and'usual- 
ly  containing  but  one  colonv.  (See  Bee-Gum  and 
Skep.) 

Bee-House. — A  house  for  bee-hives.  Also  applied  to 
the  rude  sheds  seen  about  the  country,  where  one 
or  more  hives  are  crowded  together. 

B€€-l/!?ie.— The  most  direct  route  between  two  places. 

Bee-Muth. — A  gray  miller,  inch  long,  the  larvge  of 
which  feed  upon  and  destroy  combs. 

Be  P.ira^f/^i-..  A  disease  alfeeting  adult  tees.  (See 
Diseases  of  Hees.  ia  the  l  ody  of  the  work.' 

Be€-P?a nfs.— Plants  which  are  valuable  as  honey-pro- 
ducers. 

Be€-.Space.— "  A  space  that  will  admit  of  the  passage 
of  a  bee.'"  and  "in  wbich  bees  are  least  apt  to 
l>uild  burr-corn bs.""   It  is  a  scant     of  an  inch. 

Bees  u-az.— See  TTax. 

Bee-Tree.— A  tree  occupied  by  a  swarm  of  bees. 
BZack  Be€^.— A  variety  of  the  species  ^p(S  mellifica. 

whose  color  varies  from  dark  brown  to  black.  They 

are  natives  of  Germany. 
Blttik  ISi<,od.—.\  malignant  conttigious  disease.  (See 

Foul  Brood,  in  the  body  of  the  work.) 
Bottom-Board.— The  floor  of  a  hive. 

of  the  work. 

Bo.c  Hire.— See  Hives;  also  Box  Hives,  in  the  body 
Box  Honey.— Honey  stored  in  old-fashioned  glass 
boxes. 

Brace  -  Combs.  —  Often  incorrectly  called  "burr- 
combs."  Spurs  of  wax.  built  between  brood- 
frames  during  the  honey-season. 


Brimstoning. — Fumigating  with  sulphur.   See  Fumi- 
gate, and  Taking  up  Bees. 
Broad  Frame.— A  frame  used  for  holding  section 

boxes— now  generally  called  "wide  frame.  " 
BroocZ. —TThen  applied  to  bee  culture,  larvte  in  all 

stages.    Xot  applied  to  bees  after  emerging  from 

the  cell,  however  young  they  may  be. 
Brood-Comb.— Either  worker  or  drone  comb  used  for 

breeding;  usually  applied  to  worker-comb. 
Brood-yest. — The  space  inside  the  hive,  occupied  by 

eggs  and  brood,  extending  in  all  directions  from 

the  center. 
Bro  d-R  a  /  z:^/.— Eaising  bees. 

Bumi,'[':-B->:.  or  Huinble-Bee.—Alaxge  noisy  insect;  a 

species  uf  the  genius  B  >rnbvs. 
Burr-C'  ml  s.    Bits  ur  spurs  of  wax  built  on  the  top 

of  thin  top-bars.    See  Thick-top  Frames,  under 

Hive-Making. 

CandioJ  Hi  ?(■  !/.— Honey  that  has  solidified.  (See  Can" 

died  Honey,  in  the  body  of  the  work. ' 
Capped  Bro  id.— Brood  with  a  thin  film  of  wax  cjv- 
I     ering  the  cell. 

I  Capped  Honey. — Honey  in  cells  that  are  sealed  with 
i  wax. 

:  Cappiiigs  or  Caps.— The  covering  of  brood  or  honey 
in  cells. 

Carniolans.—A  race  of  black  bees  fi'om  the  region 
of  Carniola.  Austria.    Though  much  resembling 
the  black  bees,  they  are  perhaps  a  little  larger, 
and  are  said  to  be  very  gentle.   (See  Bees,  in  the 
body  of  the  work. ' 
CeZ7.— A  hexagonal  depository  for  honey,  and  apart- 
ment for  brood-rearing,  inade  by  honey-bees,  of 
wax;  two  sizes.   See  Honev-Comb.  and  Wax. 
C7iaffHu-e.— A  hive  having  double  walls  filled  with 
'     chaff  at  all  seasons. 
;  Chiilc  F..od.-See  Fvoyal  Jelly. 

I  C7i7T/sa?iS.— State  of  brood  in  transition  from  larva  to 
I     a  fully  developed  bee.    Termed,  also,  pupa  and 
nymph. 

C7im7?ers.— Apparatus  to  assist  one  in  climbing  bee- 
trees. 

Closed-End  Frame.— See  Fixed  Frames,  in  the  body 
of  the  work. 

Gustering. — Manner  in  which  numbers  of  bees  cling 
together. 

Colonii.—A  stock  of  bees,  consisting  principally  of 
worker-bees;  but  which  has.  when  perfect,  one 
queen  and  sometimes  a  number  of  drones. 

Comb.— See  Honey. 

Comb-Ba.sTi-ff.— A  tin  receptacle,  with  handles  and  a 
close-fitting  cover,  for  containing  combs,  or  carry- 
ing them  from  place  to  place. 
Comb  Foundation.— Thin  sheets  of  wax.  which  have 
been  passed  between  the  two  rollers  of  a  founda- 
tion-machine, or  lorm^^d  in  a  foundation-press, 
i     having  the  shape  of  the  bottoms  of  cells,  with 
their  edges  partially  raised.   An  ar-tifleial  founda- 
tion, or  partition,  uporr  which  bees  build  comb. 
Comb  -  Found  rtiirn  MacTiine.—A  machine  consisting 
principally  of  two  metallic  rollers  engraved  with 
such  aceru-acy  that  thin  sheets  of  wax  passed  be- 
tween them  will  have  the  form  of  the  bottoms_of 

cells.   A'so  a  press  for  the  same  purpose.   ' 

Comb-Guide.— Vieces  of  wood  used  as  o-uides  for 
building  combs  in  brood  frames  or  surplus  boxes. 
•  Comb  iIo?!€i/.— Honey  which  has  not  been  removed 
;     from  the  comb;  i.  e..  honey  in  its  natural  state. 
Ci/s?iion.— A  case  or  bag  filled  with  some  soft  and 
loose  porous  substance,  as  chaff,  for  covering 
brood-frames  on  top  or  side.  ^-sja^^  i 

Cyprian  Bee.— A  native  of  the  island  of  Cyprus.  1^'^ 
I  Decoy  Hive.— One  placed  in  position  to  atti-act  and 
i     catch  passing  swarms. 


884 


GLOSS A KY 


D/mding.— Separating"  a  colony  into  two  or  more,  by 

removal  of  combs  or  bees,  or  both. 
Division-Board.— A  board,  of  the  same  length  and 

height  as  the  inside  of  hive,  used  for  contracting 

the  size  of  the  apartment. 
Drone.— A  male  bee,  larger  than  the  worker.  Useful  i 

for  nothing  except  filling  the  sexual  office. 
Drone  Brood.— Brood  in  drone-cells  (see  Cell),  from 

which  drones  are  hatched. 
Drone  Egg.— One  that  is  unimpregnated,  laid  by  a 

virgin  queen,  or  fertile  queen,  or  laying  worker. 
Drumming  Bees.— Driving  from  hive,  by  pounding 

on  the  outside. 
Dysentery.  —  A  disastrous  disease  affecting  bees  in  the 

spring;  a  diarrhoea. 
Dzierzon   Theory  (pronounced   Tseer'-tsone).— The 

theory  of  Dzierzon,  formulated  into  13  proposi- 
tions, treating  mainly  of  queens,  their  virginity, 

fecundation,  and  fertility. 
Emuryo.—lhe  rudiments  of  existence  of  any  plant 

or  animal. 

Entrance.— An  opening  in  the  hive  for  the  passage 
of  bees. 

E77tra?ice-BZoc7fS.— Three-cornered  pieces  of  board, 
for  regulating  the  size  of  the  entrance. 

Egyptian  Bee.  — It  it  differs  from  the  Italian,  it  is  in 
being  lighter  colored,  and  exceedingly  cross. 

Extracted  Honey.— Honey  taken  from  the  comb  by 
means  of  an  extractor. 

Extractor.— See  Honey- extractor  and  Wax-extractor. 

Fdn.— Abbreviation  for  comb  foundation. 

Feeders.— Arrangements  for  feeding  bees. 

Ftnce.^  A  si  tted  S(  paratcr  h.  v  ng  ti  ausverse  cleats 
on  both  sid 's  to  form  ihe  beeways  to  pLdn  sec- 
tions.  S  e  Con  b  Honey. 

Ferti/e.— Productive,  laying;  as,  fertile  queen  or 
worker. 

Fixed  Frame.— See  Fixed  Frames,  in  the  body  of  the 
work. 

Foul  Brood. — A  malignant,  contagious  disease.  (See 
Fuul  'rood,  in  t  e  I  ody  o  ihe  work.) 

Foundation  .—See  Comb  Foundation. 

F)  anie.— A  movable  structure  of  slats,  genei-ally  four- 
cornered,  in  which  bees  build  comb  which  may, 
by  this  device,  be  changed  ab-ait  inside,  or  re- 
moved from,  the  hive  at  pleasure.  It  was  brought 
into  use  by  Rev.  L.  L.  Langstroth,  in  18.51.  See 
cut,  and  Hives. 

Fumigate. — To  expose  to  smoke;  to  apply  the  fumes 
of  sulphur  or  ot  ier  SI  bstance. 

(rZucose.— See  Grape  Sugar. 

Go-Bavk<.  -  Unrtnislied  sections  that  are  returned  to 
the  '  ive  to  be  tl.Ld  out.  (See  Comb  Honey,  in  the 
bo  fly  of  he  book.i 

Grafti)iu  Ce  U.—A  process  of  exchanging  larvae  in  a 
quetMi-cell  for  the  purpose  of  raising  queens  from 
a  choice  queen.  See  Queen-Rearing  m  the  body 
of  this  work. 

.Gramilated  Honey. —Honey  that  has  formed  into 
grains,  in  passing  from  a  x'i'icous  to  a  candied  state. 

Grait  (I  C  Us.  (^ucen-Cills  fiom  nhith  larva  of  an 
U'  d  siiabl  '  que<  n  lias  been  repLiccd  by  a  larva 
from    0  oiC  ' or  br  eeding- quoen. 

Grape  Sugar.— A  saccharine  substance  less  sweet 
and  less  soluble  than  cane  sugar,  made  principally 
from  Indian  corn;  is  called  Grrape  Sugar  because 
it  is  identical  with  the  sugar  found  in  gTapes.  It 
is  often  confounded  with  glucose,  with  which  it  is 
nearly  identical,  but  glucose  contains  more  dex- 
trine than  grape  sugar,  which  renders  it  a  v)erma- 
nent  liquid,  grape  sugar  being  a  permanent  solid. 
Both  substances  are  well  known  in  commerce,  and 
while  glucose  may,  by  chemical  means,  be  convert- 
ed into  grape  sugar,  grape  sugar  can  not,  by  any 
means  known  at  present,  be  converted  into  glu- 
cose. The  sweet  pinnciple  of  both  substances  is 
known  under  the  general  term  of  grape  sugar,  to 
distinguish  it  from  cane  sugar,  and  as  the  manu- 
facture of  these  articles,  as  an  important  industry, 
is  of  rather  recent  date,  our  dictionaries  and  cy- 
clopaedias, so  far  as  I  can  learn,  have  failed  to 
make  any  distinction  between  the  two. 

Green  Honey.— See  Unripe  Honey. 

Hatchinij  Brood.— Brood  just  emerging  from  cells. 

//lue.— A  box  or  receptacle  tor  the  habitation  of  a 
colony  of  bees.   See  Hive-making. 

Holy -Land  Bees.— A  race  of  bees  from  the  Holy 
Land.  They  are  very  prolific,  and  are  good  hon- 
ey-gatherers. As  they  are  so  very  vindictive,  and 
are  no  better  honey-gatherers  than  the  Italians, 
rhey  have  not  come  into  very  general  favor. 

HoJJCjty.- The  nectar  gathered  by  bees  from  flowers, 
and  brought  to  a  viscous  state  by  evaporation  in- 
side the  hive,  after  being  deposited  in  the  cells. 


Honey  -  Bag,  or  Honey  -  Sac.  —  An  enlargement  of 
the  gullet,  or  first  stomach,  in  which  the  bee  car- 
ries the  nectar  gathered  from  flowers. 
Honey-Bee. — An  insect  of  the  species  Apis  mellifica. 
Honey -Board. —An  arrangement  for  separating  the 
I  brood-chamber  from  the  surplus  apartment.  It 
may  be  one  plain  board,  or  a  series  of  slats,  mak- 
ing a  honey- board  large  enough  to  cover  the 
whole  hive  or  brood-nest.  Its  object  is  to  prevent 
the  bees  from  gumming  together  the  upper  and 
lower  stories  with  brace-combs.  It  should  have  a 
bee-space  above  and  a  bee-space  below.  See  Bee- 
Space;  see  also  Honey-Boards,  under  the  head  of 
Comb  HoneJ^  in  the  body  of  the  work. 
Honey -Box. — A  receptacle  for  surplus  honey,  closed 
on  all  sides,  but  with  entrance  holes  for  bees  ; 
mostly  discarded  now  for  the  section  boxes. 
Honey  -  Comb.— A  sheet  of  hexagcmal  cells,  the  same 
on  both  sides,  having  a  middle  wall,  or  partition. 
When  new,  weighs  ^  lb.  per  sq.  ft.,  requiring  for  its 
production  from  1  to  5  lbs.  of  honey.  Brood-combs 
are  %  to  1  in.  thick;  but,  owing  to  the  shape  of  the 
bottoms,  each  cell  has  a  depth  a  little  greater  than 
half  the  thickness  of  the  comb.  Combs  of  this 
thickness  will  hold  3  lbs.  of  honey  per  sq.  ft. ;  but 
the  cells  may  be  lengthened  to  the  capacity  of  10 
lbs.  per  sq.  ft.  Worker-comb  contains  2-^  cells  per 
sq.  in.,  on  each  side;  drone-comb,  16  cells  per  sq. 
in.,  on  each  side:  cells  of  both  are  of  the  same 
depth.  Sides  and  bottoms  of  cells  are.  when  new, 
1-18U  in.  thick.  The  bottom  of  each  cell  is  formed 
of  3  rhombs,  so  united  as  to  make  the  center  of 
each  cell  the  lowest  part,  which  point  is  the  unit- 
in  point  of  three  cells  on  the  opposite  side.  The 
bottom  of  each  a-ll  thus  forms  a  fourth  part  of  a 
rhombic  dodecahedron,  and  a  third  pa>t  of  the 
bottom  of  each  of  the  three  opposite  cells. 
Honey  comb  is  made  by  the  bee,  from  scales  of 
wax.  See  Wax. 
Honey  Dew. — A  sweet,  saccharine  substance  found 
on  the  leaves  of  trees  and  other  plants  in  small 
drops,  like  dew.  Two  substances  have  been  called 
by  this  name— one  secreted  from  the  plants,  and 
the  other  deposited  by  a  small  insect  called  aphis, 
or  vine-fetter. — Wehsier. 
Honey  Extractor. — A  very  ingenious  contrivance  by 
which  centrifugal  force  is  made  to  throw  the 
honey  from  f  rainis  or  pieces  of  uncapped  comb. 
Honey-Gate.— A  cast-iron  fixture  for  drawing  off 
honey  or  other  liquids  from  extractors,  barrels,  etc. 
Honey  House.—A  building  used  for  storing  honey, 
combs,  hives,  and  apiarian  implements;  also  for 
extracting  honey  and  doing  other  work  pertaining 
to  the  apiary. 
Honeii  Knife.— Atwo-edged  steel  blade,  with  inclined 
hnridle,  used  for  uncapping  honey  before  extract- 
ing. 

House  Apiary.  -  A  double-walled  building,  usually  of 
ocragonal  or  rectangular  form,  in  which  bees  are 
kept  both  summer  and  winter  in  separate  hives  as 
out  of  doors.  They  are  but  little  used  now. 
H//Z>/"id.— A  cross  between  two  species.  In  bee  cul- 
ture, generally  applied  to  a  cross  between  blacks 
and  Italians. 

Hymettus. — A  country  of  Greece,  famed  for  the  su- 
perior quality  of  its  honey,  which  is  of  light  golden 
color,  and  gathered  from  mountain  thyme. 
Italian  or  Ligurian  Bee.— A  native  of  Italy,  charac- 
terized by  thren  bands  of  yellow  across  the  upper 
part  of  the  abdom<  n  of  the  worker-bee. 
ItaZ(a?a (Zing. —Changing  from  any  other  species  of 

apis  to  the  Italian. 
Introducing.— -Method  of  presenting  a  strange  queen 

to  a  colony  of  bees,  so  that  they  will  accept  her. 
Intrn(lucing-('age.—A  cage  constructed  for  the  pur 

pose  of  introducing  queens. 
Inverting  —See  Rever.-ing. 

Lamp  Nursery.— A  device  used  in  rearing  queens; 
a  d  luble-Wiilled  tin  hive,  with  space  between  filled 
with  water  kept  warm  by  means  of  a  lamp. 
Langstrot?!  THve.  -See  Hives. 

Larva  (pi.  Larvae).— The  bee  in  the  grub  state,  from 
the  time  of  the  hatching  of  the  egg  until  the  cap- 
ping of  the  cell;   in  other  words,  unsealed  brood. 
L.  Frame.— Langstroth  frame.   See  Hives. 
L.  Hit-e.- Langstroth  hive    See  Hives. 
Layiii.s:  Worker.- A  worker  that  lays  eggs  which 

produce  only  drones.   See  Worker, 
iignrtan  Bees.— The  name  used  by  the  English  for 

designating  the  Italians.   See  Italian  Bees. 
Lining  Bees.— Noting  the  direction  of  their  flight. 
Lo'.  sc  yiames. — See  Fixed  Frames. 
iWandibZes.— Jaws  of  the  bee,  which  work  sidewise 
instead  of  up  and  down,  as  in  higher  animals. 


GLOSSARY. 


385 


Mdextractor.—Honey-extractor.  I 
Metal  Corners.— Tin  fixtures  for  securing-  the  corners 
of  frames,  and  for  forming-,  on  the  upper  bar,  an 
edg-ed  support,  which  can  not  be  made  fast  by 
propolis,  and  under  which  no  moth  worm  can  se- 
crete itself. 
Movable  Frame.— See  Hives. 

Natural  Swarm.— A  swarm  which  issues  spontane- 
ously from  the  parent  stock. 

Nectar  .—The  lower  part  of  the  petals  of  flowers 
where  nectar  is  secreted. 

Neuter—See  Worker-bee. 

Non-Swarming  Hive.— One  so  larg-e,  or  so  construct- 
,  ed,  as  to  control  the  desire  to  swarm;  an  end  never 
r  yet  satisfactorily  obtained. 

Nucleus  (pL  Nuclei  or  Nucleuses).— A  miniature  col- 
ony of  bees,  generally  used  for  rearing-  queens  | 
or  new  colonies. 

Nurse  Bees.— Bees  that  care  for  brood:  g-enerally, 
those  less  than  two  weeks  old. 

Nymph.— See  Chrysalis. 

Observatory  Hive. — A  hive  constructed  partially  o: 
g-lass,  to  allow  examination  of  work  inside  without 
disturbing-  bees. 

Overstocking. —Having  more  bees  in  one  locality 
than  there  is  pasturage  to  support. 

Parafflne.  —A  white,  translucent,  crystalline  sub- 
stance, tasteless  and  inodorous,  obtained  from  the 
distillation  of  mineral  and  vegetable  tar.  It  re- 
sembles spermaceti.  It  derives  its  name  from  its 
remarkable  resistance  to  chemical  action. — TFeb- 
ster.  It  is  sometimes  used  as  a  substitute  for  bees- 
wax, for  coating  barrels  and  other  utensils  for  i 
containing  honey. 

Parasite.  A  species  of  louse  that  lives  on  the  bodies 
of  bees. 

Parent  Stocl-c.—A  stock  from  which  a  swarm  issues. 

Parthenogenesis  (or  Virgin  Breeding.)— The  law  that 
life  is  imparted  by  the  mother  independently,  and 
that  every  egg,  as  originally  developed  in  the  ova- 
ries, is  of  the  male  sex,  but  whenever  fertilized  it 
becomes  transformed  into  a  female. 

Perforated  Zi/ic— Sheets  of  metal,  perforated  with 
oblong  holes,  just  large  enough  to  admit  a  bee,  i 
but  not  a  queen  or  drone.  i 

Pickled  Brood.— A  mild  brood  disease,  sTigh'ly  conta-  I 
gious.   (See  Foul  Brood,  in  the  body  of  the  work.) 

Piping.— See  Queens"  Voices,  under  Queens,  in  the 
body  of  the  work. 

Plain  Sections.— Sections  with  no  insets  nor  bee-  j 
ways,   having  plain  straight  edges.   See  Comb 
Honey. 

PoZZe?!.— Fecundating  dust  of  the  antheral  part  of 
the  stHmens  of  flowers,  gathpred  by  bee,  and, 
when  mixed  with  honey,  used  for  food  of  young 
bees.  After  being  mixed  with  honey,  and  stored 
in  cells,  is  sometimes  called  bee-bread.  ; 

Pollen-Basket.— A  slight  cavity  on  the  outside,  just  ; 
above  the  second  joint,  of  each  of  the  two  hind  I 
legs,  in  which  the  pollen  is  carried.  ! 

Propolis.— A  resinous  substance  gathered,  probably, 
from  the  buds  of  certain  trees,  by  bees,  and  used 
in  covering  rough  places,  and  cem^enting  and  fill- 
ing cracks  about  the  hive. 

Pupa.— See  Chrysalis. 

Quahking.   Note  made  by  young  queens  while  in  the 

cell,   c-^ce  Queens'  Voices,  under  Queens.) 
Q.  Frame  —See  Fixed  Frames. 

Queen.— The  only  fully  developed  female  in  the  col- 
ony; the  mother  of  all  the  rest. 

Qup^n -Cage. —An  inclosure  of  wire  cloth,  or  of  wire 
cloth  and  wood,  in  which  to  confine  a  queen  for  in- 
troduction or  shipping. 

Qween-CeZZs.— Elongated  cells,  in  which  queens  are 
reared. 

Queen mg.— Introducing  a  queen  to  a  colony.  j 

Queenless. — Having  no  queen. 

Queen-Pearjng.— Raising  queens. 

Queen-Register.  -  A  printed  card  tacked  on  a  hive, 
having  an  index  which  the  apiarist  moves  from 
time  to  time,  to  indicate  the  condition  of  the  colo- 
ny or  queen. 

Queen's  Foice.— A  note  frequently  uttered  by  a  | 

queen,  often  called  piping. 
Quinby  Frame.— See  Fixed  Fiames,  in  the  body  of 

the  work. 

Quinby  Hive.— See  Fixed  Frames,  in  the  body  of  the 
work. 

Qui7t.— A  cover  for  brood-frames  made  by  putting 
wool  or  cotton  between  two  pieces  of  cloth,  and 
sewing  them  together.  i 


jRab&et.— Applied  to  a  narrow  strip  of  folded  tin,  to 
be  used  in  any  hive  where  frames  are  suspended 
by  the  top-bar,  either  with  or  without  metal  cor- 
ners, to  aid  in  making  frames  more  movable. 

Rendering  TTa-r.— Separating  the  wax  from  all  for- 
eign substances  by  melting.  Usually  applied  to 
tlie  operation  of  conveiting  combs  into  wax. 

Reversiiuj. — The  turning  over,  or  inverting  combs, 
in  order  to  bring  about  certain  results.  For  full 
narticulars  see  Reversing,  in  the  body  of  the  work. 

Rhamhic  Dodecahedron.— A  solid  having  12  rhomb- 
shaped  faces. 

Ripe  fJo?ie.!y.— That  which  has  by  evaporation  be- 
come suliiciently  thick  to  be  sealed  in  the  cell. 

Robbing.— The  act.  on  the  part  of  the  bees,  of  pilfer- 
ing stores  from  another  hive,  instead  of  obtaining 
them  in  the  ordinary  way  from  the  fields.  It  oc- 
curs usually  when  no  honey  is  to  be  obtained  from 
the  fields. 

Royal  Cell.— See  Queen-Cells. 

Royal  Jelly.— Food  of  queen-larvae.  See  Queen-Rear- 
ing ;  al^o  .Vn  .tomy  of  Bees. 

Sealed  Brood.— See  Capped  Brood. 

Sealed  Honey.— See  Capped  Honey. 

Section  Box,  or  Sectfo/i.-  A  small  box  for  surplus 
honey,  open  on  two  sides. 

Separator.— A  strip  or  piece  of  tin  or  wood,  placed 
between  section  boxes,  to  insure  straight  combs. 

Sheet.— A  single  covering  of  cloth,  for  brood-frames. 

Skep.—A  term  sometimes  applied  to  any  sort  of  bee- 
hive.  The  term  is  used  quite  1  irgely  in  England. 

.■^nlar  Wa.v-extractor.—A  device  for  melting  wax  by 
sun-heat. 

Spent  Queen.— One  that  from  old  age  becomes  in- 
competent to  lay  any  eggs,  or  but  few.  which  pro- 
duce drones  only. 

Spermatozoon  (pi.  Spermatozoa). —One  of  the  animal- 
culfe  contained  in  the  generative  fluid  of  drones. 

Sprc'iding  Br  xid.— The  putting  of  empty  combs  be- 
tween combs  of  brood  i'l  the  sprirg  to  increase 
the  amount  of  brood.  (See  Sprer.d  ng  Brood,  in 
the  body  of  the  work.) 

Sp  -i)}g  Count. Snmher  of  colonies  that  sur^-ive  the 
■sNinter.  and  hence  the  number  started  in  the  season. 

Spri)ig  Dwindling.— Sloyv  decrease  in  size  of  stocks, 
in  early  spring. 

Staiier.—Comh  or  foundation  fastened  in  the  top  of 
surplus  boxes,  to  induce  work  therein. 

Sting.— A  weapon  of  defense,  contained  in  the  pos- 
terior part  of  the  abdomen  of  worker-bees  and 
queens,  composed  of  3  pai'ts,  two  of  which  are 
barbed. 

Stock.— See  Colony. 

St  .rifying.—A  term  used  in  England  for  "tiering  up" 
in  ihis  country. 

Super.- Any  receptacle  for  surplus  comb  honey,  ap- 
plied, to  any  kind  of  upper  story,  either  for  ex- 
iracl^^ed  or  comb  honey. 

Supersede  —To  replace  or  exchange  a  queen  in  a 
hive.  Bees  sometimes  kill  their  own  queen  and 
raise  another,  and  we  commonly  say  say  they 
"supersede"  her. 

Swarm.— A  large  number  of  bees  leaving  the  parent 
stock  at  one  time,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  up 
new  lodgings,  accompanied  by  one  queen  in  the 
first  swarm,  and  in  after-swarms  (see  Colony)  by 
one  or  more. 

Swarming  Season.— The  time  of  year  in  which  bees 

are  most  inclined  to  swarm. 
Syrians.— See  Holy-Land  Bees. 

Taking  up  Bees.— Killing  bees  in  fall,  to  get  the 
honey.   A  practice  now  going  rapidly  out  of  use. 

Tested  Queen.— One  whose  progeny  has  been  exam- 
ined and  found  pure. 

Tiering  up.- Piling  hives  or  supers  one  above  the 
other.    See  Comb  Honey,  in  the  body  of  the  work. 

Trajis/err nig.— Changing  bees  and  combs  from  one 
hive  to  another;  changing  comb  from  one  frame 
to  another.  Usually  applied  to  the  operation  of 
changing  bees  and  combs  from  box  hives  to  hives 
with  movable  frames. 

Transposition  Process.— See  Grafted  Cell. 

Ti  avel  Scain.— The  discoloration  or  dirt  that  is  some- 
times on  and  sometimes  running  clear  through 
the  cuppings  of  comb  honey,   tee  Comb  t  oney. 

I7nguee?i/?ig.— Removing  queen  from  a  colony. 

Unripe,  or  Green  Honey.  -  Honey  which  has  under- 
gone but  little  change  by  evaporation,  and  con- 
tained in  unsealed  cells. 

Unsealed  Larvce .—Young  bees  in  the  maggot  form 
not  capped  over. 

Virgin  Queen— A  queen  which  has  not  been  fertil- 
ized hy  mating  with  a  drone. 


386 


GLOSS'AKY. 


Wax.— A  natural,  unctuous  secretion  of  honey-bees,  j 
formed  in  delicate  scales,  in  the  eig-ht  .wax  -  pock-  I 
ets,  on  the  under  side  of  the  abdomen.  It  is  I 
formed  both  in  activity  and  in  repose,  but  in  much  | 
larger  quantities  while  the  bees  are  quietly  clus-  j 
tered  inside  the  hive.  The  production  of  each  j 
pound  requires  10  to  20  lbs.  of  honey.  It  is  used  i 
by  the  bees  for  comb-building-.  | 

Wax-Extractor— An  apparatus  by  means  of  which  I 
wax  is  rendered  by  application  of  heat.  | 


Wax-Pockets— The  eight  de- 
positories under  the  rings 
on  the  under  side  of  tht 
abdomen  of  a  worker  bee, 
in  which  wax  scales  are 
secreted. 
Wax-Press.  —  A  device  for 
rendering-  melted  wax  by 


■WAX-POCKETS.  *  pressure. 


Wedding-Flight.— The  flight  of  a  virgin  queen,  for 
g  the  purpose  of  meeting  a  drone. 

Wild  Bees.— A  term  applied  to  honey-bees  that  live 
in  the  forest,  in  hollow  trees,  or  in  cavities  of 
rocks,  away  from  the^abodes  of  men. 

Wind-lreaks.— Tight  fences  or  close  hedges,  to  keep 
winds  from  the  apiary. 

Worker  Bee.— Erroneously  called  neuter  ;  an  unde- 
veloped female,  possessing  the  germ  of  every 
organ  of  the  queen,  which  may  at  any  time  be- 
come sufficiently  developed  to  allow  her  to  lay 
eggs,  but  only  such  eggs  as  produce  drones. 
Workers  do  all  the  work  in  the  hive  except 
laying  eggs. 

Worker  Egg:— An  egg  which  is  impregnated,  and  is 
laid  only  by  a  fertile  queen:  will  produce  either 
worker  or  queen. 


Doolittle's  Review  and  Comments  on  the  ABC  Book,  i 


In  1880  we  employed  Mr.  G.  M.  Doolittle 
to  go  over  the  ABC  book  carefully,  that 
he  might  point  out  its  faults,  and  add  such 
suggestions  as  his  large  experience  might 
dictate.  He  did  this  ;  and  his  remarks  are 
of  so  much  value  that  we  have  added  them 
here.  Where  obvious  errors  were  pointed 
out,  of  course  nothing  remained  but  to  cor- 
rect them,  and  so  these  points  need  not  be 
given  here.  In  the  edition  for  1891  we  em- 
ployed him  to  go  over  it  all  again.  In  some 
cases  I  have  answered  his  objections,  but 
generally  he  has  either  given  his  indorse- 
ment or  added  some  hint  or  fact  not  in 
the  body  of  the  book.  To  these  of  course 
we  make  no  answer.  The  figures  at  the  left 
correspond  to  the  small  superior  figures  in- 
terspersed here  and  there  in  the  body  of  the 
work.  The  figure  at  the  right  gives  the 
page  from  which  the  comment  is  taken, 
and  to  facilitate  reference  to  point  at  issue. 
Where  we  differ  the  reply  is  put  in  brack- 
ets, and  signed  either    A.  I.  R.".or    E.  R/' 

1— See  liitroductiDn.  Rig-ht  liere  we  see  the  great 
advance  our  industry  has  made.  Not  a  sing-le  paper 
could  atford.  to  pay  any  thing-  for  an  article  on  hees 
as  earlj^  as  l>-69  to  1873,  unless  it  might  be  by  g-iving- 
a  copy  of  the  paper  free  to  the  writer,  so,  as  you 
say,  a  correspondent  had  no  "compensation  of  any 
account"  as  pay  for  articles  written,  or  the  necessa- 
ry correspondence  which  always  comes  to  the  one 
writing-  articles.  Now,  however,  nearly  all  the  live 
papers  pay  as  much  for  articles  oa  bees  as  upon  any 
other  agricultural  subject,  so  that  the  writer  of  ar- 
ticles can  afford  to  answer  all  correspondents  free, 
excepting-  the  stamps  inclosed. 

3— page  1.  Bees  that  work  hard  all  day,  in  my 
opinion,  do  not  "parade"  about  the  entrance  at 
nig-ht.  This  is  left  for  the  guards  to  do.  These 
guards  perform  no  duty  except  to  look  for  intru- 
ders, while  tliey  are  set  apart  for  this  work.  These 
guards  are  of  the  age  of  from  20  to  30  days,  accord- 
ing to  the  belief  of  one  who  has  scrutuiized  closely. 

6 — page  2.  Scarcely  a  qvieen  need  be  lost,  as  a  few 
bees  will  always  gather  around  the  queen;  and  by 
walking  over  the  yard,  and  looking-  on  the  ground, 
this  ball  of  bees  is  easily  seen,  and  the  queen  picked 
up.  It  is  not  so  easy,  however,  always  to  tell  where 
thej' came  from;  but  this  can  be  done  by  keeping 
them  till  near  night,  and  taking  the  queen  from  the 
bees,  when  thej^  will  return  home  to  tlieir  own  hives. 

8— page  b.  I  find  that  a  pluralitj^  of  queens  is  just 
as  common  in  second  swarms  as  in  third;  and  I 
have  had  as  many  as  half  a  dozen  in  a  first  swarm, 
issuing  from  the  loss  of  the  old  queen  ten  or  more 
days  previously.  During  the  height  of  swarming, 
the  cells  are  not  properly  guarded,  and  thus  the 
j-oung  queens  run  out. 

14— pngeH.  They  will  live  45  days,  from  tln-ee  ex- 
periments I  lu'.ve  tried.  Agnin,  undei-  tlie  most 
favorable  cifcumstances  black  oi-  vei-y  pcor  liybrid 
bee>  will  live  ti-om  the  tirst  of  September  till  the 
fourth  of  tlie  next  July.  August  9.  isss,  I  intro- 
duced an  Italian  queen  to  a  colony  of  p.oorly  marked 
hybrid  l  ees,  and  saw  the  first  yellow  b?e"  hatched 
Sept.  I.  Hllhougli  there  were  fewyellowbees  iiatched 
that  fall.   As  tiie  bees  from  tliis  Italian  queen  were 


very  yellow,  I  took  piide  in  showing  them  to  many 
who  visited  me  the  next  year,  so  I  kept  more  than 
usual  track  of  this  colony.  July  4, 1889,  there  were 
at  least  lOOt)  hybrid  bees  in  this  colony;  and  as  I  had 
no  hybrid  bees  in  the  yard  except  those,  they  must 
liave  been  the  same  bees  which  were  hatched  the 
August  before. 

15— page  6.  Twice  I  have  had  drones  live  over  the 
winter,  and  that  in  hives  which  had  good  prolific 
queens.  The  season  previous  had  been  so  prolific  in 
honey  that  the  bees  in  a  few  hives  seemed  to  have 

I  no  desire  to  kill  off  the  drones  in  the  fall  as  is  usual- 
ly done.   The  hum  of  these  drones  on  warm  days 

I  during  February  and  Marcli  was  very  pleasant  to 
hear,  to  say  the  least.  Wlien  warm  weather  came 
for  good  these  old  drones  soon  disappeared.  From 
this,  and  other  facts  which  I  will  not  take  space  to 
relate-  here,  I  have  an  idea  that  drones  will  live 
about  as  long  as  the  workers  under  similar  circum- 
stances, unless  their  life  Is  prematurely  taken  by 
the  workers. 

19—  page  15.  Have  you  not  made  a  mistake  here 
somewhere?  During  a  heavy  yield  of  hpney,  our 
bees  seem  to  be  glad  of  a  rest,  and  it  takes  at  least 
24  hours  before  our  bees  think  of  robbing,  after  a 
full  flow  of  honey.  We  have  taken  off  honey  after 
a  shower,  as  you  speak  of,  when  each  bee  was  so 
full  of  honey  that,  if  squeezed  a  little,  she  would 
throw  the  honey  out  on  the  tongue;  and,  if  jammed 

j  a  little,  the  honey-sac  (filled  with  honey)  would 
i  buist  through  the  sides  of  the  abdomen.  After  24 
I  hours  has  elapsed,  or  the  season  draws  to  a  close, 
i  we  agree  with  all  you  say. 

i  [1  hardly  think  I  have  made  a  mistake  in  the  mat- 
ter, fiien  l  D. ;  but,  very  likely,  more  time  had 
elapsed  after  the  rain,  than  what  I  have  given  I 
ha\e  noticed  all  you  say,  immedvitely  after  a,  very 
heavy  yield;  but  so  many  others  have  spoktn.of 
having' trouble  in  trying'to  extr;  ct,  after  a  storm, 
that  1  can  not  but  think  my  caution  a  wise  or.e.— 
A.  I  R.] 

20—  p.  16.  I  indorse  all  you  say  about  being  care- 
ful about  allowing  bees  to  get  a  taste  of  honey 
in  times  of  scarcity,  and  know  that  such  "taste" 
often  makes  bees  cross  or  angry;  but  bees  are 
often    angered   by  some    unavoidable  accident, 

j  when  they  will  buzz  about  one's  face  for  hours, 
;  as  you  here  describe.   No  matter  what  has  caused 
;  bees  to  follow  any  one  about  in  this  way,  they 
\  should  at  once  be  killed;  for,  according  to  my  ex- 
perience, if  they  aie  allowed  to  live  they  will 
'  keep  this  up  for  weeks,  or  by  spells  as  long  as  they 
!  live,  which  makes  them  of  little  or  no  value  as 
lioney-aatherers.   Such  bees  are  dangerous  to  have 
around  when  friends  come  into  the  apiary,  and  for 
this  reason  T  always  kill  them,  and  so  have  no  trou- 
ble afterward  till  some  mishap  happens  again.  To 
be  always  piepared  for  an  emergency  of  this  kind  I 
carry  a  little  wooden  paddle  about  with  me  in  my 
tool-box  and  seat,  tlie  center  of  wliich  is  composed 
of  wire  cloth.   This  lets  the  air  pa.ss  througli  tlie 
paddle  in  striking  at  the  bee,  so  it  is  a  sure  kill  ev- 
ery time;  while  if  the  paddle  were  made  of  wliole 
wood,  the  air  would  often  blow  the  bee  to  one  .side, 
so  that  several  efforts  might  be  required  before  hit- 
ting it. 

25— p.  33.  After  carefully  testing  all  of  the  plans 
given  for  the  artificial  feitilization  of  queens  so  far 
made  public,  and  not  meeting  with  a  siiKjle  success, 
I  am  sure  that  there  is  no  sucli  thing  as  a  praclical 
plan,  and  I  very  much  doubt  there  ever  being  sucli 
a  thing  as  a  single  ciueen  that  became  fertile,  only 


388 


DOOLITTLE^S  COMMENTS  OK  THE  ABC  BOOK. 


as  she  went  out  to  meet  the  drone  in  the  usual  way.  I 
In  other  words,  I  think  the  whole  thing  something-  } 
made  up  of  mistakes,  misconceptions,  and  hopeful  ■ 
ideas.  -  I 

26— p.  34.   I  can  not  agree  here.   I  have  had  three  } 
daughters  of  imported  queens  from  as  many  hreed-  ' 
ers,  and  none  of  them  compared  with  the  stock  I  j 
had  taken  pains  to  breed  for  honey.   With  the  ma- 
jority of  apiarists,  probably  your  remarks  are  cor- 
rect; but  we  have  a  few  breeders  whose  queens  are 
far  ahead  of  a  promiscuous  importation  from  Italy;  ; 
at  least,  such  is  mj-  opinion.   Five  hundred  dollars 
would  not  hire  me  to  breed  all  my  queens  from  an  1 
imported  mother,  and  let  my  present  stock  go  down,  i 

[If  better  honey-gatherers  can  be  obtained  by  go-  ! 
ing  elsewhere  rather  than  Italy,  by  all  means  let  us  i 
have  them.— E.  K.]  I 

28— p.  35.  To  this  I  say  arhen,  after  having  tried  j 
the  matter  only  at  a  loss  in  every  instance.  i 

30—  p.  38.   While   honey  contains    much  water,  i 
there  is  something  very  peculiar  about  none  of  the 
moisture  which  is  in  the  honey  ever  soaking  into  i 
the  wood.   In  other  words,  a  barrel  which  is  filled 
with  honey  will  apparently  become  just  as  dry  as  | 
the  same  barrel  would  if  no  honey  were  in  it.   After  i 
thoroughly  drying,  tightening  the  hoops,  and  filling- 
some  barrels  once  with  a  nice  thick  grade  of  bass- 
wood  honey,  they  were  allowed  to  stay  out  in  the 
sun  during  a  very  hot  dry  time  during  the  fore  part 
of  September,  when  the  staves  of  the  barrels  shrank  ; 
so  that  the  honey  oozed  out  at  nearly  every  joint  in  | 
the  barrel;  and  I  have  known  the  same  thing  to 
happen  where  the  barrels  were  waxed.  Barrels 
when  filled  with  honey  should  be  put  into  the  shade, 
and,  if  possible,  in  some  place  where  the  air  is  some- 
what moist.  j 

31—  p.  38.  During  a  period  of  22  years  I  have  never  I 
known  basswood  to  fail  to  yield  honey,  the  very  ! 
shortest  season  yielding  three  days,  and  the  longest 
29.  I  place  basswood  at  the  head  of  all  honey-pro- 
ducing trees  or  plants  as  to  yield.  From  it  I  once 
obtained  66  lbs.  in  3  days,  from  one  hive.  Taking  the 
world  over,  white  clover  may,  as  you  say,  yield 
more  honey  than  basswood;  but  no  area  of  clover 
can  possibly  yield  the  same  amount  of  honey  that 
the  same  area  of  basswood  will. 

33 — p.  39.  This  is  a  picture  of  which  you  may  well 
be  proud ;  for  a  better  picture  to  convey  to  the  mind 
just  what  basswood  is,  was  never  executed.  ; 

36—  p.  47.  you  have  not  mentioned  the  tiest  way 
to  hunt  bees;  namely,  that  of  going  through  the 
woods  on  the  first  warm  days  of  spring,  while  there  i 
is  still  snow  on  the  ground,  and  finding  the  "bee- 
trees  "  by  listening  for  the  humming  of  the  bees  on 
their  cleansing  flight,  and  by  seeing  dead  bees  on 
the  snow,  brought  out  in  "  house-cleaning."  I  once 
found  two  in  an  hour  in  that  way,  and  at  another 
time,  three  in  two  hours  and  a  half. 

37—  p.  48.  Not  till  the  millennium  dawns;  for 
there  always  will  be  careless  bee-keepers,  and  trees 
in  the  woods  where  moths  enough  will  be  bred 
to  remind  the  most  thorough  apiarist  that  they 
still  exist.  I  don't  believe  that  apiary  exists  in  the 
world,  wherein  a  pi.  e  of  combs  can  be  thrown  to- 
gether in  a  pile  during  the  summer  season  and  not 
have  them  soon  become  a  moth- nursery. 

40— p.  53.  With  me  the  Carniolans  are  breeders 
out  of  season,  like  the  Syrians;  hence  they  are  poor 
honey-gatherers.  This,  together  with  the  imperfec- 
tions which  you  have  named,  has  caused  me  to  get 
rid  of  them  entirely. 

42— p.  57.  You  do  not  mention  water  as  being 
mixed  with  the  honey  and  pollen  for  food.  If  water 
is  not  mixed  with  this  food,  why  is  it  so  eagerly 
sought  in  spring  and  summer,  and  not  at  all  in 
warm  days  in  October  and  November?  Now,  I 
claim  that  many  things  point  to  water  being  one 
element  in  this  food;  and  one  of  these  "  pointers  " 
may  be  found  on  page  5  of  this  ABC  book,  near  the 
top  of  the  second  column,  where  you  tell  of  the 
brood  suffering  for  pollen  or  water. 

49— p.  71.  If  I  understand^you  correctly  here,  you 
and  I  do  not  agree  at  all.  I  never  pulled  the  blos- 
soms from  a  head  of  red  clover  yet,  but  that  there 
was  honey  is  them.  But  I  have  frequently  found 
the  corolla  so  long  the  bee  could  not  touch  the 
honey.  I  think  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  that 
secretes  as  much  honey,  year  after  year,  as  red  clo- 


ver; still,  it  is  of  liltle  use  except  to  the  bumble-bee. 
All  that  is  lacking  is  a  bee  with  a  tongue  long 
enough  to  gather  or  reach  the  hone3^  While  length 
of  tongue  Is  lacking,  the  red  clover  blooms  and  se- 
cretes honey  mostlv-  ia  vain,  so  far  as  we  and  the 
honey-bee  are  concerned.  Why  I  say  "  mostl:y,"  is 
because  I  believe  fully  1000  pounds  are  secreted  to 
where  one  is  gathered  by  the  honey-bee. 

50— p.  72.  While  the  name  "  mammoth  "  would  de- 
note that  this  kind  ot  clover  should  have  a  larger 
flower  than  the  other  red  clover,  yet  I  find  that  the 
corolla  is  really  shorter  than  that  of  tne  small  kind, 
hence  the  bees  work  on  it  to  mnch  better  advantage. 
Nearly  all  the  red-clover  honey  I  have  ever  obtained 
came  from  the  mammoth. 

57—  p.  94.  I  say,  put  the  empty  super  on  top  every 
time.  Just  as  much  honey  can  be  obtained  in  this 
way,  and  you  are  not  likely  to  get  caught  with  a  lot 
of  unfinished  sections  at  the  end  of  the  season.  Aft- 
er a  party  has  tiered  up  three  or  four  cases  high, 
and  found  nothing  but  partly  filled  sections  in  any 
of  them  at  the  end  of  the  season,  as  I  have  known 
in  several  cases,  he  will  be  likely  to  put  the  empty 
cases  on  top  for  ever  afterward. 

[The  majority  of  comb-honey  producers  will  not 
agree  with  you.  There  are  of  course  extremes  both 
ways,  and  the  golden  mean  is  better. — E.  R.] 

58—  p.  93.  I  have  used  such  drone  brood  many, 
many  times,  and  I  have  yet  to  see  the  first  section 
that  was  any  poorer  for  it,  except  the  one  which  had 
the  brood  in  it. 

65-p.llO.  This  blossoms  just  with  fruit,  with  us. 
and  so  is  of  little  account,  except  the  little  they  get 
before  and  after,  at  beginning  and  ending.  Dande- 
lion honey,  after  it  is  a  year  or  two  old,  is  just  splen- 
did. 

68— p.  113.  Fults,  of  Muscatine,  la.,  says,  in  Arrieri- 
ca)i  Bee  J'>Mr/iaZ,  for  January,  1880,  that  drones  live 
only  24  days,  while  I  claim  they  live  to  about  the 
same  age  as  a  worker,  if  the  bees  allow  them  to  live 
that  long.  See  15,  or  Doolittle's  comments  on  age  of 
drones. 

70 — p.  115.  If  you  had  said  "practically  pure."  I 
would  not  have  said  a  word;  but  when  you  say  "  ab- 
solutely pure,"  I  can  not  withhold  saying,  "  I  don't 
believe  it."  For  my  views  on  this  subject,  see  my 
book  on  queen-rearing,  beginning  page  107. 

73— p.  121.  My  experience  says  that  the  trouble  was 
not  in  the  patches  of  honey,  but  in  the  pollen  that 
was  under  the  honey.  Mice  are  very  fond  of  pollen 
that  is  fresh  from  being  preserved  with  honey. 

90— p.  152.  Yes,  and  many  times  the  eappings  will 
have  the  sunken  appearance  with  minute  holes,  and 
still  the  brood  be  all  right.  This  I  know  is  so,  for  I 
have  found  hundreds  of  such  cells  in  my  own  apiary 
and  ia  other  apiaries  where  I  know  the  brood  was  all 
right.  The  onlj-  sure  test  is  in  opening  the  cells,  as 
you  say..  Then  if  the  pupa  is  found  to  be  white,  or 
whitish,  with  the  eyes  formed  or  colored,  we  may 
know  the  colony  is  all  right,  no  matter  how  or  what 
is  the  appearance  of  the  cells. 

107— p.  201.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain, 
all  the  cells  which  the  cluster  of  bees  surround  are 
never  filled  with  bees,  except  in  cases  ot  starvation. 
At  all  other  times  it  is  only  the  immediate  cells 
next  the  outside  of  the  cluster  which  are  filled. 
This  is  done  so  as  to  form  a  living;  wall  or  crust 
around  the  outside,  or  so  as  to  retain  all  the  heat 
generated  by  the  active,  or  comparatively  ac  ive, 
bees  inside.  After  Christmas  most  hives  have  brood  . 
inside  the  cluster  to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent,  and 
surely  bees  would  not  pack  themselves  aw^ay  in  cells 
containing  brood. 

109— p.  204.  We  tried  to  so  improve  the  bee  as  to 
make  them  take  cells  4^  to  the  inch,  but  we  had  to 
give  it  up,  and  believe  God  knew  best  when  he 
taught  them  that  five  is  right. 

114— p.  216.  Just  because  anybody  and  everybody 
can  raise  plenty  of  hybrids  themselv3s,  if  they  have 
an  Italian  to  start  with;  but  if  they  have  a  queen 
producing  hybrid  workers,  they  soon  have  nothing 
but  blacKs. 

116— p.  216.  I  have  had  pure  Italians  that  were 
ordinarily  quiet  and  peaceable  get  so  roused  up  as 
to  sting  worse  than  any  hybrid  ever  thought  of 
stinging. 

[Perhaps,  but  that  would  be  the  exception.— E.  R.l 


DOOLITTLE'S  COMME^^TS  OX  THE  ABC  BOOK. 


389 


129—  p.  223.  I  have  had  Italian  bees  that  did  not  i 
show  a  particle  of  black  on  A,  B.  C,  and  only  as 
much  black  on  L  as  there  usually  is  on  B,  while 
showed  nearly  as  much  yellow  ou  the  horny  scale 
as  most  Italians  show  on  C.  According-  to  your  the- 
ory these  should  have  been  poor  workers;  but. 
strange  to  say.  they  were  among  the  ver}'  best  for 
honey-gathering. 

[Not  necessarily.  The  point  I  endeavor  to  set 
forth  that  the  rage  for  color  is  so  strong  that  it  is 
apt  to  overlook  other  qualities.  It  is  not  color  but 
Iwney  that  brings  the  cash.— E.  B.] 

130—  p.  223.  My  experience  says  no,  unless  it  also 
disappears  at  B.'  In  other  words,  if  there  is  a  yel- 
low band  at  B.  there  will  always  be  more  or  less  , 
yellow  on  C,  if  the  bee  is  filled  with  honey  and  plac-  ' 
ed  on  a  window.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  the  seg- 
ments telescope  so  that  the  yellow  on  C  is  usually 
hid  on  poor  specimens,  hence  the  term  "  one  and 
two  banded  bees.''  i 

131—  p.  223.  Dr.  Miller's  comment  here  is  well  put 
in.  A  Syrian  or  Holy-Land  queen  can  no  more  fly 
at  maturity  than  any  other,  and  no  queen  can  tly  at 
maturity.  'The  Syrians  are  more  liable  to  hold 
their  queens  in  their  cells  after  maturity  than  are 
those  of  the  other  races,  and  that  is  the  reason  we 
have  so  many  Syrian  queens  flying  upon  hatching 
from  the  cells. 

[I  was  not  talking  about  queens  flying  at  "  matu- 
rity." but  fly  ng  "on  emerging  from  the  cells.'' 
Very  likely  Dr.  [Miller  was  right,  but  that  does  not 
disprove  rny  statement.— E.  B.] 

132—  p.  224:.  If  queens  are  raised  as  given  in 
"Scientific  Queen-rearing."  all  colonies  g-o  on  with 
their  regular  woi  k.  whether  rearing  queens  or  not. 
This,  I  claim,  is  of  much  value  to  the  queen-raiser 
as  well  as  to  the  honey-producer. 

141—  p.  227.  You  know  we  don't  agree  here,  as  I 
claim  they  go  from  3  to  6  miles  from  choice.  My 
bees  went  4  to  5  miles  to  work  on  teasel  the  past 
year,  without  any  teasels  within  3><  miles  on  the 
first  part  of  the  route.  This  I  know,  as  a  bee  work- 
ing ou  teasel  is  always  partly  covered  with  a  whitish 
dust,  as  they  are  with  yellow  when  working  on 
pumpkin  and  squash. 

[Thanks:  but  I  hardly  think  I  have  put  the  dis- 
tance too  small  in  the  generality  of  cases.*— A.  I.  R.] 

142 —  p.  228.  This  is  something  I  do  not  understand . 
I  frequently  move  colonies  about  in  late  fall,  and 
have  no  trouble.  The  bees  seem  disposed  to  rcark 
their  location  over  again  if  they  chance  to  have  a 
fly  in  December  or  the  last  half  of  November,  so  1 
take  advantage  of  this  in  shifting  my  bees  where  I 
wish  them,  and  especially  in  doubling  up  nuclei.  A 
few  bees  always  hover  around  the  old  place  for  a 
little  time  on'the  first  pleasant  day:  but  from  the 
fanning  bees  at  the  entrance  of  the  moved  hive, 
and  the  disappearance  of  the  bees  about  the  place 
where  they  formerly  stood,  together  with  no  dimin- 
ishing of  their  numbers,  I  am  led  to  think  that  they 
found  their  way  back  all  right. 

144— p.  239.  I  have  shipped  many  colonies  of  bees 
during  the  past  five  years;  and  although  none  of 
the  combs  have  been  wired.  I  have  yet  to  hear  of 
the  first  injured  comb.  As  my  combs  are  deeper 
than  those  in  L.  frames  they  would  be  more  likely 
to  be  damaged  than  would  those  in  the  L.  frame. 

[Perhaps  you  do  not  ship  bees  to  the  extent  that 
we  do.  Xuclei  and  colonies  can  be  shipped  many 
times  on  unwired  combs:  but  our  extensive  experi- 
ence has  shown,  bey^  nd  any  question  or  doubt,  that 
it  is  decidedly  risky  for  us.— A.  I.  K.] 

14.5 — p.  2-32.  VTe  once  had  a  colony  become  so  re- 
duced that,  by  actual  count,  there  were  SI  bees  and 
the  queen,  and  so  they  held  on  till  warm  weather, 
when  they  built  up  without  help,  and  actually  gave 
a  surplus  of  five  pounds  on  buckwheat  in  sections, 
and  were  in  splendid  condition  for  winter.  The 
next  year  this  colony  did  the  best  in  comb  honey  of 
any  colony  in  the  yard.  I  wish  to  do  away  with'the 
idea  which  prevails,  that  a  qtieen  from  a  colony 
which  has  "  spring  dwindled  "  is  good  for  nothing.' 

[Why,  friend  D..  it  seems  to  me  our  bees  don't  act 
just  as  youis  do.  but  perhaps  we  are  both  a  little 
prejudiced.— A.  I.  R.] 


*An  article  in  April  Xo.  of  Gleaxts'SS  for  1882  shows  conclu- 
sivelT  that  Italian  bees  will  fly  from  an  island,  under  favora- 
ble circumstances,  as  much  as  even  seven"  miles.  We  have 
since  had  corroborating  testimony  of  such  long  flights. 


150.— p.  2±T.  If  I  am  correct,  basswood  yields  no 
pollen  at  all.  Elm.  beech,  and  poplar  trees,  as  well 
as  sorrel,  buttercup,  etc..  among  plants,  yield  large 
quantities  of  pollen,  but  no  honey. 

151—  p.  247.  To  Dr.  Miller's  358  I  would  add  :  That 
depends.  "VTith  me,  when  the  dandelion,  hai'd  ma- 
ple, wild  grape,  and  sorrel,  are  in  blossom,  at  least 
half  the  bees  going  into  the  hives  have  loads  of 
pollen,  while  in  the  basswood-honey  harvest,  not  one 
bee  in  200  has  any  pollen  in  its  pollen-baskets. 

152 —  p.  248.    Comment  omitted. 

161—  p.  265.  No.  It  is  the  cocoon  which  the  queen 
spins  that  is  "  tough  an  leathery."  The  material  of 
which  the  cell  is  made  is  little  if  any  more  tough 
than  that  of  the  ordinary  worker-cell.  But  here  is 
a  strange  thing  which  I  do  not  know  that  1  have 
ever  seen  mentioned  :  The  worker  larva,  when  she 
spins  her  cocOon.  attaches  It  to  the  bottom  and  sides 
of  the  cell,  so  that,  at  the  point  where  she  bites  off  the 
covering  to  the  cell,  there  is  little  if  any  of  the  co- 
coon :  while  the  queen-larva  spins  her  cocoon  right 
the  opposite,  having  the  thickest  part  of  the  cocoon 
right  where  she  must  bite  her  way  out.  the  bottom  of 
the  cellhaving no  cocoon  in  it  whatever.  Now.  wheth- 
er this  is  brought  about  for  the  purpose  of  making  it 
hard  work  for  a  rival  queen  to  bite  through  the  cell 
when  she  wishes  to  destroy  the  inmate,  or  whether 
it  is  done  so  that  rhe  queen  larva  can  still  partake 
of  the  royal  jelly  while  she  i>  spinning  her  cocoon,  I 
do  not  know;  but  I  do  know  that  the  facts  regard- 
ing the  position  of  the  cocoons  in  the  different  cells 
are  as  above  stated. 

162—  p.  266.  The  first  hatched  queen  is  enthroned 
as  "ruler  "  of  the  colony,  so  she  is  in  no  way  molest- 
ed by  the  next  queen' allowed  to  hatch.' hunting 
her  up  as  you  here  infer.  It  is  a  rare  thing  that  the 
second  queen  is  allowed  to  hatch,  unless  the  bees 
intend  to  swarm  again,  in  which  case  the  second 
liaiches  after  the  first  has  gone  out  with  the  swarm. 
Once  in  a  great  while  a  whole  lot  of  queens  are  al- 
lowed to  come  out  of  their  cells  and  walk  about  the 
coml  s;  but  in  all  such  cases,  so  far  as  I  have  ob- 
served, the  first  queen  pays  no  attention  to  these, 
but  they  are  dragged  or  driven  out  of  the  hive  by 
the  workers,  and  the  first  one  becomes  the  mother 
of  the  colony. 

16-3 — p.  2d7.  As  far  as  my  experience  goes  on  this 
point,  the  workers  do  this  destroying  of  the  cells.  I 
know  queens  do  tear  open  cells  but  believe  the 
workers  do  most  of  it  when  the  idea  of  swarming  is 
not  entertained. 

164 — p.  267.  In  all  cases  of  after-swarming  there  is 
no  chance  for  a  fight,  as  all  but  the  first-hatched 
queen  are  kept  in  their  cells. 

1S6— p.  287.  I  had  plenty  of  snakes  live  under  my 
hives  one  season  and  the  idea  that  bees  dislike 
snakes  is  all  bosh.  I  have  seen  snakes  glide  in  and 
out  of  the  entrance  to  different  hives,  but  the  bees 
paid  no  attention  3o  them. 

[Yes :  but  snakes  pay  attention  to  the  bees.  They 
once  for  us  depleted  a  full  colony,  besides  makrag 
im  oads  into  q  lite  a  number  of  others.  The  bees 
mav  not  dislike  snakes,  btit  the  snakes  certainlv  do 
like  the  bees.— E.  R.] 

187— p.  288.  You  do  not  say  a  word  abotit  the  bees 
crawhng  all  over  one  when  working-  by  lamp  or 
lantern  light.  This  I  find  to  be  a  perfect  nuisance 
with  me. 

[If  you  work  right,  they  won't  crawl  all  over  you. 
Don't  get  too  close  to  the  lamp  or  lantern.— E.  B.] 

189— p.  293.  Smoke  will  drive  yellow-jackets  and 
bumble-bees  much  quicker  than  it  vrill  bees,  so  they 
will  leave  their  nests  entirfly— the  yellow-jackets 
rarely  returning,  but  the  bumble-bees  will  return. 

191— p.  302.  This  is  the  way  I  always  remove  them ; 
and  if  you  learn  by  instinct,  as  it  were,  to  strike 
your  hand  against  your  clothing  at  the  moment  you 
feel  the  strike  to  sting,  you  -will,  in  nearly  all  cases, 
remove  the  whole  sting,  and  suffer  scarcely  any 

.  pain.  I  always  wear  a  veil,  as  I  don't  want  them  in 
my  face  if  they  did  not  sting  at  all. 

A  bee  must  always  '  lay  hold."  as  it  were,  with  its 
feet  before  it  can  s;ing;  and  after  practicing  strik- 
ing my  hands  down  on  my  clothing  to  rub  stings 
out,  for  years,  it  has  become,  as  it  were,  second  na- 
ture to  me,  so  that,  as  soon  as  I  feel  this  ''laying 
hold,''  my  hand,  or  the  part  the  bee  is  on,  comes  to 

I  the  clothing  without  thought,  so  that  not  one  bee 


390 


DOOLITTLE'S  COMMENTS  ON  THE  ABC  BOOK. 


in  five  which  intends  to  sting-  me  succeeds  in  doing  , 
so.   When  I  go  out  into  the  nee-yard  without  a  veil, 
the  same  instinct,  or  second  nature,  brings  my 
sleeve  up  to  my  face  when  a  bee  alights  on  me  there  \ 
to  sting,  so  that  I  can  safely  say  I  do  not  get  stung  ' 
once  now  to  where  I  used  to  ten  times  fifteen  j  ears 
ago.   I  also  know  in  an  instant  whether  a  bee  which 
alights  on  me  intends  to  sting  or  not;  and  when  it  i 
does  not,  no  inclination  comes  over  me  to  rub  It  off.  i 

193—  p.  304.  Tills  is  the  worst  trial  I  have,  and  I  i 
sometimes  feel  like  telling  such  persons  that  it  \ 
seems  as  if  they  should  "know  something;"  but  '■. 
instead,  I  request  them  to  come  back  where  I  am,  j 
only  to  repeat  it  when  I  open  the  next  hive,  and  so  i 
on.  Isn't  it  strange  that  some  folks  can  not  learn  I 
any  thing? 

194—  p.  301.  This  is  more  common  with  the  blacks  j 
and  hybrids,  very  little  of  this  angry  buzzing  being  j 
done  by  the  Italians.  The  Cyprians  are  the  most  ] 
vindictive  of  any  bees  I  ever  handled;  but,  strange 
to  say,  they  would  allow  you  to  stand  for  hours  at  a 
time  right  in  front  of  the  entrance,  turning  out  for  1 
you  or  puttying  up  with  almost  any  inconvenience  ; 
as  long  as  their  home  was  not  molested,  without  any  j 
of  this  angry  buzzing  or  giving  a  single  sting;  but  I 
let  some  little  mishap  occur  while  opening  the  hive,  ! 
and  a  quart  of  angry  bees  would  be  on  you  in  a  mo-  ! 
ment. 

195—  p.  301.  I  never  had  any  bees  but  the  Cyprians  | 
that  would  follow  me  through  a  door;  but  these  fel- 
lows would  do  so,  and  sting  equally  bad  in  a  room  I 
as  anywhere  else.  It  was  after  a  fight  with  50  to  7.5 
of  these  fellows  in  my  shop  (tighti  ig  till  I  had  killed 
every  one  of  them,  because  they  insisted  on  coming 
into  the  shop  and  stinging),  that  I  decided  that  they 
must  go,  for  the  Cyprian  bees  are  the  best  honey- 
gatherers  of  any  of  the  races.  I 

196  -p.  301.   I  carry  a  "  paddle,"  made  of  wood  and  - 
wire  cloth,  in  my  work-box;  and  if  any  bee  insists 
on  following  me  two  rods  from  its  hive,  I  always 
kill  it  with  this  paddle,  and  thus  my  apiarj^  is  always  I 
kept  free  from  angry  bees.   The  wire  cloth  is  in- 
serted ill  the  center  of  the  wood,  so  as  to  allow  the 
air  to  go  through  the  paddle,  thus  making  sure  of 
hitting  the  bee  every  time,  instead  of  blowing  it 
one  side,  as  is  often  the  case  where  only  solid  wood  1 
is  used. 

[This  is  a  good  thing;  and  since  we  got  the  idea 
from  Doolitle  we  have  a  number  of  them  on  hand. 
-E.  K.] 

197— p.  305.  The  busy  man  has  no  time  for  this. 
Take  otf  the  cover  of  the  hive,  raise  one  corner  of 
the  quilt,  and.  as  you  "  peel "  it  off,  give  two  or 
three  gentle  puffs  of  smoke  under  the  quilt  and 
over  the  tops  of  the  frames.  You  can  now  go  about 
your  work  with  this  colony  of  bees  with  rapidity; 
while,  if  you  try  to  get  along  without  any  smoke, 
you  must  work  slowly;  and,  ten  chances  to  one, 
after  all  your  care  the  colony  will  get  aroused,  ten 
times  the  smoke  now  having  to  be  used  that  would 
have  been  used  on  the  start  if  worked  as  I  suggest, 
and  many  cross  bees  be  following  you  around,  if 
not  killed.  Don't  let  us  get  too  sentimental  over 
any  practical  work  in  and  about  the  apiary. 

201—  p.  308.  I  always  blow  a  little  smoke  under 
the  quilt  as  I  raise  it,  and  after  that  use  no  more  un- 
less they  show  signs  of  stinging.  In  this  way  no 
time  is  wasted  to  have  them  off  from  the  tops  of  the 
frames  out  of  the  way.  Any  colony  can  be  subdued 
by  blowing  in  a  little  smoke  at  the  entrance,  and 
closing  it,  and  then  rapping  on  the  hive  a  few  times. 
In  two  or  three  minutes  you  can  do  anything  with 
them. 

202—  p.  310.  Why  not  say  bees  swarm  because  it  is 
God's  plan  to  keep  them  from  becoming  extinct,  as 
much  as  it  is  his  plan  for  the  birds  to  return  to  us 
each  spring,  mate,  and  raise  their  young  ?  With  an 
apartment  that  is  suited  to  the  bees  for  all  seasons 
of  the  year,  that  is  not  enlarged  or  contracted  by 
man,  the  bees  invariablj'  swarm  if  the  season  is  pro- 
pitious, and  all  the  combined  ideas  of  man  have  not 
as  yet  been  sufficient  to  produce  a  non-swarming 
hive  when  worked  for  comb  honey,  that  was  reliable. 

205—  p.  312.  How  about  the  comb  they  would 
build?  At  present  prices  of  wax,  this  would  be 
worth  more  than  "  a  fly." 

206—  p.  312.  I  never  could  see  a  bit  of  difference 
as  to  the  work  of  a  colony,  and  I  have  watched 
closely  to  see,  when  I  knew  a  colony  had  a  sealed 
queen-cell. 


210—  p.  319.  No  mistake  so  far  as  my  experience 
goes. 

211—  p.  319.  The  hive  which  begins  to  "  draw  "  the 
bees  first  will  usually  get  the  larger  share  of  these 
bees.  To  obviate  this  I  use  two  plans,  the  first  of 
which  is  to  put  a  sheet  over  the  one  that  the  bees  go 
to  first,  as  soon  as  it  has  nearly  or  quite  its  propor- 
tion of  bees,  which  causes  the  rest  of  the  bees  to  go 
to  the  other  location.  If  more  than  two  are  out,  a 
sheet  is  put  over  the  second  hive  when  bees  enough 
have  entered,  and  so  on  till  I  have  them  where  I 
wish.  The  other  plan  is  to  place  a  caged  queen  with 
the  large  cluster  to  hold  it  till  all  get  settled,  and  I 
have  the  hives  all  prepared,  when  I  dip  a  certain 
number  of  measures  full  of  bees  to  each  hive,  let- 
ting each  swarm  have  one  of  the  caged  queens,  and 
all  are  where  and  just  as  I  wish  them. 

212—  p.  319.  I  never  knew  but  one  first  swarm  to 
Issue  the  second  time  on  the  same  day— a  returned 
swarm,  I  mean. 

216— p.  320.  I  don't  agree;  your  extracting  reduces 
them,  for  the  time  being,  to  a  state  of  .poverty,  the 
same  as  a  dearth  of  forage;  hence,  all  idea  of 
swarming  is  given  up  the  same  as  it  is  when  the 
flowers  yield  no  honey,  on  the  principle  that  God 
has  given  them  knowledge  enough  to  know  that 
they  can't  prosper  outside  of  the  old  hive  without  a 
yield  of  honey.  The  above  holds  good  where  small 
hives  are  used.  Large  hives  filled  with  comb  or 
comb  foundation  tend  to  keep  from  swarming, 
whether  the  extractor  is  used  or  not. 

2^6— p.  330.  Don't  lay  the  hive  on  its  side  at  all, 
but  stand  it  with  its  mouth  up.  In  this  way  you  can 
cut  the  nails  just  as  well,  be  in  no  danger  of  injur- 
ing the  combs,  and,  by  putting  a  box  partly  or 
wholly  over  the  mouth  of  the  hive  while  doing  this 
work,  the  bees  will  all  run  up  into  the  box  out  of  the 
way. 

227—  p.  313.  Alternate  the  frames,  and  thus  mix 
the  bees  thoroughly,  and  thej'  will  never  fight  at 
any  time  of  the  j-ear. 

[But  they  do  sometimes,  f  fiend  D.,  icith  us,  never- 
theless. I  wish  you  would  try  uniting  Cyprians  in 
that  way.— A.  I.  K.] 

228—  p.  3^3.  The  honey  will  be  removed  much 
sooner  if  placed  under  the  bees. 

229—  p.  333.   I  never  lost  one  in  my  life. 

230—  p.  334.  I  don't  agree.  August  is  the  time  to 
unite  bees.  The  first  part  of  September  would  do, 
where  fall  flowers  are  abundant.  It  is  far  easier  to 
unite  bees  in  the  brood  form  in  August  than  in  the 
bee  form  in  October,  for  the  brood  the  last  of  Au- 
gust are  the  bees  of  October. 

231—  p.  334.  The  better  way  is  to  shake  the  swarm, 
that  has  been  hived  from  two  days  to  a  week,  out  of 
its  hive,  in  front  of  the  same;  and  while  they  are 
running  in  again,  shake  the  swarm  down  with  them. 
In  this  way  I  never  knew  any  fighting,  but  I  have 
had  nearly  all  of  the  swarm  killed,  in  spite  of  all  I 
could  do,  by  allowing  the  new  swarm  to  run  in  with 
the  one  hived  a  few  days  before,  when  those  estab- 

I  lished  in  the  hive  were  not  disturbed  before  attempt- 
ing to  run  in  the  new  swarm. 

232—  p.  335.  I  wear  it  all  the  while  wlien  I  make  a 
general  business  of  working  with  tlie  bees. 

233—  p.  339.  You  are  just  "shouting"  here,  and 
this  is  one  great  secret  of  success  in  getting  box 
honey.  To  keep  the  surplus  apartment  as  warm  and 
nice  as  it  should  be,  a  cap  or  liood  to  each  hive  is  al- 

;  most  a  necessity. 

1     240— p.  351.   The  reason  why  you  did  not  see  that 
"  spoonful"  of  honey  was  because  you  did  not  look 
in  the  right  place.   If  you  had  taken  a  bud  a  little 
more  advanced  than  the  one  in  the  left  of  the  cut, 
one  just  ready  to  blossom,  and  torn  it  open,  you 
would  have  found  the  honey.   In  this  locality  the 
I  wasps  and  hornets  bite  into  these  buds  near  the 
middle,  so  as  to  get  at  the  honej^  before  the  blossom 
!  opens;  and  after  they  sip  what  thej' wish,  the  bees 
i  take  the  rest..   I  have  often  seen  as  much  as  a  tea- 
I  spoonful  of  tliin  nectar  in  a  single  whitewood  bud. 

245— p.  358.  The  Good  candy  is  best  for  winter 
feeding,  and  it  is  a  great  convenience  to  have  a 
piece  of  wire  cloth  over  the  frames  to  keep  the  bees 
out  of  the  way  while  you  are  putting  the  candy  on 
and  looking  after  things. 


DOOLITTLE'S  CO]SJME^"]'S  OX  THE  A  B  C  EOOIv. 


391 


246—  p.  361.  If  that  warm  day  comes.  We  fre- 
quently have  from  130  to  160  days  here  in  which  the 
hees  can  not  fly:  and  in  such  cases  they  are  hetter 
off  in  the  cellar. 

247—  p.  362.  If  the  temperature  is  right.  A  damp 
cellar  needs  a  higher  temperature  than  a  dry  one, 
to  winter  hees  successfully. 

248—  p.  362.  If  tlie  cellar  is  a  proper  one.  an  open 
winter  should  make  no  difference  ^-ith  it.  hence  I  do 
not  see  any  logic  in  this  sentence.  If  the  hees  are 
short  of  stores  in  the  spring,  it  is  easy  feeding  them 
after  they  are  out  of  the  cellar. 

249—  p.  362.  I  use  my  sawdust  cushions  on  the 
hives  which  are  put  into  the  cellar,  just  the  same  as 
I  do  on  those  outdoors,  and  like  them  much.^  Per- 
haps I  should  say  that  the  hives  which  are  put  into 
the  cellar  are  chalf  hives  also. 

250—  p.  362.  Don't  wait  for  snow.  Put  them  in 
some  quiet  day  witii  the  mercury  at  38  to  44  degrees, 
and  you  will  never  wait  for  snow  again. 

2.52 — p.  36-5.  I  should,  consider  hees  better  off  on 
their  summer  stand  than  in  a  cellar  that  would  vary 
10  degrees  in  temperature.  Such  a  variation  tends 
to  make  the  bees  uneasy,  causes  them  to  go  to  breed- 
ing, and  often  results  in  diarrhea  and  spring  dwin- 
dling. My  bee-cellar  has  not  varied  four  degi'ees  be- 
tween the  hottest  and  coldest  temperature,  while 
the  bees  were  in  it.  during  the  past  fifteen  years,  it 
xisually  standing  at  from  42  to  43  degrees. 

254— p.  366.  In  i-e-covering  my  cellar  with  flag- 
stone I  did  not  make  any  provision  for  ventilation, 
so  the  ventilator  shown  at  6  is  not  on  the  cellar  now. 
I  see  no  difference  in  the  behavior  of  the  bees,  now 
the  ventilator  is  off. 

2.58— p.  368.  As  you  advise  waiting  till  pollen  is  plen- 
tiful (Which  advice  is  gocdt,  your  advice  as  to  the 
time  of  day  in  putting  out  is  bad,  as  it  is  so  warm  at 
this  season  of  the  year  that  robbing  will  likely  re- 


sult from  those  set  ottt  pie^-iously.  or  from  those 
wintered  on  summer  stands.  Con^m'euce  to  set  them 
:  out  about  four  o'clock,  not  setting  any  out  later 
i  than  when  the  sun  is  an  hour  liigh.  on  a'warm  dav, 
'  and  they  will  have  a  nice  fly.  and  protect  themselves 
'  the  next  morning. 

259—  p.  368.  All  of  my  experience  says  weak 
swarms  from  the  cellar  are  no  more  liable  to  swarm 

'  out  than  are  those  of  the  same  strength  wintered  on 
their  summer  stands. 

260—  p.  368.  I  put  half  an  inch  of  dry  basswood 
:  sawdust  on  the  floor  of  my  cellar  every  month  dur- 
I  ing  tlie -w  inter,  which  answers  instead' of  sweepins: 

the  dead  bt- es  up.  and  keeps  all  dry  and  sweet. 

;  261— p.  369.  I  never  used  a  stove  except  one  year, 
■  and  then  I  lost  nearly  all  of  the  bees. 

j  262 — p.  370.  Tlie  uniting  of  spring-dwindling  colo- 
nies  does  no  good.  If  they  will  puil  through  united, 
they  will  do  so  singly.  I  have  put  as  high  as  eight 
such  colonies  together,  and  at  the  end  of  two  weeks 
they  were  no  stronger  than  colonies  net  united, 
which  were  no  better  than  either  of  the  united  ones 
were  two  weeks  pf e^'iously.  ■ 

263— p.  3T0.  I  believe  these  bees  die  of  old  age, 
caused  by  a  used-up  -vitality  from  holding  the  ex- 
crement so  long.   If  you  will  consider,  you  will  see 

i  that  all  evidences  point  that  way. 

I 

i   

! 

Fr/tnd  Boot;— Although  I  have  been  pressed  for 
time  and  hardly  knew  how  to  do  it.  I  liave  tliorongh- 
ly  read  the  preceding  pages,  and  criticised  what  I 
considered  wrong.  I  may  not  have  clothed  my  lan- 
i  guage  with  as  smooth  a  dress  as  some  would  have 
done:  but.  believe  me.  I  have  i.ot  intended  to  be 
harsh,  and  if  you  find  any  thing  that  so  sotmds.  please 
forgive.   I  did  not  intend  any  thing  but  kindness. 

G.  M.  DOOLITTTLE. 

Bjrodino,  X.  Y. 


Miller's  Review  and  Comments  on  the  ABC  Book.  I 


The  comments  of  Mr.  Doolittle  proved  so 
valuable  that  we  employed  a  no  less  prac- 
tical and  prominent  bee-keeper  to  likewise 
review  and  comment  on  the  general  subject 
matter.  This  he  did  in  1880  and  19C0.  As 
is  pointed  out  in  the  preface,  the  editions 
for  1899  and  1900  were  so  much  re-written 
that  an  entire  new  set  of  comments  have 
been  prepared.  Although  we  differ  on  some 
few  points  it  will  be  interesting  to  the  reader 
to  notice  how  nearly  we  agree  in  our  experi- 
ences on  all  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  pursuit.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  Mr. 
Doolittle's  comments  are  numbered  from  1 
to  265,  and  that  Dr.  Miller's  begin  with  305 
and  include  all  successive  numberings.  As 
before,  the  figure  at  the  right  indicaies  the 
page  from  which  comment  is  made.  The 
paragraphs  in  brackets  and  signed  "  E.  R." 
are  the  replies  of  the  reviser. 

305— p.  1.  The  advice  given  as  to  the  manner  of 
using  the  book  is  all  right.  It  should  be  added,  how- 
ever, that  the  beginner  who  wants  to  talie  his  place 
in  the  front  rank  as  a  bee-keeper  will  not  be  satis- 
fied without  also  reading  the  book  throug-h  by  course 
once  if  not  several  times.  Unless  he  does  this,  there 
are  parts  of  the  book  he  might  never  read,  possibly 
omitting-  what  would  be  of  great  value  to  him. 

307—  p.  6.  A  variation  from  this  plan  makes  it 
easier  and  just  as  good.  Hive  the  swarm  on  the  old 
stand  and  set  the  old  hive  close  beside  it,  both  fac- 
ing- the  same  way.  A  week  later,  when  most  bees 
are  out,  remove  the  old  hive  to  a  new  stand.  That 
leaves  the  old  colony  just  as  much  depleted  as  the 
longer  way;  and  the  depletion  coming  more  sudden- 
ly will  more  thoroughly  discourage  all  thoug-ht  of 
further  swarming-. 

308—  p.  7.  For  sweetening-  coffee  or  other  hot 
drink,  I  have  never  liked  any  other  honey  so  well  as 
alfalfa,  probably  because  of  its  mild  flavor. 

311— p.  12.  You  must  not  judge  every  one  by 
yourself.  Pi'obably  not  one  in  five  has  ever  care- 
fully watched  a  bee  using  its  tong-ue,  or  can  tell  you 
whether  it  sucks  or  licks. 

[The  sentence  in  question  was  not  intended  to  im- 
ply that  every  one  knew  the  exact  vwdus  operandi  of 
taking  honey  up  through  the  tongue,  but  to  call  atten- 
tion to  what  every  one  knew;  viz.,  that  the  food  z.s- 
always  taken  up  through  the  tongue.  However,  the 
modus  operandi  is  given  fuUy  under  Tongtje,  which 
see.— E.  R  ] 

313— p.  12.  This  wonderful  stomach-mouth  solves 
a  very  dlliicult  problem.  Honey  or  nectar  swallow- 
ed by  tlie  bee  goes  directly  into  the  honey-sac,  where 
it  may  remain  for  days  unchanged,  just  as  if  in  a 
g-lass  can.  When  the  bee  desires,  it  takes  honey  or 
pollen  from  the  honey-sac  into  the  chyle-stomach, 
where  it  is  changed  into  chyle.  This  chyle  the  nurse- 
bees  feed  to  the  brood,  as  also  to  the  queen  and  the 
drones.  But  how  can  chyle  be  passed  from  the 
chyle-stomach  out  through  the  honey-sac  without 
having-  a  lot  of  raw  nectar  mixed  with-  it?  The 
stomach-mouth  solves  the  problem  by  moving  up 
and  joining  itself  to  the  oesophag-us,  leaving  the 
honey-sac  shut  out  entirely. 

315— p.  24.  If  you  think  that  plan  is  the  most  eco- 
nomical of  room,  I'm  afraid  you  never  figured  on 
the  simple  plan  of  having  four  hives  in  a  group,  one 


pair  side  by  side  with  another  pair  having  their 
backs  to  the  backs  of  the  first  pair,  3  inches  between 
hives  in  group,  g-roups  with  3  feet  between  them  in 
the  row,  and  a  16-ft.  alley  between  rows.  I've  used 
the  plan  for  many  years,  and  like  it  much.  By  it 
you  can  put  on  a  lot  75  ft.  square,  instead  of  8u,  96- 
colonies,  and  have  no  hive  come  within  5  feet  of  the 
fence.  With  only  3  inches  between  hives  (they  may 
be  only  V-A  inches  apart)  no  g-rass  g-rows  between. 

[If  the  hives  in  the  several  groups  on  the  S.  E.  Mil- 
ler plan  were  placed  only  3  inches  apart,  and  the 
space  gained  closed  up  between  the  several  groups,  is 
it  not  true  S.  E-'s  plan  would  be  able  to  accommodate 
more  hives  in  a  given  area  than  your  plan  ?— E.  R  ] 

317— p.  29.  Possibly  the  colors  would  be  more  dis- 
tinct to  omit  the  green,  or  at  least  not  to  have  it 
come  next  to  blue  and  yellow,  which  two  colors  com- 
bined make  green. 

319— p.  34.  I  think  we  are  told  that  the  thorax  is 
no  more  slender  before  than  after  fertilization,  and 
it  is  certain  that  it  is  the  thorax  and  not  the  abdo- 
men that  hinders  a  queen  going  through  a  perfora- 
tion. So  I  suspect  that  a  laying  queen  can  get 
throug-h  any  perforation  that  would  allow  her  to 
pass  when  a  virgin.  But  that  does  not  militate 
ag-ainst  the  trutli  of  your  position,  that  a  queen  be- 
fore her  flight  "will  get  through  a  passage  that  an 
ordinary  laying  queen  would  not."  For  a  laying- 
queen  will  give  up  without  trying  to  squeeze  throug-h 
where  a  virgin  would  crowd  with  all  her  mig-ht.  In 
other  words,  a  virgin  will  g-o  through  where  a  laying- 
queen  would  not. 

[Yes  ;  but  the  abdomen  of  a  laying  queen,  e.special- 
ly  in  the  height  of  laying,  is  much  larger  than  the  ab- 
domen of  a  virgin;  and  aside  from  the  persistence  of 
the  one,  there  will  be  an  additional  physical  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  the  other  passing  the  zinc— E.  R.] 

321— p.  37.  Some  buyers  certainly  prefer  the 
square  can,  and  probably  everj  producer  will  have 
to  find  out  for  himself  whether  it  is  better  for  him 
to  use  the  one  or  the  other.  Then  there  may  be  a 
little  in  knack.  One  man  has  the  knack  of  shipping 
in  barrels  with  no  leaking-,  while  another  manages 
in  some  way  to  have  always  some  leaking.  The  lat- 
ter is  safer  with  tin. 

[Square  cans  are  further  mentioned  under  Extract- 
ed Honey. — E.  R.] 

323— p.  40.  The  age  of  a  basswood  has  much  to  do 
with  the  size  of  the  leaf.  On  trees  with'  trunks  less 
than  a  foot  in  diameter  on  my  place,  the  leaves  are 
from  4  to  6  inches  long:  on  old  trees  very  much 
smaller;  and  on  water  sprouts  the  length  is  9  inches 
or  more.  I  wonder  if  everj^  reader  has  noticed  that 
the  leaves  in  that  excellent  picture  are  lop-sided- 
oblique,  the  botanists  call  it.  All  basswood  leaves 
are  so. 

[You  are  quite  correct,  that  the  age  of  a  basswood 
has  much  to  do  with  the  size  of  the  leaf. — E.  R  ] 

325— p.  51.  Your  advice  is  excellent— no  place  so 
good  for  idle  combs  as  in  the  care  of  bees,  but  some- 
times it  may  be  desirable  to  delay  giving  them  to  the 
bees.  Spread  apart  in  a  cool  cellar,  they  may  be 
kept  till  quite  late  in  the  season  without  the  worms 
doing  much  harm.  But  close  watch  must  be  kept 
when  hot  weather  continues. 

327— p.  56.  Would  you  mind  telling  us  when  ? 
Years  have  passed  since  the  first  talk  about  intro- 
ducing them,  and  at  different  times  we've  been  told 
they  were  just  about  to  be  introduced,  but  how 
much  nearer  are  we  to  their  introduction  to  day  ? 

329— p.  56.  Was  that  in  a  full  colony  ?  Cowan 
gives  5  days'  feeding  for  worker  and  queen,  but  in  a 
nucleus  it  may  be  longer. 


MILLEE'S  COMMENTS  ON  THE  ABC  BOOK. 


393 


[It  was  a  full  colony;  but  it  is  possible  there  would 
be  a  difference  in  the  times  and  circumstances;  but 
A.  I.  R.  says  his  figures  were  verified  by  others  who 
were  experimenting  at  the  same  time  with  himself. — 
E.  R] 

331— p.  57.  I  have  observed  somewhat  closely  for 
years,  and  I  think  these  bees  are  bareheaded  be- 
cause worms  have  eaten  the  capping-s. 

33y— p.  64.  You  are  putting  it  verj^  mildly.  In  an 
ordinary  locality  there  Is  generally  something  to  be 
gathered  by  bees  every  day  from  early  iu  April  till 
late  in  October.  G-ive  a  single  colony  the  entire 
field,  and  for  about  six  months  it  will  gather  daily 
enough  for  its  own  support  and  a  surplus  besides. 
Increase  the  number  to  ten  colonies,  and  half  the 
time  there  will  be  only  enough  pasturage  to  supply  I 
the  bees'  daily  needs.  Run  up  the  number  to  100,  I 
and  the  number  of  storing  days  will  be  reduced  to 
30  or  40,  while  the  rest  of  the  time  the  bees  will 
barely  get  their  own  supplies  if,  indeed,  they  do  not 
draw  on  the  stores  already  garnered. 

[Yes,  I  intended  to  be  clear  inside  of  the  limit;  but 
localities  vary  so  much  that  I  think  the  limits  as  I 
stated  them  would  not  be  far  amiss.  -  OE).  R.] 

335— p.  64.  "If  one  doesn't  care  for  expense," 
how  would  it  do  for  him  to  send  off  for  three  or  four 
full  colonies  ?  After  some  experience  one  can  do 
well  b.iilding  up  nuclei,  but  there's  some  danger 
that  a  beginner  may  make  a  mess  of  it. 

[Yes,  but  that  would  be  going  to  the  other  extreme. 
Express  companies  charge  a  rate  and  a  half  on  bees; 
and  if  one  were  to  send  a  distance  for  four  or  five 
colonies  he  would  have  an  express  bill  that  would  be 
more  than  the  value  of  the  bees. — E.  R.] 

337— p.  64.  "  For  most  localities  "  Hoffman  frames 
may  do;  but  it  would  be  well  to  advise  against  them 
wherever  propolis  is  plentiful.  After  some  years' 
trial  it  would  take  a  good  deal  of  money  to  hire  me 
to  let  any  one  transfer  all  my  combs  into  Hoffman 
frames. 

[From  extended  obseivation  I  am  satisfied  that  your 
locality  is  one  of  the  very  worst  for  propolis.  See 
answers  to  comments  433  and  427.— E-  R-]  

339— p.  70.  While  this  may  not  be  accounted  for  in 
some  cases,  in  others  it  may  be  accounted  for  by  the 
facr.  that  in  a  large  vessel  the  honey  at  top  differs 
from  that  at  bottom.  A  vessel  filled  from  the  top 
will,  of  course,  differ  from  one  filled  from  the  bot- 
tom. 

339—  p.  124.  I  think  there  is  danger  that  the  en- 
trance would  be  worse  clogged  if  stopped  with  wire 
cloth.  Besides,  in  the  cellar  the  dead  bees  may 
need  cleaning  out  several  times  in  the  course  of  the 
winter,  and  the  wire  cloth  would  be  in  the  way. 

340—  p.  124.  Neither  have  I,  if  it  is  to  be  bottled 
up  as  soon  as  extracted,  and  I  know  that  honey  im- 
proves in  the  keeping  of  the  bees ;  but  I  also  know 
that  unsealed  honey  can  be  improved  after  being 
extracted,  and,  if  rightly  managed,  may  it  not  equal 
thatripened  by  the  bees? 

341—  p.  71.  I  feel  quite  sure  that  you  will  find 
white  Dutch  precisely  the  same  as  common  white 
clover.  Under  favorable  circumstances  the  com- 
mon white  grows  very  large. 

343— p.  72.  Alsike  well  deserves  a  place  in  the 
flower-garden.  A  bouquet  of  alsike  is  very  beau- 
tiful and  delightfully  fragrant.  Like  some  others, 
however,  I  have  failed  to  make  it  a  profitable  crop. 

345— p.  72.  Perhaps  alfalfa  will  wear  as  well  as 
clover  honey,  partly  because  not  strongly  flavored. 
But  you  may  reply  that  alfalfa  honey  is  clover 
honey. 

347— p.  73.  Unlike  red  clover,  the  stalks  of  hay 
from  alsike  clover  are  all  eaten  clean. 

349— p.  74.  The  localities  where  sweet  clover  is 
valued  for  forage  seem  to  be  on  the  increase  all  the 
"time.  Is  it  not  possible  that  it  is  valuable  every- 
where if  stock  is  taught  to  use  it  ? 

351— p.  75.  The  time  of  blooming  of  the  yellow  is 
said  to  vary  two  weeks  from  that  of  the  white. 

353— p  75.  I  have  eaten  honey  with  such  a  rank 
sweet-clover  taste  that  I  did  not  like  it.  Possibly  it 
was  not  properly  ripened.  The  finest  comb  honey  I 
ever  tasted,  without  exception,  according  to  my 
notion,  was  some  that  seemed  to  have  a  kind  of 
vanilla  flavor.  I  think  it  was  white  clover  with  a 
small  quantity  of  sweet  clover. 

[I  have  tasted  just  such  honey  as  you  speak  of  ;  and 
at  the  time,  I  thought  it  the  most  beautiful  and  finest- 


flavored  honey  I  ever  sampled,  but  I  did  not  then  sus- 
pect the  presence  of  a  small  amount  of  sweet  clover 
which  gave  the  honey  its  delightful  flavor. — E.  R.] 

855— p.  94.  Nowadays  I  pile  the  supers  up  bee- 
tight,  5  or  10  supers  in  a  pile,  and  put  a  tent  escape 
on  top  as  in  the  cut  of  Miller's  tent  escape.  The  art- 
ist, however,  has  drawn  on  his  imagination  a  little. 
The  device  is  nothing  but  a  common  robber-cloth; 
and  the  escape,  instead  of  being  conical,  is  pyrami- 
dal or  three  sided,  which  is  much  more  easily  made. 

357— p.  S7.  It  has  been  in  the  experimental  stage 
so  long  that  it  looks  doubtful  now  whether  a  satis- 
factory machine  will  ever  be  completed.  Of  coui  se. 
there  are  several  whose  inventors  are  well  satisfied 
with  them,  but  no  one  seems  to  be  on  the  market  yet. 

359— p.  98.  My  experience  varies  a  little  from 
yours.  I  do  not  find  these  unfinished  sections  quite 
as  good  eating  as  those  fully  sealed,  the  unsealed 
cells  not  being  ripened;  but  instead  of  having  to  sell 
them  for  4  to  7  cents  less  than  the  market  for  fin- 
ished sections,  I  can  generally  sell  them  for  2  or  S 
cents  less. 

[Very  likely  you  are  right. — E.  R.] 

361.— p.  100.  Isn't  your  philosophy  a  little  off  here? 
Carry  the  matter  to  extremes.  Suppose  two  sections, 
each  4  inches  wide,  one  10  inches  high,  the  other  1 
inch  high.  Do  you  imagine  the  10-inch  section  will 
carry  more  safely  than  the  1-inch  ?  But  according 
to  your  philosophy  it  should. 

[This  is  the  point  that  I  ought  to  have  brought  out 
in  connection  with  the  statement  in  question  :  No 
matter  what  the  section  is,  there  are  apt  to  be  large  or 
small-sized  holes  at  the  lower  corners.  The  perpen- 
dicular edge  without  comb  attachment  is  anywhere, 
at  these  corners,  from  ^  to  %  inch  high,  no  matter 
whether  the  sections  are  tall  or  square.  There  will 
therefore  be  more  perpendicular  edge  of  comb  con- 
tact in  proportion  to  the  height  in  the  tall  box  than 
with  the  other.  To  take  an  illustration  :  Suppose 
one  section  were  20  inches  high  and  another  4  inches, 
and  that  the  lower  corner  holes  in  both  would  have 
a  perpendicular  edge  of  side  unfastened  ^  inch. 
"We  should  have  five  times  as  much  comb  attach- 
ment in  proportion  to  the  height  in  one  as  in  the 
other.  Again,  suppose  we  have  one  section  4x5  and 
another  4J;(x4 14;,  both  sealed  clear  out  to  the  wood  all 
around.  The  perpendicular  edge  of  contact  in  the 
former  would  be  as  against  4  inches  in  the  latter. — 
E.  R.] 

363— p.  104.  I  don't  know  how  it  maybe  in  other 
localities;  but  in  mine  the  soiling  of  sections  by  the 
feet  of  bees  is  not  worth  mentioning.  I  doubt 
whether  it  could  be  recognized  in  one  section  of  a 
thousand. 

365— p.  104.  Strictly  speaking,  not  one  in  twenty  of 
my  darkened  sections  would  come  in  either  of  these 
four  classes.  When  I  formerly  had  sections  in  wide 
frames  sealed  while  facing  brood-combs,  I  had  some 
of  the  second  class,  but  none  with  thick  top-bars 
between  brood-combs  and  supers.  Nearly  all  of  my 
darkened  sections  come  in  this  way :  They  are  first 
sealed  over  snow-white,  and  then  if  left  on  long 
e]iough  are  darkened.  I  tlxink  the  darkening  is 
caused  by  bits  of  black  comb  being  carried  up  from 
the  bi-ood-combs  and  plastered  over  the  white  cap- 
pings.  The  rule  is,  that,  if  taken  off  as  soon  as 
sealed,  there  are  no  dark  sections.  With  white- 
clover  honey  I  think  there  is  no  exception.  Some 
late  honey  seems  to  have  a  sort  of  varnished  look 
when  first  sealed. 

[There  is  something  about  this  matter  I  do  not  un- 
derstand. The  discoloration  or  soiling  cf  nine-tenths 
of  our  travel-stained  sections  I  have  examined  goes 
clear  through  the  cappings,  and  I  should  be  inclined 
to  believe  that  nine-tenths  of  >'c»2<r  sections  that  were 
travel-stained,  so  called,  belong  to  the  second  class  I 
have  described  in  the  body  of  the  work.  But  I  can 
not  account  for  the  fact  that  they  are  white  to  start 
on,  and  then  are  discolored  after  being  on  the  hive 
for  a  time.  I  should  be  more  inclined  to  believe  that 
such  sections  were  really  travel-stained.  You  can 
easily  prove  the  matter  by  washing  the  surfaces  with 
a  sponge  saturated  in  gasoline.  If,  after  the  bathing, 
they  whiten,  then  of  course  they  would  belong  to  the 
first  class.— E..R.] 

367 -p.  107.  It  maybe  all  right  to  supply  glassed 
sections  where  the  market  demands  them;  but  I 
wouldn't  think  of  introducing  them  where  not  al- 
ready in  vogue.  The  glass  is  mostly  a  dead  loss,  and 
some  one  must  stand  the  loss.  If  the  sections  are 
glassed,  your  customer  does  not  get  as  much  eating- 
for  a  dollar— a  bad  thing  for  him  and  you. 


394 


MILLER^S  COMMENTS  01^  THE  A  B  C  BOOK. 


[In  the  East  the  question  of  extra  cost  is  not  con- 
sideied.  The  consumer  seems  to  want  something 
that  he  can  handle  roughly,  and  put  in  his  market- 
basket  along  with  other  groceries.  There  are  surely 
good  arguments  against  the  use  of  glass;  but  a  custom 
once  established  can  not  be  ignored  or  broken  down. 
If  you  were  in  the  East,  and  the  market  called  for 
gla.ssed  sections,  you  would  furnish  that  kind  of  goods. 
If  the  dear  public  insist  on  paying  two  prices  for  the 
glass  at  so  much  per  pound  for  the  honey,  let  them 
have  what  they  want. — E.  R  ]] 

371— p.  108.  I  have  known  the  reverse  custom, 
which,  although  not  so  bad,  is  still  not  grood.  Quo- 
tations were  given  a  cent  or  two  below  the  market, 
then  honest  returns  were  made,  and  each  bee  keeper 
was  tickled  with  the  idea  that  he  was  getting-  a  cent 
or  two  above  the  n.arket. 

375— p.  110.  You  are  quite  right  as  to  dandelions 
being  on  the  increase;  and  a  curious  thing  about 
them  is  that  their  season,  at  least  in  this  locality, 
seems  to  have  been  greatly  prolonged.  Tliey  bloom 
more  or  less  all  through  the  season;  and  as  I  write 
this,  Oct.  29, 1900,  as  many  dandelion  blossoms  are  to 
be  seen  as  in  spring  25  years  ago.  But  bees  don't 
seem  to  do  much  on  them  so  late  in  the  season. 
Their  value  in  spring  is  great,  they  having  a  longer 
season  than  fruit-bloom.  Some  complain  that  they 
are  getting  so  plentiful  that  the  dark  honey  from 
them  is  mixed  with  the  white  clover;  but  the  gain  is 
probably  much  more  than  the  loss. 

37v)— p.  112.  As  far  north  as  latitude  32°  it  is  hardly 
worth  while  to  go  to  the  trouble  of  removing  a  col- 
ony of  paralytic  bees.  Tlie  disease  appeared  among 
my  bees  25  years  ago  or  more;  and  although  I  never 
did  any  thing  for  it  there  was  never  but  one  case  so 
bad  that  tlie  colony  was  destroyed.  So  far  from  be- 
ing on  the  increase,  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen 
a  single  case  in  this  year,  1900. 

[r  must  take  issue  strongly  with  you  here.  While, 
so  far  as  5-ou  and  your  bees  are  concerned,  no  harm 
would  result,  yet  the  moment  3-ou  begin  to  sell  queens, 
that  very  moment,  unless  you  keep  all  paralytic  cases 
out  of  5^our  apiary,  3'ou  incur  the  risk  of  transmitting 
bee-paralysis  to  a  locality  where  it  may-  prove  to  be 
most  destructive.  Am  I  not  right?  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  the  disease  does  but  little  harm  in  the  North; 
but  it  is  most  virulent  in  some  sections  of  the  South. 
You  sell  queens,  and  so  do  we;  and  the  only  way  to 
avoid  the  danger  of  transmitting  paralysis  is  to  estab- 
lish a  quarantine  for  the  sick  bees. — E.  R-] 

383— p.  113.  July  8,  1860,  twenty-eight  years  before 
the  date  you  mention,  the  same  tiling  was  observed 
by  W.  W.  Cary  and  E.  C.  Otis.  Father  Langstroth 
reports  it  in  the  American  Bee  Journal,  Vol.  I.,  p.  66. 

385— p.  118.  If  the  scientists  tackle  problems  of 
that  sort  they  will  have  their  hands  full.  Why  are 
some  people  red-headed  ?  Why  have  some  people 
pug  noses  ? 

387— p.  118.  The  term  "diarrhoea"  is  oftener  used 
now  than  "  dysentery,"  and  perhaps  should  displace 
it  altogether,  for  the"^disease  acts  more  like  diarrhoea 
i^  the  human  subject  than  dysentery. 

391— p.  119.  Is  not  a  good  cellar  in  proper  condi- 
tion just  as  ready  a  means  at  the  command  of  some? 

[A  good  cellar  is  probably  just  as  well  where  cellar 
wintering  is  found  to  be  advisable. — E.  R  ] 

399— p.  121.  Mice  are  not  so  apt  to  riddle  surplus 
combs  in  which  no  brood  has  been  raised,  as  old 
black  brood-combs.  These  they  will  chew  up  fine, 
perhaps  on  account  of  the  cocoons,  (may  they  not 
contain  a  trifle  of  sweetness?)  and  I  think  in  such 
combs  I  would  rather  have  occasional  batches  of 
honey,  or  honey  accessible  near  by.  in  hopes  that 
they  "might  gnaw  the  combs  less.  One  year  mice 
were  plentiful  in  my  honey-room,  where  were  thou- 
sands of  sections,  and  scarcelj-  a  section  was  touch- 
ed, because  extracted  honey  was  allowed  in  daubs 
on  the  floor.  Extremely  untidy,  but  it  saved  dollars. 

403— p.  123.  I  do  not  know  that  thei-e  is  any  more 
■chance  of  clogging  in  single-walled  hives,  providing 
they  are  wintered  in  the  cellar. 

107— p.  123.  The  entrances  to  my  hives  were  % 
inch,  full  width  of  the  hive.  I  found  it  so  difficult 
to  clean  out  the  dead  bees,  in  the  cellar,  that  I  took 
.a  2-inch  chisel  and  enlarged  all  the  entrances  to  M 
inch.  I  think  I  like  this  better  for  all  times  of  the 
year.  In  early  spring  a  pine  stick  closes  up  the  en- 
trance so  only  a  few  bees  can  pass.  If  at  any  time 
this  seems  to  crowd  them  the  entrance  is  enlarged; 
and  when  hot  weather  comes,  the  whole  entrance  is 
left  open. 


417— p.  127.  For  years,  when  I  wanted  any  extra 
nice  honey  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  draining  it 
off  and  melting  the  grain,  and  never  failed  with 
clover  honey;  but  linden  (I  don't  often  have  linden) 
I  can't  drain.  It  runs,  grain  and  all,  like  half-melt- 
ed lard.   Is  all  linden  the  same? 

[I  do  not  think  all  linden  can  be  the  same,  for  with 
I  us  it  gives  the  very  nicest,  whitest,  and  dryest  lumps 
I  of  candied  honey.  In  fact,  we  have  had  barrels  of  it 
I  drained  off  so  it  could  be  handled  much  like  sugar, 
j  —A.  I.  R.] 

;  423— p.  151.  You  don't  need  to  go  any  farther 
I  south  than  Marengo,  111.,  to  find  a  place  where  Hoff- 
man frames  are  "intolerable."  The  old-fashioned 
loose-hanging  fiames  can  be  handled  more  rapidlj% 
and  frames  pioperly  spaced  with  nails  more  rapidly 
than  either. 

[But  your  locality  is  an  exception  so  far  as  propolis 
is  concerned.  I  have  not  found  the  equal  of  it  any- 
where else  in  the  North.— E.  R.] 

437— p.  151.  I  have'  some  of  the  original  Hoffman 
frames,  and  after  the  bees  have  had  them  four  or 
i  five  years  it  is  a  work  of  magnitude  to  get  out  the 
I  frames.  I  think  a  beginner  would  be  likely  to  give 
]  it  up  before  getting  out  the  first  frame.  The  im- 
pioved  Hoffman,  with  only  the  end-bars  touching,  is 
a  great  improvement  But  it  is  still  decidedly  objec- 
tionable. I  do  not  know  of  any  advantage  it  has 
over  a  plain  frame  spaced  with  4  nails,  unless  it  be 
that  the  partially  closed  end  makes  it  a  trifle  warm- 
er, and  the  gain  is  so  small  in  that  di  ection  as  to  be 
entirely  overshadowed  by  the  disadvantages.  The 
Miller  frames,  as  I  call  them  foT-^^ant  of  a  better 
name,  are  spaced  at  bottom  as  well  as  top,  while  the 
tottom-bars  of  the  Hoff'mans  are  by  no  means  at 
fixed  distances,  and  the  same  space  will  answer  for 
Miller  frames  year  after  year,  while  a  set  of  Hoff- 
mans,  after  being  in  use  five  years,  must  have  the 
hive  enlarged  or  the  bee-glue  cleaned  off  Squeez- 
ing together  will  not  keep  the  frames  in  the  original 
space.  Where  there  is  no  propolis,  Hofimans  are 
all  right ;  where  propolis  is  reasonably  plentiful  they 
[  are  all  wrong. 

I  [See  answers  to  comments  423  and  337.  But  I  do  not 
j  see  why  you  attach  so  much  importance  to  the  spacing 
j  of  the  bottom-bars.  Those  of  the  Hoffman  frames  in 
our  locality,  when  squeezed  together,  are  almost  as 
evenly  spaced  as  the  top-bars.  If  the  frames  are 
nailed  up  properly  there  ought  to  be  no  great  irreg- 
ularity.—E.  R  ] 

431— p.  162.   Those  having  an  excess  of  physical 
strength,  and  those  who  work  only  occasionally  at 
bees,  may  like  a  seat  of  this  kind;  those  who  have 
no  strength  to  spare,  and  work  all  day,  need  some- 
thing more  stable.   With  such  an  unstable  seat,  a 
certain  set  of  muscles  must  be  kept  at  woik  all  the 
time  keeping  the  balance,  and  this  tires.  Something 
I  like  a  common  glass-box  makes  a  very  good  seat. 
[But  the  feature  of  this  kind  of  seat  is  that  it  can  be 
tilted  back  and  forth,  milkstool  fashion.    I  follow  no 
invariable  rule  in  working  with  the  bees.    Part  of  the 
:  time  I  sit  down,  part  of  the  time  I  kneel  down,  and 
at  other  times  I  stand  upright,  bending  over  only  to 
I  remove  frames.— E.  R  ] 

!     435- p.  163.   When  I  first   handled    frames,  the 
'  breaking-out  of  a  comb  now  and  then  was  a  wonder- 
!  ful  quickcner  in  teaching  me  to  handle  them  the 
I  waj'  you  instruct    From  long  habit  I  still  handle 
I  them  as  you  direct,  but  it  is  somewhat  doubtful 
whether  it  is  worth  while  for  the  beginner  to  learn 
it  nowadays  if  his  combs  are  all  securely  fastened  in 
the  frame  as  they  generally  are.   It  takes  just  a  lit- 
'  tie  less  time  to  whop  a  frame  riglit  over  without  any 
I  circumlocution.   'The  beginner  is  about  as  likely  to 
;  have  combs  break  out  by  leaning  them  against  the 
!  hive  as  he  is  in  handling".   He  leans  them  too  nearly 
;  horizontal,  and,  being  warm  and  soft,  they  gradually 
j  sag  out  of  place  before  he  notices  it.   After  expe- 
j  rience  he  leans  them  more  nearly  perpendicular. 
1     [The  majority  of  bee-keepers  do  not  wire  their 
'  frames,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  orders  as  they  are 
received;  therefore  the  advice  to  handle  frames  in  the 
manner  explained  is,  to  say  the  least,  safe.— E.  R.] 

j    439— p.  165.   Fortunately  that  does  not  restrict  one 
!  to  the  Hoffman,  for  my  frames  spaced  with  nails  can 
be  handled  in  pairs  and  trios  with  entire  satisfaction. 
I     [See  answer  to  comments  427,  437,  and  423. — E.  R.] 

I    443  p.  174.   Probably  not  another  dozen  consecu- 
!  five  pages  in  the  book  can  a  beginner  omit  in  read- 
ing as  safely  as  this  dozen  about  hive-making.  One 


MILLER'S  COMMEOTS  OX  THE  ABC  BOOK. 


395 


-man  out  rif  ten  may  be  so  situated  as  to  make  it 
<iesirabJe  for  him  to  make  his  own  hives,  although  ' 
oiie  out  of  tilty  is  probably  nearer  the  mark.  That 
one  may  read  -  Hive-making"  advantageously.  It 
is  cheaper  and  better  for  others  to  buy  hives  ready 
made,  if  I  buy  my  hives  ready  made  I  don  t  care 
to  learn  a  1  about  hive-making  any  more  than  I 
want  to  learn  shirt-making  in  order  to  buy  a  well - 
:fitting  shirt.  Still,  it  may  pay  the  beginner  to  wade 
through  the  dozen  pages  for  the  few  side-lights  on 
bee  keeping  he  may  catch. 

[Thtre  are  probably  more  bee-keepers  than  you  are 
aware  of  who  desire  to  know  all  about  hive-makiug 
and  the  handling  of  a  buzz  saw.  I  have  been  sur- 
prised in  my  travels  over  the  country  to  see  how 
many  make  their  own  fixtures,  or  at  least  a  part  of  i 
them.  There  are  some  bee-keepers  who  are  real  me- 
chanics, but  I  have  explained  in  the  text  the  circum- 
stances under  which  one  can  afford  to  make  his  own  ! 
supplies.— E.  R  ]  | 

4f~— p.  180.  I  would  not  want  cleats  "all  around  ' 
the  hives,"  but  most  emphatically  I  want  a  cleat  at 
each  end,  as  long  as  the  hive  is  wide.  You  say 
cleats  '"interfere  in  closely  packing  the  hives  to- 
gether for  moving."  Nowadays  you  make  hives 
with  the  new  handles  as  showoi  in  the  cut  on  page 
197.  These  new  handles  are  just  as  much  "in  the 
Tvay,"  and  take  up  precisely  the  same  room  in  pack- 
ing', as  my  end-cleats.  The  cleats  "'add  to  the  ex- 
pense." Perhaps  one  cent  on  a  hive  more  for  the 
two  cleats  than  for  your  hand-holes  and  handles. 
Let  us  see  how  much  convenience  we  buy  for  that 
cent.  "A  little  handier  to  get  hold  of  (I  forgive 
jou  the  "  little  "),  and  two  can  take  hold  as  well  as 
one.  When  carrying  a  heavy  hive  you  can  let  the 
cleats  rest  on  the  entire  length  of  the  fo-earms.the 
fingers  clasped  around  the  hive,  instead  of  having 
the  fingers  support  the  entire  weight  of  tlie  hive. 
About  the  weakest  spot  in  your  hi\-e  is  the  top  at 
each  end,  where  the  rabbeting  leaves  the  wood  1%  of 
an  inch  thick.  That  part  is  easily  split  off;  but  rein- 
forced by  an  end-cleat  it  becomes  i,^g.  and  is  one  of 
the  strongest  parts  of  the  hive,  \\  henever  I  can 
^et  as  big  a  cent  s  worth  of  comfort  as  that  for  my 
money.  1 11  not  begrudge  the  cent. 

[End-cleats  clear  across  the  hive  make  a  clumsj"- 
looking  box;  and,  besides,  the  cleats  do  not  give  as 
good  a  length  of  finger-reach  as  the  cleat  ia  connection 
^wilh  the  hand-hole.  In  spite  of  your  arguments  I  am 
fc-rninst  you  on  the  long  hand-cleats.  And  talking 
ablut  "comfort,"  it  seems  to  me  it  is  with  the  combi- 
nation recommended  in  the  text.  No,  from  my  stand- 
point I  will  save  the  cent  and  earn  another  cent's 
-worth  of  comfort  in  using  the  up-to-date  hand-lift. 
Af'er  all,  a  great  deal  depends  on  what  one  is  used  to. 
— E-  R.] 

J51— p.  181.  The  difference  can  hardly  be  realized 
xinless  one  handles  the  two  kinds  side  by  side  for 
years  as  I  have  done,  part  of  the  top-bars  being  '^g 
thick,  and  part  'a.  One  advantage  of  thick  top-bars 
is  ield  :,m  mentioned.  It  is  that  sections  over  them 
■will  be  w  hiter  than  over  thin  to; -bars.  If  sections 
are  very  close  to  brood  combs,  the  bees  will  incor- 
porate bits  of  the  black  brood-combs  in  the  white 
cappinus  of  the  sections,  and,  even  if  not  so  very 
close,  they  will  daub  some  of  the  black  wax  on  the 
surface  of  sections  left  on  a  considerable  time. 
With  top-bars  Vz  tliick  the  carrying  up  of  black  wax 
is  so  small  that  it  is  suthcient  reason,  if  there  were 
no  other,  for  having  thick  top-bars. 

455  -  p.  182.  No  matter  how  carefully  top-bars  may 
be  spaced,  if  the  bottoms  hang  free  they  will  in  a 
few  years  vary  an  inch  in  spacing  if  the  bottom- 
bars  are  not  too  ^vide.  Much  better  have  a  fixed 
distance  for  bottom-bars  as  well  as  top-bars. 

[See  answer  to  comment  427.— E.  R.] 

4.59— p.  1^2.  Are  you  sure  you  couldnt  handle 
them  in  pairs  if  they  were  spaced  at  bottom  as  well 
as  top  \  Thei  e  is  no  trouble  in  picking  up  at  a  time 
three  of  my  nail-spaced  frames,  but  possibly  the 
staples  may  not  work  just  the  same. 

[Yes,  but  not  so  easily.  The  Hoffman  frames  will 
stick  together  while  handling,  and  when  leaned  up 
against  the  hive  will  hold  together  in  a  body. — E.  R.] 

463-p.  182.  Whether  it  be  the  bee-keeper  or  the 
locality,  I  know  you  couldn't  get  me  to  use  any 
more  Hoffmans  if  yoii  Avould  give  me  the  frame's 
for  nothing,  and  then  pay  me  five  times  their  price 
for  using  them. 

[See  my  answer  to  comments  427,  423,  and  4.37.— E.  R.] 


467-  p.  189.  A  niche  still  stands  vacant  awaiting 
a  satisfactory  hive-cover.  Such  a  cover  must  be 
rain-proof,  ncn-warping,  non  twisting,  and  must 
have  a  dead-air  space  so  as  to  be  warm  in  winter 
and  cool  in  summer.  The  cover  you  describe  is 
good,  but  it  will  twist  so  it  will  not  fit  close,  and  it 
lacks  the  air-space. 

[But  does  the  cover  we  describe  twist  any  worse 
than  any  other  cover  of  a  different  pattern?  I  don't 
know  how  a  non-twisting  cover  can  be  made  unless 
constructed  of  stone  or  iron.  About  the  air-space,  the 
cover  shown  on  page  189  is  constructed  with  that  point 
especially  in  view.  The  space  may  be  made  dead-air, 
or  open  for  the  purpose  of  ventilation. — E.  R  ] 

471— p.  IfO.  A  serious  complaint  tigainst  the  Dan- 
zenbaker  is  that  sections  over  it  receive  an  unusual 
amount  of  pollen,  perhaps  because  of  the  shallow 
frame.  Where  propolis  is  plentiful  the  frames  are 
troublesome  to  handle. 

[I  remember  only  two  persons  who  have  complain- 
ed about  pollen  being  in  sections  when  stored  over  a 
Danzenbaker  brood-nest.  One  was  yourself,  and  the 
name  of  the  other  I  do  not  now  recall.  But  there  have 
I  een  complaints  of  pollen  from  the  use  of  shallower 
brood-nests.  There  have  been  a  large  number  who 
reported  favorably  concerning  the  producing  of  comb 
honey  over  Danzenbaker  hives.  1  have  seen  large 
quantities  of  such  honey,  but  not  a  particle  of  pollen. 
Sa3^  doctor,  you  had  better  move  to  some  other  local- 
it3^,  where  they  do  not  have  so  much  propolis  or  pol- 
len ;  then  you  can  use  Hoffman  frames  or  Danzen- 
baker brood-nests.    See?— E.  R.] 

474— p.  230.  Possibly  it  is  not  so  much  being  used 
to  any  particular  kind  of  honey  as  it  is  a  natural 
d:fference  in  taste.  In  this  vicinity  are  some  who 
are  very  fond  of  buckwheat  honey,  although  they 
do  not  see  it  one  year  in  four.  Those  who  favor 
buckwheat  honey  seem  to  prefer  almost  any  dark 
honey  to  light. 
I  475— p.  201.  It  is  doubtful  whether  there  is  any 
way  in  which  by  the  investment  of  one  dollar  an- 
j  nually  each  bee-keeper  can  do  so  much  to  keep 
down  adulteration  and  keep  up  the  price  of  honey 
as  by  joining  the  Xational  Bee  keepers'  Association. 

479— p.  201.   It  is  just  possible  that  the  hexagonal 
form  makes  a  more  comfortable  footing  for  the 
!  bees  to  walk  on  going  in  and  out  of  the  cells  than  if 
i  the  cells  were  strictly  circular  in  form. 

481— p.  204.   At  first  thought  one  'S  likely  to  think 
that,  if  there  are  5  cells  to  the  inch,  that  makes  2-5 
calls  to  the  square  inch.   Instead  of  that,  5  cells  to 
i  the  inch  makes  29  to  tlie  square  inch,  as  you  give  in 
the  note;  or,  to  be  still  more  exact.  28}3.   To  show 
how  far  wrong  you  are  -insisting  that  25  should  be 
taken  instead  of  29  to  the  square  inch,  I  have  just 
been  doing  some  careful  measuring.    I  took  a  new 
comb,  built  on  foundation  so  stayed  as  to  allow  no 
sagging.   Of  course,  this  may  be  a  little  d  fferent 
'  from  what  bees  would  build  if  left  entirely  to  them- 
selves, but  we  may  as  well  consider  the  combs  actu- 
ally in  use.    A  horizontal  measurement  gave  46 
cells  in  10  inches.   Diagonally  there  were  36  cells 
in  7^/2  inches,  which  is  at  the  rate  of  48  in  10  inches. 
■  That  shows  that  the  cells  are  stretched  a  little  the 
long  way  of  the  sheet  in  coming  through  tlie  foun- 
dation-mill, and  warns  me  that  there  will  be  at 
least  something  less  than  29  cells  to  the  square 
;  inch.   Then  I  measured  perpendicularly,  and  found 
34  rows  of  cells  in  6  inches.   According  to  these 
figures  a  piece  of  comb  10  inches  long  and  6  inches 
:  deep  would  contain  34  rows  of  46  cells  each,  or.  1.564 
cells.   That  makes  a  very  small  fraction  more  than 
'  26  cells  to  the  inch.   Ordinary  wired  combs  would 
;  do  just  a  little  sagging,  no  doubt  bringing  the  usual 
i  number  down  to  25  cells  to  the  square  inch,  as  you 
J  have  insisted.   Herewith  my  apology  for  insisting 
'  heretofore  that  you  were  wrong. 

433 — p.  204.  It  seems  clear  we  are  using  foundation 
with  less  than  5  cells  to  the  inch— in  the  above  case, 
somewhere  from  4.6  to  4.8  to  the  inch.  I  am  not  so 
sure  that  I  agree  with  Bro.  Doolittle  in  his  comment 
where  he  thinks  that,  because  God  made  the  bee  with 
an  instinct  to  make  5  cells  to  the  inch,  A.  I.  Root  was 
off  in  trying  to  make  4J^  cells  to  the  inch.  God  made 
the  strawberry  small;  but  we  think  it  a  rather  good 
j  thing  that  man  has  so  enlarged  it  that  one  tame  berry 
will  outweigh  .50  wild  ones.  It  is  just  possible  that  a 
!  larger  bee  might  be  a  good  thing,  and  larger  cells 
i  might  be  an  element  in  securing  the  same.  Dr.  J.  P. 
Murdock  sent  me  some  bees  of  unusual  size  and  some 
comb  built  by  them,  very  evidently  without  anj'  foun- 
dation, and  the  worker-cells  were  4^  to  the  inch,  and 
some  of  them  larger. 


396 


MILLER'S  COMMENTS  ON  THE  ABC  BOOK. 


487— p.  207.  Prof.  Cook  is  good  authority,  but  there 
are  authorities  who  are  just  as  positive  that  some 
honey-dew  is  not  the  secretion  of  insects.  If  my  mem- 
cry  is  not  at  fault,  I  have  read  of  branches  being 
brought  into  the  house  and  secreting  afresh  the  honey- 
dew  when  it  was  wiped  oflF,  there  being  no  possibility 
of  insects  in  the  case. 

491— p.  207.  Very  likely  there  may  be  a  difference 
in  localities.  In  this  region  I  think  honey-dew  is  al- 
ways objectionable. 

495— p.  216.  Hybrids  are  here  painted  in  such  black 
colors  that  the  novice  would  hardly  dare  to  own  a 
colony  of  them  if  he  could  get  them  for  nothing.  It 
is  only  fair  to  say  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  bees 
in  the  apiaries  of  practical  bee-keepers  in  this  country 
are  hybrids,  and  those  bee  keepers  are  still  alive  after 
hanaling  hybrids  for  years.  Occasionally  a  hybrid 
colony  is  so  cross  as  to  be  unendurable,  and  the  queen 
of  such  a  colony  should  be  promptly  decapitated. 

[Perhaps  hybrids  are  painted  a  little  too  black.  This 
paragraph  was  written  twenty  odd  years  ago  by  A.  I. 
R.,  just  after  he  had  been  having  some  disagreeable 
experience  with  hybrids.  Since  that  time  we  know 
that  Cyprians,  Holy  I,ands,  and  Syrians  leave  hybrids 
far  in  the  shade  so  far  as  ugliness  of  temper  is  con- 
cerned.—E.  R.] 

499— p.  218.  A  very  young  queen  needs  no  cage.  If 
she  has  not  been  held  in  the  cell  by  the  workers, 
when  she  first,  emerges  she  will  be  kindly  received  in 
any  culony,  even  one  with  a  good  laying  queen.  But 
if  a  laying  queen  is  present  the  virgin  will  not  con- 
tinue in  favor  when  she  acquiies  a  little  age,  unless 
the  bees  think  of  superseding  the  old  queen. 

501— p.  319  (Old  No.  349).  For  years  I've  done  this: 
When  a  colony  shows  its  sense  of  queenlessness  by 
starting  queen-cells,  no  matter  if  the  queen-cells  are 
well  advanced,  I  simply  lift  a  frame  out  of  the  brood- 
nest  and  place  the  queen  right  among  the  bees  on  the 
brood,  with  no  precaution  or  preparation  whatever. 
So  seldom  is  there  any  loss  that  I  much  prefer  this 
plan  to  caging,  although  the  plan  might  not  work 
so  well  when  honey  is  not  coming  In.  Latterly  I 
generally  follow  a  still  safer  plan,  original  with  me, 
but  discovered  by  others  as  well.  It  is,  to  merely 
lift  out  from  a  nucleus  the  frame  containing  the 
queen,  and  put  it,  bees  and  all,  into  the  queenless 
hive.  Probably  the  cages  are  best  for  Mr.  Koot,  be- 
cause he  receives  his  queens  from  abroad  in  cages. 

[I  have  tried  both  plans  you  mention  for  introduc- 
ing queens;  but  once  in  a  great  while  they  are  both 
liable  to  fail.  The  lailures  are  so  few,  however,  that 
I  would  let  any  queen  loose  as  ycu  did,  that  does  not 
cost  over  a  dollar.— K-  R-] 

503 — p.  220.  I  have  freed  many  a  balled  queen  by 
throwing  the  ball  in  water,  that  being  the  usual  plan 
before  smokers  were  invented.  Smoke  is  better,  but 
a  caution  is  needed.  If  you  hold  the  smoker  close 
and  blow  very  hot  smoke  on  the  ball,  the  queen  will 
be  promptly  killed.  Ho'.d  the  nozzle  at  a  distance  so 
the  smoke  will  come  on  the  ball  cold,  then  patiently 
blow  till  the  bees  gradually  give  it  up. 

505— p.  223.  You  are  quite  right.  So  is  Doolittle. 
Bees  may  be  extra  good  workers  in  spite  of  their  be- 
ing golden  yellow.  But  it  takes  more  care  to  take 
good  working  qualities  along  than  it  does  to  get  the 
color  without  them,  and  all  breeders  do  not  take  as 
much  care  as  Bro.  Doolittle. 

509— p.  223.  Will  not  any  queen  do  so  if  held  in  the 
cell  some  time  by  the  bees?  Will  a  Cyprian  do  so  as 
soon  as  she  is  old  enough  to  gnaw  out  of  her  cell? 

[Yes,  queens  reared  in  a  Cyprian  colony  are  more 
vigorous  than  those  reared  in  the  average  Italian 
stock;  but  neverthelet-s  I  would  not  have  a  Cyprian 
colony  in  the  apiary.  See  my  answer  to  comment  495. 
— E.  R.] 

511— p.  223.  Some  insist  that,  the  more  queens 
reared,  the  poorer  they  will  be,  and  that  not  more 
than  twelve  queens  to  the  colony  should  be  raised. 
How  is  this? 

[I  do  not  agree,  friend  M.;  that  is,  where  you  have 
a  good  strong  colony  in  the  height  of  the  season. 
Such  a  colony,  I  think,  could  rear  100  queens,  and 
have  them  just  as  good  as  if  it  reared  only  half  a 
dozen.  Even  with  natural  swarming  I  have  seen  as 
many  as  from  fifteen  to  twenty  queens  come  out  with 
an  after-swarm;  and  for  experiment  this  after-swarm 
was  divided  up  into  nuclei  so  as  to  save  nearly  all  the 
queens,  and  they  all  proved  to  be  excellent.— E.  R.] 

515 — p.  226.  I  have  seen  laying  workers  have  the 
cells  filled  with  eggs  just  as  regularly  as  a  normal 
queen.   That  is  only  where  they  are  strictly  confined 


I  to  worker  cells.    Usually  the  first  sign   of  laying^ 
workers  is  an  egg  iu  a  queen-cell,  eggs  being  scarce 
elsewhere.    If  drone-cells  have  two  or  more  eggs  in 
'  them,  you  are  safe  in  saying,  "  I,ayii  g  workers."  A 
'  lot  of  eggs  in  a  queen-cell  is  also  sure  proof. 

[But  is  it  not  unusual  to  see  the  eggs  from  a  laying 
worker  deposited  regularly  in  the  cells? — E.  R.] 

517— p.  228.  Number  was  printed  152  by  mistake. 
The  first  year  I  kept  bees  they  were  pure  blacks, 
and  I  moved  a  colony  perhaps  35  feet,  and  they 
readily  found  their  hive,  and  I  think  there  would 
have  been  no  trouble  in  moving  them  100  feet.  One 
!  summer  I  moved  a  colony  of  Italians  6  feet,  and 
they  never  found  their  hive;  but  if  these  latter  had 
1  been  pure  blacks  they  would  have  found  their  hive, 
I  think,  no  better;  and  if  my  one  colony  had  been 
Italians  the  first  year,  they  could  have  been  moved 
with  safety  25  ft.  The  difference  is  not  in  the  blood, 
but  in  the  number  and  position  of  other  colonies. 
If  there  are  no  other  bees  about,  a  single  colony  can 
be  moved  quite  a  distance,  black  or  yellow. 

[Very  likely  you  are  right,  although  it  is  something 
I  had  never  thought  of  before. — E.  R.] 
519— p.  242.    When  you  are  hitched  up  to  go  to  an 
i  out-apiary,  a  mile  or  two  further  doesn't  make  much 
!  difference,  and  you  might  as  well  be  on  the  safe  side 
and  have  your  apiaries  5  miles  apart,  if  convenient. 
Then  there  will  be  no  interference  unless  bees  fly  2^ 
miles  from  home;  and  you  know  it  is  just  possible 
i  that  Bro.  Doolittle  may  be  right  in  saying  bees  fly 
from  choice  3  miles  or  more. 

523— p.  347.  Frank  Cheshire  says  a  spur  at  the 
termination  of  the  tibia  of  the  middle  leg,  acting- 
like  a  crowbar,  pries  the  pollen-mass  loose. 

525 — p.  247.   I  shouldn't  wonder  if  it  were  much 
the  same  with  you  as  with  me.   There  is  a  great 
!  show  of  pollen  carried  in  from  maple  and  corn,  and 
undoubtedly  a  great  deal  of  it;  but  I  suspect  much 
more  is  stored  from  clover  than  from  any  other 
I  source,  for  the  bees  work  so  much  longer  time  upon 
clover,  although  the  pellets,  as  carried  in,  are  not 
I  so  conspicuous.  Besides,  the  surplus  pollen  carried 
'<  over  winter  is  nearly  aU  of  the  brown  color  of  white- 
j  clover  pollen. 

531— p.  347.  I  may  be  mistaken  about  it,  and  the 
j  ground  is  covered  with  snow,  so  I  can  not  refer  the 
!  matter  to  the  bees ;  but  as  memory  brings  the  matter 
^  up  before  me,  not  more  than  one  bee  in  three 
I  ever  bring  in  pollen,  and  often  not  more  than  one 
I  in  five  or  ten.   Possibly  they  had  small  loads  of 

pollen  when  I  thought  they  had  none. 
\  535 — p.  348.  I  have  fed  many  bushels  of  grain  to 
bees  (generally  ground  corn  and  oats),  and  I  would 
never  think  of  feeding  it  on  the  ground.  The  best 
way  I  have  tried  is  to  take  hive-covers,  6  or  8  Inches 
deep,  put  a  stone  under  each  near  the  middle;  and 
as  often  as  the  bees  work  down  the  feed,  turn  the 
cover  around  so  as  to  leave  the  feed  at  the  upper 
end. 

j  539— p.  S53.  Years  ago,  doing  just  as  you  direct,  I 
!  couldn't  get  my  bees  to  touch  meal;  but  latterly  I 
have  no  difficulty,  without  using  any  honey,  simply 
setting  out  the  meal.  The  explanation  is,  that,  with 
:  a  very  few  colonies,  they  got  enough  natural  pollen 
and  didn't  want  horse-feed;  now  there  are  so  many 
that  pollen  is  scarce,  and  they  are  glad  to  g-et  any 
substitute. 

543— p.  266.  My  observation  does  not  entirely  a£,ree 
with  that  of  Bro.  Doolittle.  If  the  bees  intend  to  send 
out  an  after-swarm,  the  second  queen  does  not  hatch 
I  until  after  the  swarm  leaves,  as  he  says:  but  piping 
and  quahking  has  been  going  on,  one  or  several 
j  queens  in  the  cells  have  the  caps  of  their  cells  gnawed 
through  ready  to  emerge,  but  are  kept  back  by  the 
workers,  and  I  think  the  free  queen  is  also  kept  by 
the  workers  from  these  cells  which  she  is  industrious- 
ly trying  to  destroy.  If  no  further  swarming  is  in- 
tended, instead  of  its  being  "  a  rare  thing  that  the 
1  second  queen  is  allowed  to  hatch,"  it  is  quite  a  com- 
mon thing  with  my  bees,  for  I  frequently  find  two  or 
more  virgins  free  on  the  combs  at  the  same  time. 
These  queens  have  undoubtedly  been  of  nearly  the 
same  age,  and  I  must  very  promptly  remove  any  that 
I  do  not  want  killed.  Instead  of  saying,  as  in  the 
text,  that  a  virgin's  first  duty  is  to  hunt  up  a  queen 
hatched  before  her.  I  should  put  it  a  little  broader, 
and  say  that  "  one  of  her  first  and  foremost  duties  "  is 
to  seek  out,  with  intent  to  destroy,  any  and  every 
thing  in  the  shape  of  a  rival,  whether  in  the  shape  of 
a  hatched  virgin  or  a  virgin  in  the  cell.  I  have  seen 
them  busily  engaged  tearing  open  the  cells  of  their 
royal  sisters,  and  when  two  free  virgins  come  in  con- 
tact it  means  a  fight  to  the  finish. 


MILLEE'S  COMMENTS  OX  THE  ABC  BOOK 


397 


547— p.  267.  A  peculiarity  about  this  destroying  cells 
I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  in  print.  If  queen- 
cells  in  all  stages  are  present,  and  the  bees  decide 
that  no  queen  is  desired  from  any  of  them,  the  un- 
sealed cells  will  be  found  emptied  of  their  larvge,  and 
the  sealed  cells  near  maturity  will  be  torn  down:  but 
the  remaining  sealed  cells  will  be  left  undisturbed  till 
near  maturity. 

.>1:9— p.  267.  Instead  of  paying-  no  attention  in 
such  instances,  is  it  not  the  case  that  the  queen 
tries  to  destroy  the  cells,  but  is  hindered  hy  the 
workers? 

[1  do  not  think  the  queen  even  tried  to  destroy  the 
extra  cells  in  the  case  I  have  ment  oued.  Once  it  was 
an  observatorv'  hive,  and  the  whole  family  watched  to 
see  the  queen  destroy  the  cell;  bui  she  was  never  seen 
to  pay  any  attention  to  it  whatever,  although  she 
often  crawled  right  over  it.— A.  I.  R.] 

550— p.  268.   See  567  below. 

553 — p.  274.  It  is  possible  that,  if  she  had  been  kept 
in  a  cage  24  hours  before  being  shipped,  she  might 
have  gone  through,  safely.  That  would  have  allowed 
lier  to  become  relieved  of  her  burden  of  eggs  so  that 
she  could  cling  to  the  sides  of  the  cage. 

•555 — p.  274.  This  is  true  of  virgin  queens,  but  by  no 
means  so  true  of  laying  queens.  A  number  of  times  I 
have  put  two  laying  queens  in  the  same  cage,  and  I 
never  saw  an  immediate  fight.  One  of  them  would 
likely  be  dead  within  24  hours,  but  I  have  known  both 
to  remain  together  in  apparent  peace  for  several  days. 

559— p.  276.  One  of  the  very  difi&cult  things  is  to  be 
sure  as  to  the  character  of  honey  from  any  given 
source,  unless  it  be  obtained  from  that  source' in  very 
l.-irge  quantity.  You  quote  Langstroth  as  saying  that 
raspberry  excels  white-clover  honey  in  flavor;  while 
F.  Greiner  says.  Gleanings,  June  lo,  1900.  page  472  : 
■'•  There  are  many  extensive  fields  of  black  raspberries 
within  reach  of  my  bees,  and  these  fields  are  fairly 
Tjaring  at  the  time  of  bloom.  The  gain  in  the  hives 
is  noticeable,  and  sometimes  sections  are  filled  with  a 
rather  dark  inferior  honey." 

563— p.  279.  One  advantage  of  a  book  over  all  other 
kinds  of  records  is  its  permanence.  Sometimes  it  is 
desirable  to  refer  to  a  record  of  ten  years  ago.  In 
tracing  the  pedigree  of  a  queen  it  is  useful  to  have 
permanent  records,  giving  amount  of  honey  from 
each  colony,  and  special  characteristics.  Aiiv  kind 
of  movable'record  kept  on  a  hive  is  in  danger  of  being 
disarranged,  but  not  a  book.  The  book  I  prefer  is  12 
inches  long  and  5  or  6  inches  wide,  three  colonies  to  a 
page.  It  is  important  that  there  be  only  one  sewing 
through  the  book;  that  is,  the  first  leaf  and  the  last 
leaf  of  the  book  are  the  same  shtet.  the  second  leaf 
and  the  next  to  the  last  leaf  are  the  same,  and  so  on. 
Such  a  book,  with  the  entries  made  with  pencil,  is  not 
greatly  damaged  if  left  out  in  a  rain. 

567— p.  282.  Perhaps  more  sounds  are  produced  by 
the  true  vocal  apparatus  than  by  the  wings,  and  per- 
haps more  sounds  are  noticed  while  bees  are  on  the 
wing:  but  if  the  ear  be  held  hai-d  against  the  wall 
of  the  hive,  a  great  number  and  variety  of  sounds 
will  be  heard;  in  fact,  a  regular  jabber,  and  the 
nervous  novice  will  hear  a  queen  piping  sometimes 
when  no  queen  is  in  the  hive 

571 — p.  287.  If  the  robbing  is  discovered  in  time,  it 
is  not  well  to  allow  it  to  continue  2  to  12  hours.  Every 
hour  the  robbing  continues,  fresh  bees  join  in  the 
raid;  and  the  longer  it  continues,  the  worse  will  be 
the  excitement.  A  little  farther  back  it  is  said  that, 
"  when  a  colony  has  been  almost  completely  robbed, 
it  should  be  left  alone."  That  is  true,  but  it  is  not 
wise  to  leave  any  considerable  amount  of  honey.  If 
it  is  not  thought  best  to  stop  the  robbing  by  some 
other  means,  take  away  all.  or  very  nearly  all.  the 
honey,  so  that  the  bees  will  of  themselves  close  up 
the  robbing  as  quickly  as  possible,  but  leave  the  out- 
side appearance  of  the  hive  unchanged.  If  \-ou  take 
away  the  hive,  the  bees  in  their  search  fo'r  it  will 
pounce  upon  the  nearest  colonies.  If  the  hive  with 
some  empty  combs  is  left,  their  continued  attention 
wilt  he  concentrated  upon  this  hive,  and  they  can't 
figure  out  whether  you  have  taken  the  honey  or  they 
have  taken  it  themselves.  This  summer  I  found  rob- 
bers working  in  full  blast  upon  a  queenless  colony. 
I  set  the  hive  off  the  stand  and  put  in  its  place  one 
having  the  same  appearance  outside,  but  containing 
onlj-  empty  combs  and  a  very  little  honey.  I  put  the 
•cjueenless  colony  in  a  dark  cellar,  and  gave  it  a  queen 
in  a  cage.  Three  or  four  days  later  I  returned  the 
colony  to  its  place  and  all  was'lovely,  the  robbers  hav- 
ing in  the  meantime  deserted  the"  empty  hive.  Giv- 
ing a  queen  to  a  queenless  colony  is  a  great  encour- 
agement to  resist  robbers. 


575 — p.  30"-^.  Quite  likely,  muscular  action  may 
cease  in  five  or  ten  minutes,  but  by  no  means  the 
power  to  make  a  painful  wound.  One  winter,  toward 
spring,  my  wife  was  cleaning  wide  frames,  and  came 
to  me  with  a  dried  bee-sting,  saying  it  got  into  her 
finger  from  a  wide  frame.  a~nd  t'hat^it  hurt.  To  see 
how  far  her  imagination  went,  I  thrust  the  sting 
into  my  hand,  and  there  wa-  no  question  about  it.  I 
experienced  the  genuine,  simon  -  pure  bee-sting 
pain — not  very  severe,  to  be  sure,  but  unmistakable. 
Her  pain  was  probably  greater  than  mine,  and  I  see 
no  way  that  the  stiiig  could  have  belonged  to  a 
living  bee  any  time  within  six  months. 

TThis  is  indeed  wonderful.  I  am  ver^-  glad  you  have 
mentioned  it.  friend  M.,  for  something  of  the  same 
kind  has  come  up  before,  and  I  assured  the  parties 
they  were  mistaktn;  that  the  sting  must  have  come 
quite  recently  from  a  live  bee. — A.  J.  R.] 

579— p.  310.  One  year  I  had  about  a  quarter  of  an 
acre  of  Russian  suntiower  in  a  solid  patch,  which 
was  nicely  cultivated.  It  did  not  appear  to  be  of  any 
value  to  the  bees;  and  although  it  will  produce 
more  quarts  of  seed,  they  are  mostly  shell  with 
very  little  meat.  I  suspect  the  common  variety  is  of 
more  value. 

5^3— p.  310.  This  proves  nothing  either  way.  The 
queen  might  stir  the  workers  up  to  swarming  pitch, 
without  herself  leavmg  the  hive  at  all.  She  might 
even  do  this  so  that  this  temper  would  continue  for 
some  time,  although  the  queen  were  taken  from 
the  hive.  I  only  say  might,  for  I  don't  Jinov:  any 
thing  positively  about  it.  There  is  important 
ground  here  for  the  ABC  class  to  work. 

587— p.  310.  I  once  had  a  swarm  issue  frcm  a 
hive  in  which  there  was  no  queen  at  all.  I  had  tak- 
en her  from  the  hive  perhaps  an  hour  befoi'e,  and  I 
presume  the  bees  had  not  discovered  her  absence. 
In  this  case  the  queen  was  certainly  not  the  direct 
and  immediate  cause  of  the  swarm,  although  she 
may  have  started  the  fever  before  leaving. 

•591— p.  319.  Too  often,  one  hive  may  receive  the 
greater  share  of  the  bees. 

.595— p.  319.  I  have  less  faith  in  this  than  I  formerly 
had.  When  a  colony  gets  to  the  point  that  it  actually 
swarms,  it  takes  c6n~siderable  room  to  satisfy  it:  and 
the  oftener  it  is  balked  in  its  attempts,  the  more 
determined  it  seems.  I  once  had  a  colony  swarm, 
and  I  returned  the  bees,  giving  them  one  or  two 
frames  of  foundation.  Xext  day  they  swarmed 
again,  and  I  gave  them  another  frame  of  fijundation, 
Out  they  came  the  next  day.  and  went  back  with 
another' frame  of  foundation.  When  they  came  out 
again  I  put  them  back  and  decided  to  have  m\  own 
way  by  leaving  in  the  brood-chamber  nothing  but 
empty  foundation.  But  their  blood  was  up.  and 
they  came  out.  leaving  the  foundation  untouched 
except  one  incipient  queen-cell  with  an  egg  in  it  I 
I  gave  in.  I  hived  them  on  a  new  location,  and  all 
was  "lovely."  Some  sections  of  honey  were  on.  and 
I  think  that,  without  these,  they  surely  would  not 
have  swarmed  the  last  time. 

•599 — p.  324.  If  I  understand  it.  your  reasoning  is 
that  bees  cluster  because  they  don't  hear  the  queen. 
Xow.  when  a  swarm  issues  without  a  queen,  as  when 
the  queen  is  clipped,  they  generally  do  not  olu.~ter. 
but  go  back  to  the  hive  without  elusteriug.  If  not 
hearing  the  queen  in  one  case  makes  the  bees  clus- 
ter, why  doesn't  it  in  the  other';- 

[Friend  M  ,  I  can  not  answer.  You  must  not  ask 
such  hard  questions.— A.  I.  R.^ 

603 — p.  329.  Strings  are  good,  but  I  just  a  little  pre- 
fer very  fine  wire  such  as  is  used  for  wiring  frames. 
You  can  work  a  little  more  rapidly  with  the  wire  by 
having  it  cut  in  lengths  ti  reach  once  around  the 
frame  and  the  •  have  the  ends  twi  ted  together.  The 
bees  can  noL  tear  it  down,  but  it  doesn't  seem  to  be  at 
all  in  their  way.  The  first  time  the  frame  happens  to 
be  taken  out, 'the  wire  can  be  broken  apart  at  the 
twisted  end  by  a  single  pull  with  one  finger. 

607— p.  338.  The  simplest  bee-veil  is  probably  the 
be.=;t— a  simple  bag.  open  at  each  end.  with  a  rubber 
cord  run  through  a  case  at  top  and  bottom.  For  a 
permanent  bee-hat  it  is  better  to  have  no  rubber  cord 
at  top.  but  to  have  the  veil  sewed  to  the  under  edge  of 
the  hat-brim.  Now  take  a  safeiy-pin  and  pin  the 
front  lower  edge  of  the  veil  to  .=u«pender  or  dress. 
If  drawn  down  tightly,  not  a  bee  c^.n  get  in. 

611— p.  330.  Lay  the  box  hive  on  that  side  which 
will  allow  the  combs  to  stand  as  nearly  as  possible 
straight  up  and  down,  and  not  flat;  for  if  flatw'ise, 
the  combs  may  break  down. 


398 


MFLLER'S  COMMENTS  OJST  THE  ABC  BOOK. 


615— p.  340.  For  comb  honey  I  would  have  no  place 
for  ventilation  in  summer  except  at  the  bottom  of  the 
hive;  for  extracted  honey,  an  opening  for  ventilation 
at  each  s-tory.    That  helps  to  prevent  swarming. 

619 — p.  343.  Here  is  an  easy  way  to  render  a  smali 
quantity  of  wax  :  Take  an  old  dripping-pan  and  split 
open  one  corner,  or  punch  a  hole  in  the  bottom  at  one 
corner.  Put  the  bits  of  comb  in  the  pan,  and  put  the 
pan  in  the  oven  of  the  cook-stove,  leaving  the  oven- 
door  open.  Let  the  leaky  corner  <  f  the  pan  project 
out  of  the  oven,  with  a  dish  beneath  to  catch  the  wax. 
and  have  the  end  of  the  pan  inside  the  oven  raised 
an  inch.    The  heat  of  the  stove  will  do  the  rest. 

623— p.  354.  I'm  with  Bro.  Doolittle  in  saying, 
"Don't  wait  for  snow."  It  might  happen  in  this 
region  that  they  would  stand  three  or  four  weeks  of 
very  severe  weather  before  the  snow,  and  be  in  bad 
case  for  taking  in.  For  some  reason  that  I  am  not 
sure  I  fully  understand,  when  bees  are  taken  in  when 
snowing  they  get  badly  stirred  up  after  being  brought 
in.  If  I  knew  enough  to  decide,  I  should  take  them 
in  the  next  day  after  they  have  had  a  good  flight  at  a 
time  when  they  would  have  no  chance  to  fly  again 
for  a  month.  That  would,  perhaps,  be  as  you  say, 
toward  the  last  of  November,  but  in  northern  Illinois 
it  would  often  be  earlier. 

627 — p.  365.  While  it  would  be  a  very  nice  thing  if 
all  cellars  could  be  like  Mr.  Doolittle's,  varying  only  4 
degrees,  yet  to  hold  that  a  variation  of  10  degrees  un- 
fits a  cellar  for  bees  would  bar  out,  most  likely,  nine- 
tenths  of  the  cellars  now  used  for  bees.  However  it 
may  be  at  Borodino,  at  Marengo  the  mortality  on 
summer  stands  may  be  expected  to  be  five  times  as 
great  as  in  a  cellar  varying  10  degrees.  I  should 
hardly  restrict  as  closely  as  our  author,  for  I  should 
expect  bees  to  winter  very  well  in  a  room  with  vegeta- 
bles, if  the  cellar  were  kept  as  a  vegetable-cellar 
should  be  kept.  Still,  it  is  better  to  have  a  separate 
room. 

[Do  you  not  make  my  language  more  restrictive 
than  it  really  is?  I  only  recommend  that  there  be  no 
greater  variation  than  10  degrees;  but  I  do  not  say  that 
bees  will  not  winter  in  a  cellar  where  there  is  a  great- 
er range  of  temperature.  But  in  giving  instructions  to 
beginners  it  is  well  to  set  before  them  conditions  as 
nearly  ideal  as  possible  for  them  to  strive  at ;  for 
■while you  could  vt^inter  in  the  cellar  with  considerable 
variation  of  temperature,  a  beginner  might  meet  with 
disaster.— K.  R.l  BB 

631— p.  368.  The  advice  to  handle  hives  so  carefully 
that  none  of  the  rest  will  be  disturbed  belongs  rather 
to  taking  in  than  out.  It  matters  little  on  taking  out 
how  much  the  bees  are  disturbed,  so  they  do  not  fly 
out  to  sting  or  be  lost  before  being  placed  on  their 
stands.  To  prevent  their  flying  out,  smoke  maybe 
used  as  they  leave  the  cellar,  although  rarely  neces- 
sary. Mr.  Doolittle's  advice  to  commence  setting  out 
at  4  o'clock  is  good,  only  I  should  want  it  4  a  m. 
With  a  considerable  number  to  carry  out,  there  would 
not  be  time  to  get  all  out  before  dark  if  the  task  were 
begun  at  4  p.  m.,  and  it  is  better  to  get  all  out  at  one 
job.  A  colony  taken  out  when  the  sun  is  only  an 
hour  high  has  too  short  a  time  for  flight,  and  the  low- 
ering temperature  might  cause  bees  to  be  chilled.  I 
should  expect  the  advantage  of  an  opportunity  for  a 
full  time  for  a  flight  to  overbalance  any  danger  from 
robbing. 


[While  it  is  true  that  it  is  important  to  handle  hives, 
carefully  in  putting  them  into  the  cellar,  yet  the  book 
is  intended  to  instruct  beginners,  and  therefore  urgea 
caution,  even  in  taking  them  out.  Some  timid  ones 
might  be  stung  while  carrying  out  a  heavy  hive  of 
bees,  with  tlie  result  that  the  whole  hive  would  be 
dropped,  and  then— ?  —  ?  —  !  —  !  — E).  R.] 

635— p.  368.  I  have  had  very  little  trouble  from^ 
swarming  out  when  bees  are  taken  out  of  the  cellar, 
but  there  may  be  cases  in  which  the  trouble  amounts- 
to  disaster.  E  D.  Godfrey,  Red  Oak,  Iowa,  told  me 
that  one  spring  when  his  bees  were  taken  out  (T  think 
ihere  were  more  than  50  colonies),  nearly  all  the  bees- 
deserted  the  hives  as  if  by  common  agreement.  They 
sailed  around  as  a  great  cloud  in  the  air,  and  then  re- 
turned, some  hives  getting  several  colonies  and  some 
being  deserted,  and  he  went  to  bed  sick,  and  no  great 
wonder. 

639— p.  368.    Mr.  Doolittle's  plan  of  covering  the 
cellar  floor  with  sawdust  makes  it  pleasanter  than  to 
feel  the  dead  bees  crushing  under  one's  feet  at  every 
step.    But  if  a  number  of  dead  people  were  lying  on 
my  sitting-room  floor,  I  should  hardly  expect  to  keep 
the  air  sweet  by  sprinkling  sawdust  over  them  once  a 
j  month.    The  advices  might  be  combined— put  half  an 
:  inch  of  sawdust  on  the  floor  once  a  month,  and  sweep 
'  up  two  or  three  times  a  winter;  but  if  you  can  do  only 
j  one,  let  it  be  the  sweeping. 
I     643— p.  368.    See  647. 

j  647— p.  369.  At  present,  Oct.,  1900,  I  am  not  so  hope- 
i  ful  about  ever  dispensing  with  fire  in  my  bee-cellar, 
j  Mr.  Doolittle  used  a  stove  one  winter  and  lost  his  bees, 
j  But  wasn't  that  an  oil-stove,  or  something  in  that  line, 
that  he  could  not  safely  use  in  his  sitting-room?  I 
should  expect  to  kill  bees  with  an  oil-stove  allowing 
the  fumes  to  escape  in  the  cellar.  So  far  as  I  under- 
stand the  matter,  any  argument  against  fire  in  a  bee- 
cellar  applies  equally  against  fire  in  a  sitting-room.  Of 
course,  you  can  do  harm  with  fire  in  a  cellar;  so  yoa 
can  in  a  sitting-room.  If  the  temperature  of  a  cellar 
I  be  only  half  a  degree  below  that  which  is  best  for  the 
health  of  the  bees,  then  I  think  fire  enough  to  hold 
the  temperature  at  the  right  point  will  do  less  harm 
than  to  allow  the  bees  to  endure  that  half-degree  of 
cold.  But  I  should  not  want  to  use  an  oil-stove,  a 
lamp,  or  any  thing  of  the  kind  that  would  vitiate  the 
air.  If  I  couldn't  have  a  decent  stove,  the  same  as 
would  be  considered  fit  for  a  room  for  human  beings, 
I  would  use  something  like  hot  stones  or  jugs  of  hot 
water  corked  tight. 

[If  it  were  not  for  your  advocacy  of  artificial  heat  in 
j  cellars  I  believe  bee-keepers  over  the  country  gener- 
!  ally  would  consider  the  use  of  stoves  in  winter  repos- 
I  itories  as  worse  than  useless;  but  after  years  and  years 
J  of  careful  observation  you  are  probably  right  for  vour 
I  locality  and  your  conditions  in  believing  that  artificial 
j  heat  is  an  advantage. — K.  R  ] 
'     651^p.  369.    Comment  omitted. 
I    655— p.  370.   Like  many  others  I  have  fotiud  that 
i  two  or  more  "dwindlers"  united  last  no  longer 
j  than  one  separately,  so  I  never  iinite  unless  I  am 
I  pretty  sure  a  queen  will  otherwise  be  lost.  The 
qu.eens  of  those  colonies  too  weak  to  retain  tbem 
are  put  in  cages  under  the  quilt  over  the  brood- 
frames  of  a  strong  colony.  This  colony  may  lose  its 
own  queen  by  the  operation,  but  the  caged  queens 
will  be  kept  in  good  shape  till  needed  for  new  eolo- 
I  nies. 


Biographies  of  Noted  Bee= keepers. 

-     -     -  ^-  -  » 


^  Biographies  of  Noted  Bee=keepers.  % 


Believing  that  many  of  the  A  B  C  scholars  would  be  interested  in  seeing  the 
portraits,  and  in  reading  the  biographical  sketches  of  some  of  the  prominent  bee-men 
— men  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  the  line  of  apiculture — it  is  with  no 
little  pleasure  that  I  now  introduce  them  to  you  as  far  as  it  is  possible  to  do  so  on 
paper.  Dr.  Miller,  who,  by  reason  of  his  natural  htness  for  the  task,  and  who  for 
long  years  has  been  more  or  less  acquainted  with  the  writings  and  doings  of  these 
men,  has  been  detailed  to  write  some  of  the  sketches.  The  others  are  condensed 
from  longer  sketches  that  appeared  in  Gleanin^gs  m  Bee  Culture.  The  portraits 
executed  by  the  half-tone  direct  process  of  engraving  are,  from  the  nature  of  the 
process,  true  to  life,  and  have  been  so  pronounced  by  those  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  subjects.   Most  of  the  wood-cuts  are  good. 


LORENZO  LORRAINE  LANGSTROTH. 

Lorenzo  Lorraiue  Langstroth  was  born  in  Philadel- 
phia, Pa.,  Dec  25.  1810.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College 
in  1831,  in  which  college  he  was  tutor  of  mathematics 
from  1834  to  1836.  After  his  graduation  he  pursued 
a  theological  course  of  study,  and  in  May,  1836,  be- 
came pastor  of  the  Second  Congregational  Church 
in  Andover,  Mass.,  which  position  ill  health  compel- 
led him  to  resign  in  1838.  He  was  principal  of  the 
Abbott  Female  Academy,  in  Andover,  in  1838-9,  and  in 
1839  removed  to  Greenfield,  Mass.,  where  he  was  prin- 
cipal of  the  High  School  for  Young  Ladies,  from  1839 
to  1844.  In  1844  he  became  pastor  of  the  Second  Con 
gregational  church  in  Greenfield ;  and  after  four 
years  of  labor  here,  ill  health  compelled  his  resigna- 
tion. In  1848  he  removed  to  Philadelphia,  where  he 
was  principal  of  a  school  for  young  ladies  from  1848  to 
1852.  In  1852  he  returned  to  Greenfitld;  removed  to 
Oxford,  O.,  in  18-58,  and  to  Dayton,  C,  in  1887. 

At  an  early  age  the  boy  Lorenzo  showed  a  fondness 
for  the  study  of  insect-life;  but  "idle  habits"  in  that 
direction  were  not  encouraged  by  his  matter-of-fact 
parents.  In  1838  began  his  real  interest  in  the  honey- 
bee, when  he  purchased  two  stocks.  No  such  helps 
existed  then  as  now,  the  first  bee-journal  in  America 
being  issued  more  than  twenty  3'ears  later,  and  Mr. 
Langstroth  at  that  time  had  never  seen  or  heard  of 
a  book  on  bee  culture;  but  before  the  second  3-ear  of 
his  bee-keeping  he  did  meet  with  one,  the  author  of 
which  doubted  the  existence  of  a  queen  !  But  the 
study  of  bees  fascinated  him,  and  gave  him  the 
needed  outdoor  recreation  while  engaged  in  literary- 
pursuits,  and  in  the  course  of  time  he  became  pos- 
sessed with  the  idea  that  it  might  be  possible  to  so 
construct  a  hive  that  its  contents  in  everj^  part  might 
be  easily  examined.  He  tried  what  bad  been  invented 
in  this  direction,  bars,  slats,  and  the  "leaf  hive"  of 
Huber.  None  of  these,  however,  were  satisfaciorj-, 
and  at  length  he  conceived  the  idea  of  surrounding 
each  comb  wi  h  a  frame  of  wood  entirely  detached 
from  the  walls  of  the  hive,  leaving  at  all  parts,  except 
15 


the  points  of  support,  space  enough  between  the 
frame  and  the  hive  for  the  passage  of  the  bees.  In 
1852  the  invention  of  the  movable-comb  hive  was  com" 
pleted,  and  the  hive  was  patented  Oct.  5  of  that  year* 


LORENZO  LORRAINE  LANGSTROTH  AT  80. 

It  is  well  known  that,  among  the  ^evy  many  hives 
in  use,  no  other  make  is  more  popular  than  the  Lang- 
stroth, but  it  may  not  be  so  well  known  that,  in  a  very 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


367 


important  sense,  everj-  hive  in  use  among  intelligent 
bee-keepers  is  a  Langstroth:  that  is,  it  contains  the 
most  important  feature  of  the  I,ang?troth — the  mov- 
able comb.  Those  who  have  entered  the  field  of  api- 
culture within  a  few  years  may  faintl\-  imagine  but 
can  hardly  realize  what  bee-keeping  would  be  to  day, 
if,  throughout  the  world,  in  everj-  bee-hive,  the  combs 
should  suddenU-  become  immovably  fixed,  never  again 
to  be  taken  out  of  the  hive,  onh-  as  they  were  broken 
or  cut  out.  Yet  exacth'  that  condition  of  affair?  exist- 
ed through  all  the  centuries  of  bee  keeping  up  to  the 
time  when,  to  take  out  ever^-  comb  and  return  again 
to  the  hive  without  injury-  to  the  colony,  was  made 
possible  hy  the  inventive  genius  of  Mr.  Langstroth.  It 
is  no  small  compliment  to  the  far-seeing  inventive 
powers  of  Mr.  Langstroth.  that,  although  frames  of 
different  sizes  have  been  devised  and  tried,  and  im- 
provements, so-called,  upon  his  hive  have  been  made 
hy  the  hundred,  yet  to-day  no  other  size  of  frame  is 
more  popular  than  that  settled  upon  b3-  him.  and  in 
general  the  so-called  improvements  are  one  after  an- 
other dropped  into  oblivion,  and  thousands  of  hives 
are  to-day  in  use  among  the  best  bee  keepers,  scarcelj- 
var\-ing,  if  varying  at  all,  from  the  Langstroth  hive 
as  first  sent  out. 

As  a  writer,  Mr.  Langstroth  took  a  high  place. 
"Langstroth  on  the  Hive  and  Hone^'-bee,"  published 
in  May,  ISoo.  is  considered  a  classic  ;  and  any  contri- 
bution from  the  pen  of  its  author  to  the  columns  of 
the  bee-journals  was  read  with  eagerness.  Instead  of 
amassing  the  fortune  one  would  think  he  so  richU- 
deserved,  Mr.  Langstroth  died  not  worth  a  dollar. 
He  sowed,  others  reaped.  At  the  date  of  his  invention 
he  had  about  twenty  colonies  of  bees,  and  never  ex- 
ceeded 125. 

In  August,  18o(3,  Mr.  Langstroth  was  married  to  Miss 
Anna  M.  Tucker,  who  died  in  Januar}-.  ISTo.  He  had 
three  children.  The  oldest,  a  son,  died  of  consump- 
tion, contracted  in  the  army.  Two  daughters  still 
survive. 

After  his  twentieth  3-ear,  Mr.  Langstroth  suffered 
from  severe  attacks  of  "head  trouble"  of  a  strange 
and  distressing  character.  During  these  attacks, 
which  lasted  from  six  months  to  more  than  a  year 
(in  one  case  two  3-ears\  he  was  unable  to  write  or 
even  converse,  and  he  viewed  with  aversion  an^-  refer- 
ence to  those  subjects  which  particularh-  delighted 
him  at  other  times.  Mr.  Langstroth  was  a  man  of 
fine  presence,  simple  and  unostentatious  in  manner, 
cheerful,  courteous,  and  a  charming  conversationalist. 

In  reply  to  a  question,  he  wrote,  under  date  of 
March  26,  ISSS  :  "  I  am  now  a  minister  in  the  Presb\'- 
terian  church.  Although  not  a  settled  pastor,  I 
preach  occasionallj-,  and  delight  in  nothing  so  much 
as  the  Christian  work.  My  parents  were  members  of 
Mr.  Barnes'  church,  in  Philadelphia,  the  mother  Pres- 
b^-terian  Church  in  the  United  States." 


The  father  of  American  bee-beeping  has  left  the 
scenes  of  his  labor.  His  death  was  entirely-  in  keep- 
ing with  his  hoU'  life.  While  administering  the 
Lord's  supper  on  Sunday-  morning,  Oct.  6,  1895,  in  his 
place  of  worship,  in  Dayton.  O..  he  died  in  his  chair, 
without  any  previous  warning.  His  1-st  words  were 
concerning  the  goodness  of  God,  and  were  a  fitting 
termination  to  one  of  the  most  exemplary-  and  useful 
lives  this  world  has  ever  produced. 

Although  four  years  have  passed  since  the  death  of 
father  Langstroth,  his  impressive  personalit}-  still 
lingers  among  us,  inciting  us,  b\-  the  recollection  of 
:     :       a  higher  1  fe. 


MOSES  OUINBY. 

Moses  Ouinby  was  born  April  16,  ISIO,  in  Westches- 
ter Co.,  X.  Y.  While  a  hoy  he  went  to  Greene  Co., 
and  in  18-53  from  thence  to  St.  Johnsville,  Montgomery,' 
Co.,  X.  Y.,  where  he  remained  till  the  time  of  his 
death.  May  27,  1875. 

Mr.  Ouinbj'  was  reared  among  Quakers,  and  from 
his  earliest  5-ears  was  ever  the  same  cordial,  straight- 
forward, and  earnest  person.  He  had  no  special  ad- 
vantages in  the  vray  of  obtaining  an  education,  but  he 
was  an  original  thinker,  and  of  that  investigating 
turn  of  mind  which  is  alwa^-s  sure  to  educate  itself, 
even  without  books  or  schools.  When  about  twenty' 
3-ears  old  he  secured  for  the  first  time,  as  his  own  in- 
dividual pos-ession.  sufficient  capital  to  invest  in  a 
stock  cf  bees,  and  no  doubt  felt  enthusiastic  iu  look- 
ing forward  hopefulh^  to  a  good  run  of  "  luck  "  in  the 
wa}'  of  swarms,  so  that  he  could  soon  "take  up  "  some 
b^-  the  aid  of  the  brimslone-pit.  But  "killing  the 
goose  that  laid  the  golden  egg'"  did  not  commend  it- 
self to  his  better  judgment,  and  he  was  not  slow  to 
adopt  the  better  wa^-  of  placing  boxes  on  the  top  of 


MOSES  onxBY. 


the  hive,  with  holes  for  the  ascent  of  the  bees,  and 
these  boxes  he  improved  by  substituting  glass  for 
wood  in  the  sides,  thus  making  a  long  stride  in  the 
matter  of  the  appearance  of  the  marketable  product. 
With  little  outside  help,  but  with  plenty  of  unexplored 
territorj',  his  investigating  mind  had  plent\-  of  scope 
for  operation,  and  he  made  a  diligent  studj-  of  bees 
and  their  habits.  All  the  books  he  could  obtain  were 
earnestly  studied,  and  ever\-  thing  taught  therein 
careful h-  tested.  The  man^-  crudities  and  inaccuracies 
contained  in  them  were  sifted  out  as  chaff,  and  after 
17  j-ears'  prac;ical  experience  in  handling  and  studj-- 
ing  the  bees  themselves  as  well  as  the  books,  he  was 
not  mereh'  a  bee  keeper  but  a  bee-master  ;  and  with 
that  philanthropic  character  which  made  him  always 
willing  to  impart  to  others,  he  decided  to  give  them, 
at  the  expense  of  a  few  hours'  reading,  what  had  cost 
him  \-ears  to  obtain,  and  in  1853  the  first  edition  of 


368 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


*'  Mysteries  of  Bee-keeping  EJxplained  "  made  its  ap- 
pearance. Thoroughly  practical  in  character  and 
vigorous  in  style,  it  at  once  won  its  way  to  popularity. 
From  the  year  1853,  excepting  the  interest  he  took  in 
his  fruits  and  his  trout -pond,  his  attention  was  wholly 
given  to  bees,  and  he  was  owner  or  half-owner  of 
from  600  to  1200  colonies,  raising  large  crops  of  honey. 
On  the  advent  of  the  movable  frame  and  Italian  bees, 
they  were  at  once  adopted  by  him,  and  in  1862  he  re- 
duced the  number  of  his  colonies,  and  turned  his  at- 
tention more  particularly  to  rearing  and  selling  Ital- 
ian bees  and  queens.  In  1865  he  published  a  revised 
edition  of  his  book,  giving  therein  the  added  experi- 
ence of  12  years.  He  wrote  much  for  agricultural  and 
other  papers,  his  writings  being  always  of  the  same 
sensible  and  practical  character.  The  Northeastern 
Bee-keepers'  Association,  a  body  whose  deliberations 
have  always  been  of  importance,  owed  its  origin  to 
Mr.  Quinby,  who  was  for  years  its  honored  president 
— perhaps  it  is  better  to  say  its  honoring  president,  for 
it  was  no  little  honor,  even  to  so  important  a  society, 
to  have  such  a  man  as  president.  In  1871  Mr.  Quinby 
was  president  of  the  N.  A.  B.  K.  A. 

It  is  not  at  all  impossible  that  the  fact  that  so  many 
intelligent  bee-keepers  are  found  in  New  Yoik,  is 
largely  due  to  there  being  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Quinby 
in  their  midst.  The  high  reverence  in  which  he  was 
always  held  by  the  bee-keepers,  particularly  those 
who  knew  him  best,  says  much,  not  only  for  the  bee- 
master,  but  for  the  man. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  first  meeting  of  the  North- 
eastern Society,  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Quinby,  Capt. 
J.  E.  Hetherington  said,  in  his  address,  in  a  well- 
merited  eulogium  on  Mr.  Quinby:  "Of  the  great 
amount  of  gratuitous  labor  performed  by  him,  to  ad- 
vance the  science  of  bee  culture,  the  fraternity  as  a 
whole  will  never  know,  nor  can  they  realize  the  in- 
formation imparted  to  the  numbers  who  flocked  to 
see  him  personally,  especially  in  the  busy  season." 

"His  life  has  been  in  every  sense  a  life  of  useful- 
ness, and  not  wholly  devoted  to  the  interests  of  bee 
culture,  for  he  took  a  living  interest  in  any  move- 
ment he  thought  would  benefit  society;  and  as  an 
advocate  and  helper  in  the  temperance  work  he  did 
no  mean  service.  He  possessed  true  kindness  of 
heart,  and  regarded  it  as  a  religious  duty  to  make  all 
better  and  happier  with  whom  he  came  in  contact, 
and  regarded  that  life  a  failure  that  did  not  leave  the 
world  the  better  for  having  lived." 


JOHN  S.  H.IRBISON. 

Mr.  John  S.  Harbison,  who,  since  the  year  1857,  has 
had  such  a  prominent  place  in  the  apicultural  ranks, 
and  an  especial  prominence  in  developing  the  honey 
resources  of  California,  now  resides  in  an  elegant 
home  in  San  Diego,  and  with  beautiful  surroundings, 
such  as  only  this  favored  clime  can  produce.  He  was 
born  in  Beaver  Co.,  Pa.,  Sept.  29,  1826.  He  is  a  thor- 
ough American,  and  traces  his  lineage  back  through 
several  generations.  His  grandparents  were  active 
patriots  in  the  Revolution,  and  also  in  frontier  ser- 
vice against  the  Indians  ;  and,  besides  their  skill  in 
arms,  the  Harbison  branch  of  the  family  gave  their 
attention  to  mechanical  problems,  and  were  the  first 
to  erect  a  giistmill  in  what  was  then  the  wilds  of 
Western  Penn.sylvania. 

Mr.  Harbison's  early  life  was  spent  upon  a  farm  ; 
and  his  father,  being  an  extensive  bee-keeper,  in  the 
old-fashioned  way,  with  log  gums  and  straw  skeps, 
the  son  became  familiar  with  the  buzz  and  industry 


of  the  honey-bee  early  in  life,  and  imbibed  a  love  for 
them. 

What  may  be  termed  the  first  real  advance  in  bee 
culture  in  this  country  was  made  about  the  year  1843, 
in  the  invention  and  introduction  of  the  Weeks  pat- 
ent chamber  hive.  Mr.  Harbison,  recognizing  its 
great  advantages  over  the  old  straw  skep  in  use, 
adopted  the  new  invention,  and  used  it  quite  exten- 
sively for  several  years.  lyike  all  young  bee-keepers, 
he  was  possessed  with  the  spirit  of  invention  ;  and 
thinking  there  was  a  good  field  for  improvement,  and 
greater  possibilities  for  bee  culture  in  the  future,  Mr. 
H.  improved  upon  the  Weeks  hive,  and,  while  retain- 
ing the  inclined  bottom-board,  he  invented  a  movable 
platform  upon  which  combs  could  be  adjusted;  after 
which  the  bees  would  attach  them  to  the  hive.  The 
improvement  admitted  of  an  easy  transfer  of  combs, 
and  the  improvement  was  within  a  few  steps  of  the 
later  movable-frame  hive. 


1 


JOHN  S.  HARBISON. 

Owing  to  heavy  winter  losses,  and  perhaps,  also,  to 
the  "  gold  fever  "  that  raged  in  so  many  minds  during 
the  early  and  wonderful  discoveries  in  California,  Mr. 
H.  resolved  to  seek  his  fortune  in  a  more  genial  clime, 
and  came  to  this  State  in  1854.  Soon  after  his  arrival 
we  find  him  in  the  Campo  Seco  mining  camp,  in  Am- 
ador Co.  His  ventures  here  were  disappointing,  and, 
after  several  weeks  of  hard  labor  and  but  little  yellow 
metal  to  show  for  it,  he  left  the  mines  and  found  em- 
ployment in  the  SuLterville  sawmill,  near  Sacramen- 
to. The  business  was,  however,  di.stasteful;  and  after 
several  months'  work  he  resolved  to  give  it  up  and 
devote  himself  to  something  with  which  he  was  fa- 
miliar. He  accordingly  sent  to  his  home  in  Pennsyl- 
vania for  a  general  assortment  of  seeds,  and  for  a 
small  invoice  of  fruit-trees.  They  arrived  safely,  and 
he  started  the  first  nursery  of  fruit  and  shade  trees  in 
the  Sacramento  Valley;  and  from  this  and  subsequent 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


369 


importations  were  started  the  great  fruit-orchards 
that  are  found  on  both  sides  of  the  Sacramento 
River. 

The  first  shipment  of  bees  came  to  California  the 
year  previous  to  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Harbison.  Of  the 
first  lot  of  twelve  colonies  that  were  imported,  only- 
one  survived.  This  was  taken  to  San  Jose,  and  threw 
off  three  swarms  the  first  season.  The  owner,  Mr. 
Shelton,  being  killed  by  the  explosion  of  the  steamer 
Jennie  I,ind,  the  colonies  were  sold,  and  brought  over 
.^^100  each. 

The  next  importations  were  by  Mr.  Wm.  Buck.  Out 
of  two  impoitations  amounting  to  78  colonies,  only  25 
were  safely  landed. 

In  185-5  the  first  swarm  of  bees  was  brought  into  the 
Sacramento  Valley,  and  soon  died,  which  gave  an 
impression  that  bees  would  not  live  there.  These 
experiments  coming  under  the  observation  of  Mr. 
Harbison,  he  sent  east  for  one  colony  of  bees.  It  ar- 
rived with  but  few  bees  in  it  ;  but  Lhe  building-up  of 
this  weak  colonj'  under  the  experienced  hands  of 
Mr.  H..  and  their  rapid  increase  and  the  very  large 
amount  of  honey  gathered,  demonstrated  that  Califor- 
nia was  to  be  a  golden  State  for  bee  culture  ;  and  in 
1857  Mr.  H.  started  for  the  East  to  make  a  large  ship- 
ment under  his  own  personal  supervision  Sixty- 
.seven  colonies  wei e  prepared  from  his  own  apiaries 
in  Penn.sylvania,  and,  after  a  voyage  via  the  Isthmus, 
to  San  Francisco,  and  then  up  the  Sacramemo  River, 
an  entire  distance  of  5900  miles,  the  longest  continu- 
ous voyage  bees  had  ever  been  shipped,  the  importa- 
tion arrived  with  a  loss  of  five  colonies.  Others  were, 
however,  so  weak  that  a  doubling-down  left  fifty 
strong  colonies.  Other  larger  and  successful  ship- 
ments were  made,  and  2J0  colonies  of  these  importa- 
tions and  their  increase  were  sold  for  $100  per  colony. 

These  successes  gave  an  impetus  to  the  importation 
of  bees  to  California  ;  and  in  the  fall  of  1858  over  1000 
colonies  were  shipped  to  the  State  ;  but,  owing  to  the 
inexperience  of  the  parties  shipping  them,  less  than 
200  survived. 

After  the  importation  era  had  become  a  thing  of 
the  pasL,  Mr.  Harbison  gave  his  attention  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  bee-hive.  During  his  visits  to  the 
East,  in  1857,  his  attention  was  drawn  to  the  newly 
invented  Langstroth  hive  ;  but,  after  giving  it  a  trial, 
it  did  not  come  up  to  what  he  required  in  a  hive  ;  and 
upon  his  return  to  California  he  invented  the  well- 
known  Harbison  hive.  That  Mr.  H.  made  a  mistake 
in  his  line  of  reasoning,  and  in  the  conclusions  ar- 
rived at,  has  been  sufficientlj'  demonstrated  in  the 
fact  that  the  Harbison  hive  never  made  progress  out- 
side of  California;  and  even  here  it  is  now  being  rap- 
idly superseded  by  the  discarded  I,angstroth  or  some 
of  its  modifications. 

Along  with  the  invention  of  the  hive,  Mr.  H.  made 
a  great  step  of  progress  in  introducing  the  section 
honej'-box.  This  was  first  exhibited  and  excited  much 
interest  at  the  California  State  Fair,  held  in  Marys- 
ville,  in  September,  1858.  Mr.  H.  made  several  minor 
improvements  in  his  hive,  but  never  tried  to  adapt  it 
to  the  use  of  the  extractor,  for  he  thoroughly  believed 
in  the  production  of  comb  honey  only. 

The  next  invention  of  importance,  and  which  works 
well  with  the  Harbison  hive,  was  the  Harbison  stove 
smoker.  Open  the  rear  door  of  the  hive,  and  set  the 
smoker  down  in  the  rear,  and  a  volume  of  smoke 
rolled  up  and  against  the  exposed  combs  ;  but  this 
smoker,  used  with  a  top-opening  hive,  is  of  but  little 
use,  and  the  bellows  smoker  takes  its  place.  The 
stove  smoker  holds  a  large  amount  of  fuel,  and  its 


smoking  propensities  are  continued  for  a  whole  day 
from  once  filling. 

The  honey  flora  from  the  Sacramento  Valley  was 
trodden  down  and  plowed  under  by  the  advance  of 
grain-fields  and  orchards  ;  and,  failing  to  secure  the 
large  yields  that  at  first  rewarded  the  little  toilers, 
Mr.  Harbison,  in  1869,  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr. 
R.  G.  Clark,  for  developing  the  virgin  honey-ranges 
of  S  in  Diego  County.  Great  success  attended  their 
efforts,  and  in  1873  the  first  full  carload  of  comb  honey 
was  shipped  across  the  continent,  giving  California 
honey  a  world-wide  fame.  Mr.  Clark  sold  out  his  por- 
tion of  the  business  in  1873.  Mr.  H.  at  one  time  owned 
3500  colonies,  and  one  of  his  greatest  yields  was  60,000 
lbs.  of  comb  honey  from  300  colonies  of  bees. 

Mr.  H.  has  had  some  trouble  with  fruit-raisers,  and 
the  result  was  a  conflagration  of  a  whole  apiary.  Api- 
aries are  usually  burned  by  saturating  each  hive  with 
kerosene,  and  then  applying  the  torch;  but  in  the  case 
above,  the  hives  were  placed  together  and  burned. 

In  1861  Mr.  Harbison  published  his  book,  "  The  Bee- 
keeper's Directory,"'  a  volume  of  440  pages.  The  illus- 
trations are  of  a  high  order,  and  the  subject  is  treated 
in  an  exhaustive  mam  er;  and  instead  of  being  a  book 
merely  to  advertise  the  Harbison  hive,  it  is  a  valuable 
work  for  any  bee-keeper  to  have.  It  is.  however,  out 
of  print,  and  hard  to  find. 

Mr.  H.  was  married  in  1865.  A  son  and  two  daugh- 
ters were  the  result  of  the  union  ;  and,  the  son  dying 
in  infanc}-,  the  two  daughters  are  the  only^  remaining 
children. — Condensed  from  Gleanings  in  Bee  Ciilture, 
May  I,  i8gj— written  by  J.  H.  Martiyi  {Rambler). 


ADAM  GRIMM. 
Adam  Grimm  was  born  in  Germany,  in  1824.  His 
father  kept  a  few  hives  of  bees,  in  which  Adam  took 
deep  interest,  and  did  not  rest  satisfied  till  he  himself 
became  the  owner  of  a  few  colonies.  He  emigrated 
to  this  country  in  1849,  settling  at  Jefferson,  Wis.,  on 
a  farm  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  which 


ADAM  GRIMM. 

occurred  April  10,  1876.  Soon  after  settling  at  Jeffer- 
son he  obtained  a  few  colonies  of  bees,  and  was  so 
successful  with  them  that  at  one  time,  when  all  other 
crops  failed,  his  bees  came  to  the  rescue  and  helped 
him  over  the  most  critical  time  of  his  life. 

In  1863  he  had  increased  his  apiary  to  sixty  stocks  of 
black  bees  in  all  sorts  of  box  hives,  and  in  1864  he 
commenced  to  use  frame  hives,  and  transferred  all 


370 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPER?^. 


his  bees  into  them.  In  the  same  year,  1864,  he  bought 
his  first  Italians,  and,  as  rapidly  as  possible,  Italian- 
ized his  apiaiy,  and  then  sold  large  numbers  of  Ital- 
ian queens  all  over  the  country. 

About  1869  or  '70  he  imported,  personally,  lOO;  Ital- 
ian queens,  60  of  which  were  alive  on  their  arrival  at 
New  York.  Of  this  number  he  introduced  40  in  his 
own  apiaries.  He  increased  his  stock  regardless  of 
cost,  every  year,  but  had  larger  returns  especially 
in  late  years,  both  from  the  sale  of  honey  and  bees. 
Queen-rearing  he  thought  unprofitable.  He  had  an 
intense  enthusiasm  in  the  business,  and  worked  so 
hard  in  the  apiary  as  probably  to  shorten  his  life. 
His  success  was  the  cause  of  many  others  engaging  in 
the  business. 

He  established  a  bank  at  Jefferson,  of  which  he  was 
cashier  (his  bees  having  provided  the  capital);  but 
during  the  honey  harvest  he  left  his  bank  to  the  care 
of  employees  and  went  from  one  apiary  to  another, 
personally  supervising  all  that  was  done. 

We  shall  not  soon  forget  two  or  three  pleasant  visits 
which  we  made  at  his  home,  with  his  interesting  fam- 
ily. He  told  us  that  his  wife  remonstrated  with  him 
for  working  so  hard,  telling  him  that  he  now  had  a 
competence,  and  could  give  up  his  bees  with  the  la- 
borious care  of  so  many;  but  he  seemed  to  think  the 
returns  were  large  for  the  amount  of  labor,  making 
the  work  still  a  pleasure,  although  no  longer  a  neces- 
sity. He  reached  the  number  of  1100  colonies;  and  on 
one  of  our  visits,  when  he  had  nearly  1000  colonies, 
he  said,  with  a  half-comical  expression,  "  What  would 
I  do  if  all  should  die  in  the  winter?"  And  then  the 
comical  look  giving  way  to  one  of  determination,  he 
said,  "I  would  buy  some  more  ;  and  with  so  many 
hives  full  cf  empty  comb  I  would  show  you  how  soon 
I  would  fill  them  up  again." 

His  daughters,  Katie  and  Maggie  (both  since  mar- 
ried), were  his  able  and  faithful  assistants  ;  and  the 
son,  George,  since  his  father's  death,  has  assumed  the 
principal  care  of  the  bees,  for  which  he  is  well  fitted 
by  his  previous  training. 

Mr.  Grimm  was  trim  built,  of  medium  size,  pleas- 
ant in  manner,  but  especially  impressing  one  as  of 
great  earnestness.  He  was  very  methodical,  and  kept 
an  exact  account  of  his  business,  showing,  in  a  single 
year,  ijlO,000  as  a  result  of  his  bee  keeping. 


CAPT.  J.  E.  HETHERINGTON. 

Capt.  J.  E.  Hetherington  is  by  far  the  mo.'^t  exten- 
sive bee-keeper  in  the  world.  He  has  been  managing, 
and  has  operated  successfully,  too,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  3000  colonies,  probably,  for  the  last  fifteen 
years,  and  I  do  not  know  how  much  longer.  There  are, 
perhaps,  a  dozen  bee-keepers  in  the  United  States  who 
own  and  operate  anywhere  from  1000  to  1500  colonies; 
but  I  think  there  is  not  one  who  reaches  the  2000 
mark,  and  certainly  none  that  reaches  the  3000,  ex 
cept  that  veteran  who,  in  the  civil  war,  rendered  his 
country  such  distinguished  service. 

It  is  one  thing  for  a  bee-keeper  to  manage  100  colo- 
nies successfully,  but  it  is  quite  another  thing  to  make 
1000  bring  in  to  their  owner  clean  cash.  What  shall 
we  say,  then,  of  a  man  who  can  manage  3000  colonies 
so  successfully  for  so  many  years?  Such  a  record  is 
phenomenal.  To  my  way  of  thinking,  the  feat  of 
managing  3000  colonies  requires  more  skill  and  fore- 
thought than  the  task  of  managing  a  whole  system  of 
railways. 

A  very  large  proportion  of  the  captain's  colonies 
are  on  closed-end  Quinby  frames— the  kind  that  many 


of  the  bee-keepers  of  the  West  used  to  think  were 
first-class  bee-smashers  ;  but  I  have  personally  seen 
some  of  those  York  State  bee-keepersjhandle  colonies 
on  these  Hetherington-Quinby  frames,  and  I  know 
that  they  get  through  with  their  manipulation  prac- 
tically without  bee-killing,  and  just  as  rapidly  as  we 
with  our  kind. 

I  need  not  dwell  here  particularly  upon  his  record 
as  a  soldier  any  more  than  to  state  that  he  was  cap- 
tain of  a  company  of  sharp-shooters  in  the  Civil  War — 
a  position  that  means  a  great  deal  more  than  to  be 
captain  of  an  ordinary  company  of  infantry.  Three 
times  he  was  wounded,  and  finally  was  discharged  on 
account  of  the  disability  from  his  wounds.  At  the 
close  of  the  Gettysburg  campaign  his  name  was  sent 
up  to  the  War  Department  as  one  who  had  rendered 
gallant  service  for  his  country. 


CAPT.  HETHERINGTON  DURING  WAR  TIMES. 


But  it  is  of  his  record  as  a  bee-keeper  that  I  wish  to- 
speak  more  particularly.  It  may  not  be  generally 
known,  but  he  was  the  originator  of  the  no-drip  ship- 
ping-case that  is  now  used  almost  universally  through- 
out all  civilized  beedora.  When  we  first  introduced 
this  case  five  years  ago,  it  was  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  manufacturers  by  the  commission-houses,  who 
urged  upon  them  the  importance  of  making  their 
cases  on  the  no-drip  plan. 

Almost  in  the  same  way  the  tall  section  came  into 
prominence.  Where  it  came  from,  no  one  seemed  to 
know;  but  Mr.  Danzenbaker,  when  he  called  at  Medi- 
na, said  he  saw  it  first  at  Capt.  Hetherington's.  That 
the  captain  was  the  first  to  introduce  it,  I  think  there 
can  be  no  question,  for  all  the  evidence  points  that 
way. 

Mr.  Hetherington  was  the  fir.st  to  make  a  really 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


371 


practical  thing  of  closed-end  frames.  True  it  is  that 
Mr.  Quinby  invented  them,  and  came  very  near  add- 
ing to  them  their  finishing  touches.  But  as  Mr.  Ouin- 
bj^  originallj- used  them  in  his  particular  form  of  hive, 
the  frames  were  by  no  means  as  easih-  handled  as  in 
the  particular  form  used  by  Capt.  Hetherington;  and 
from  this  originated  the  Hetheriugton-Ouinbj-  frame 
and  hive  that  are  used  so  much  in  certain  sections  of 
New  York. 

In  these  daj'S,  when  the  matter  of  transparency  in 
foundation  is  so  highlj'  prized,  it  may  be  well  to  re- 
member that  Mr.  Hetherington  was  probably  the  first 


It  was  Capt.  Hetherington  also,  I  believe,  who  first 
conceived  the  idea  of  incorporating  fine  wires  into 
the  foundation  itself.  A  patent  was  granted,  and  for 
3-ears  the  Vandeusens  made  what  was  called  their 
wired  flat-bottom  foundation  under  royalty  from  Mr. 
Hetherington. 

In  the  matter  of  fishbone  in  comb  honey,  it  was 
Capt.  Hetherington  who  first  saw  the  importance  of 
reducing  the  amount  of  wax  in  the  base  and  putting 
as  much  as  possible  in  the  wall.  We  have  talked  a 
good  deal  about  this  of  late,  but  really  Mr.  Hethering- 
ton was  ahead  of  all  of  us  in  this. 


CAPr.  J.  K.  HETHERIXGTON. 


to  get  out  what  was  realU'  ihe  first  transparent  foun- 
dation. Those  of  us  who  bought  the  Vandeusen  flat- 
bottom  article  j-ears  ago  will  remember  how  beautiful 
and  transparent  it  was,  and  that  nothing  has  been 
made  of  late  years  that  was  any  clearer  or  more  beau- 
tiful. Whether  it  had  the  same  pliable  qualities  that 
are  found  in  the  Weed  transparent  foundation  I  can 
not  say. 


Super  springs,  a  device  for  pressing  sections  to- 
gether while  on  the  hive,  and  which  have  recently 
come  into  prominence,  were  the  invention  of  Capt.  J. 
E.  Hetherington— at  least  he  used  them  away  back  in 
1S72,  and  has  used  them  continvioush-  till  this  time. 
This  one  fact  alone  speaks  volumes  for  their  practic- 
ability; and  it  i"?  strange  that  we  of  these  latter  days 
did  not  discover  their  value  sooner. 


372 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  REE-KEEPERS. 


Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  captain  probably 
produces  the  largest  crops  of  honey  of  any  bee-keeper 
in  the  world,  there  is  probably  no  other  bee-keeper  cn 
the  face  of  the  earth  who  puts  out  a  higher-grade  ar- 
ticle of  comb  honey  than  he.  There  are  certain  buy- 
ers who  will  take  his  honey  every  year  at  1  or  2  cts. 
a  pound  above  the  market  ;  and  the  reason  of  this  is 
plain.  His  comb  honey  is  always  in  tall  boxes,  ard 
■[)ut  up  scrupulously  neat  and  clean  in  no-drip  ship- 
pin?  cases  such  as  he  himself  originated. 

Although  he  is  now  quite  well  advanced  in  years.  I 
tliink  I  never  met  one  who  is  more  enthusiastic  about 
bees  and  bee-keeping  than  he.  A  charming  conver- 
sationalist, he  fairly  bubbles  over  with  ideas.  When 
he  is  present  at  a  convention  I  always  regard  it  as  a 
rare  treat  to  meet  him. 

With  all  his  other  qualities  the  captain  is  an  exceed- 
ingly modest  man — rather  shrinking  from  notoriety, 
and  yet  perfectly  willing  to  contribute  and  help  to  ele- 
vate the  pursuit;  a  busy  man,  he  has  no  time  to  write 
letters  ;  for  his  extensive  business,  unless  he  kept  a 
stenographer,  would  hardl}-  permit  him  to  do  much 
in  that  line. — E.  R.  Rout,  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  C^iUure 
for  Oct.  75,  i8gg. 


JUIvIUS  HOFFMAN. 

Julius  Hoffman  was  born  in  the  town  of  Grottkau, 
province  of  Silesia,  Prussia,  Oct.  25,  1838.  His  birth- 
place is  but  a  few  miles  from  where  Dr.  .Dzierzon 
spent  most  of  his  lifetime  among  his  bees,  and^froni 
whence  he  spread  his  knowledge  and  discoveries~over 
Germany  and  the  world.  When  young  Hoffman'was 
a  little  over  13  years  old  he  \nsited  Dr.  Dzierzon,  and 
was  imbued  with  such  enthusiasm  for  the  bees  that[he 
at  once  bought  a  colony  of  blacks  into  which  he  , in- 
troduced one  of  Dzierzon's  best  Italian  queens.  With 
the  exception  of  about  three  j^ears  he  has  handled'and 
kept  bees  ever  .since. 

In  1862  Mr.  Hoffman  left  Germany  and  took  up  his 
abode  in  I,ondon,  England.  He  moved  with  ^  him  a 
colony  of  Italian  bees  and  kept  them  on  a  shelf  out- 
side a  bedroom  window  for  four  years,  during  which 
time  they  never  tried  to  swarm.  They  gathered  con- 
siderable honey  from  mignonette,  which'  grew  in^the 
small  gardens  of  the  c\\.y . 

In  1866  Mr.  Hoffman  came  to  America.  He  could 
not  part  with  his  pets,  hence  they  crossed  the  ocean 
with  him.  He  settled  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  and  ac- 
cepted employment  in  the  organ  and  piano^bu.siness. 
During  the  next  four  years  he  increased  his  bees^to  36 
colonies.  But  he  soon  realized  that  so  many  bees  in  a 
crowded  city  lead  to  trouble  and  become  a  nuisance. 
At  that  time  honey  was  bringing  a  good  price;  and'as 
he  loved  the  bees  he  decided  to  move  into  the  country- 
and  engage  in  honey  production  as  a  business.  The 
next  spring  he  moved  to  Rockland  Co.,  N.  Y.,  35  miles 
from  New  York,  and  in  the  fall  he  had  65  colonies. 
This  place  did  not  suit  him,  and  he  cast  about  (.for^a 
better  location. 

The  writer,  at  a  meeting  of  bee-keepers  in  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  early  in  the  winter  of  1872,  read  an  essay  which 
led  Mr.  Hoffman,  who  was  in  attendance,  to  .seek  ac- 
quaintance. A  mutual  and  lasting  friendship  sprang 
up;  and,  \>y  the  advice  of  the  writer,  Mr.  Hoffman  was 
induced  to  move  to  Fort  Plain,  N.  Y.,  where  he  settled 
in  the  spring  of  1873. 

There  in  a  few  years  he  increased  his  stock  of  bees 
to  about  400  colonies,  selling  off  the  increase,  50  to  100 
colonies  each  spring.  During  this  period  many  of  the 
renowned  bee-keepers  in  various  parts  of  New  York 
were  each  winter  lo.sing  hundreds  of  dollars'  worth  of 


bees,  and  were  buying  heavily  to  keep  up  their  stocks. 
Thus  while  other  bee-keepers  were  losing  their  cap- 
ital, and  were  discussing  the  subject  of  wintering,  at 
conventions  and  through  the  papers,  and  were  exper- 
imenting with  new  methods  and  expensive  cellars, 
Mr.  Hoffman  was  prospering,  and  selling  to  them  his 
increase.  Never  shall  we  forget  the  a.stonishment  and 
admiration  that  filled  us  when,  after  Mr.  Hoffman 
had  lived  at  Fort  Plain  some  months,  we  called  and 
beheld  his  large  apiary  and  stirring  enterprise.  Then 
indeed  we  thanked  our  stars  that  we  had  been  instru- 
mental, in  part  at  lea.'t,  for  the  presence  among  us  of 
a  real  live  bee-master. 

From  that  time  on,  for  some  years,  we  vistited  him 
often  and  .studied  the  conditions,  methods,  and  sur- 
roundings, in  order  to  learn  the  secrets  of  his  great 
success.  Without  pointing  out  at  this  time  the  various 
elements  that  led  to  this  success,  we  will  state  that 
not  the  lea.st  among  them  is  the  brood-fiame  that 


JULIUS  HOFFMAN. 


bears  his  name,  and  which  we  had  the  pleasure  to  first 
describe  and  recommend  in  the  Bee-keepers"  Exchange, 
page  52,  1879.  This  gratification  is  more  complete,  as, 
when  once  adopted,  we  have  never  known  a  bee-keep- 
er to  di.scard  them,  and  nearly  all  who  use  them  are 
prosperous. 

But  Mr.  Hoffman  desired  more  land,  and  a  location 
where  more  buckwheat  is  grown  ;  hence  in  1884  he 
sold  his  place  and  bought  75  acres  of  new  land  four 
miles  ea.st  of  Canajoharie,  and  seven  miles  from  his 
former  home.  On  this  he  erected  suitable  buildings, 
and  has  each  fall  for  the  la.st  five  years  put  into  win- 
ter quarters  about  650  colonies.  B3'  sale  and  shrink- 
age these  are  generallj^  reduced  to  about  500  colonies 
each  spring.  This  number,  kept  in  five  or  six  differ- 
ent places,  is  about  all  that  he  can,  with  one  assistant, 
conveniently  handle,  especially  as  the  assistant  has  to 
do  chores  and  at    nd  to  three  horses  and  a  few  cows, 


BLOGRAPHIBS  OF  NOT  I  D  Va-'A-.  KEEPERS 


TDesides  doing  considerable  farm  work.  He  has  no 
other  assistants  except  his  two  daughters,  who  help 
to  extract  the  honey  and  prepare  sections  of  comb 
honey  for  market. 

The  extracting  is  all  done  at  home.  Mr.  Hoffman 
has  always  produced  comb  honey  principally,  except 
for  the  last  three  years,  during  which  time  the  crop 
has  been  nearly  all  extracted. 

Seventeen  years  ago  ^Ir.  Hoffman  devi.sed  the 
brood-frame  that  bears  his  name.  It  was  the  out- 
growth of  a  desire  to  improve  existing  methods  and 
facilitate  manipvilation. 

Mr.  Hoffman's  best  average  crop  of  comb  honey  was 
80  pounds  per  colony,  and  the  poorest  (season  of  1890) 
was  20  pounds. 

Mr.  Hoffman  is  medium  in  stature,  slight  of  build, 
and  is  unassuming  and  quiet  in  manner.  He  has  a 
vigorous  mental-motive  temperament,  and  is  never 
idle.  A  piano  and  organ  builder  by  trade,  he  is  in- 
genious and  a  good  mechanic,  able  to  construct  his 
hives  in  a  thorough  and  perfect  manner.  He  is  a 
great  reader,  and  has  freqviently  translated  and  con- 
densed articles  from  the  German  periodicals. 

Aside  from  his  duties  as  an  apiarist,  he  travels  con- 
siderably over  the  adjacent  territory,  and  tunes  and 
repairs  mu.sical  instruments.  He  is  still  in  the  prime 
of  a  vigorous  manhood;  and  may  he  live  long  to  enjoj- 
the  fruits  of  his  labors,  bless  his  family,  and  instruct 
the  bee-keeping  fraternity. — Gleariings  in  Bee  Cultine, 
Dec.  75,  i8gi — written  by  J.  H.  Nellis. 


I.YMAN  C.  ROOT. 

layman  C.  Root  was  born  in  St.  I,awrence  Co.,  N.  Y., 
Dec.  19,  1840.  The  better  part  of  his  education  was 
obtained  in  "  brush  college;"  but  before  entering  this 
he  had  two  terms  in  the  academy,  two  in  St.  I^awrence 
University,  and  a  course  in  Kastman's  Business  College, 
where  he  graduated  in  1865.  The  eight  years  follow- 
ing he  was  with  Mr.  Quinby,  for  the  last  five  years  his 
partner.  It  was  his  high  privilege  to  be  associated 
with  him  during  what  may  be  called  the  transition 
period  of  modern  bee-keeping  :  during  the  time  of  the 
most  rapid  changes  from  box  to  frame  hives;  the  time 
of  the  dissemination  of  the  Italian  bee,  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  honey-extractor,  the  invention  of  the  Quin- 
by bee-smoker,  the  adoption  of  the  one-comb  section, 
and  the  perfecting  of  the  new  Quinby  frame  and  hive. 
The  various  experiments  that  ended  in  the  adoption 
of  comb  foundation  were  then  in  progress,  and  Mr. 
Quinby  could  have  had  no  young  man  with  him  more 
enthusiastic  and  more  helpful  than  the  energetic  I,.  C. 
Root,  who  released  him  from  business  cares,  and  gave 
him  the  needed  leisure  for  study  and  invention.  These 
were  golden  days  for  Mr.  Quinby,  well  improved;  and 
for  Mr.  Root  nothing  less,  as  he  recalls  the  results  ob- 
tained. Their  supply-business  rapidly  grew  to  large 
proportions,  and  it  was  common  for  them  to  buy  from 
three  to  five  hundred  colonies  in  box  hives  in  the 
spring,  transfer  them  to  the  new  hive,  and  sell  them 
to  their  customers  in  the  different  States.  This  ne- 
cessitated a  ver^'  large  amount  of  exhausting  work; 
but,  at  this  time  Mr.  Root  knew  nothing  of  sparing 
himself,  and  often  did  in  one  day  what  the  average 
man  would  have  taken  two  days  for  accomplishing. 

In  1873  it  was  discovered  that  a  rest  was  needed,  and 
in  the  fall  of  that  year  he  retired  from  the  partner- 
sMp  and  removed  to  Mohawk.  But  it  seems  impossi- 
ble for  a  man  of  his  temperament  to  rest,  and  we 
shortly  find  him  extending  his  bee-business,  going 
out  in  the  early  morning  with  his  assistants  to  a  bee- 


yard  half  a  dozen  miles  away,  and  returning  late  at 
night  with  from  two  to  three  or  more  thousand  povmds 
of  extracted  honey — the  same  process  to  be  repeated 
the  next  day. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Quinby,  Mr.  Root  took  his 
supply-business.  To  all  of  this  must  be  added  his 
literary  work  as  regular  contributor  to  \.\\&  American 
Agricuturist  and  the  Country  Gentleman,  with  fre- 
quent articles  to  all  the  bee-journals  of  the  country; 
his  presidency  of  the  North  American  Bee-society, 
and  of  the  Northeastern  Association,  vtith  his  long 
and  laborious  exertions  in  establishing  the  latter,  and 
finally  his  re-writing  Mr.  Quinby's  book  —  a  task  on 
which  he  expended  a  greater  amount  of  careful,  con- 
scientious work,  and  which  caused  him  greater  anxie- 
ty, than  though  it  had  been  entirely  his  own.  For 
this  last  work  Mr.  Root  was  peculiarly  fitted  by  his 
ong  residence  with  Mr.  Quinby,  and  knowledge 
his  method'^. 


LYMAN  C.  ROOT. 

In  keeping  bees  Mr.  Root  has  preferred  to  raise  ex- 
tracted honey,  and  to  keep  about  forty  colonies  in  a 
yard.  His  crop  was  usually  as  much  per  yard  as  his 
neighbors'  who  kept  twice  the  number  in  a  place. 
The  most  of  this  success  was  due  to  .skillful  manipu- 
lations, improved  honey-gatherers,  and  wise  selection 
of  locations;  but  after  .subtracting  all  these  there  prob- 
ably remains  something  to  be  credited  to  moderate- 
sized  yards.  One  fall  he  put  into  the  cellar  at  the 
Hildreth  yard  forty  stocks,  took  the  same  out  in  the 
spring  without  the  loss  of  a  single  colony,  and  pro- 
duced from  them  9727  lbs.  of  extracted  honey,  4103  lbs. 
of  which  was  gathered  in  just  seven  days.  Is  better 
evidence  needed  that  the  author  of  the  "New  Bee- 
keeping" is  a  practical  bee-keeper? 

Mr.  Root  takes  an  active  part  in  every  good  work 
in  the  community  in  which  he  lives,  and  he  is  ready 
to  make  any  possible  sacrifice  in  working  to  elevate 
humanity.  He  takes  great  interest  in  temperance 
work,  and  has  been  an  active  member  of  the  Good 


374 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


Templars  since  1865.  My  first  knowledge  of  Mr.  Root 
came  from  his  making  a  ten-mile  trip  and  back  after 
dark,  over  almost  impassable  roads,  to  our  little  vil- 
lage, for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  lodge  of  Good 
Templars.  Mr.  Quinby  and  himself  were  two  of  those 
who  voted  the  first  Prohibition  ticket  in  St.  Johnsville, 
and  he  has  been  an  active  supporter  of  that  party  ever 
since. 

In  1869  he  was  married  to  Mr.  Quinby's  only  daugh- 
ter, and  his  home  is  one  in  which  intelligence,  refine- 
ment, and  happiness  reside.  I  never  met  any  one  who 
appreciates  his  home,  family,  and  friends,  more  than 
does  Mr.  Root.  His  wife  has  been  a  true  helpmeet  to 
him  ;  and  in  the  re-writing  of  Mr.  Quinby's  book  she 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  composition  of  the  same 
— a  service  she  had  also  rendered  her  father  in  his  last 
revision.  Mrs.  Root  has  had  entire  charge  of  the  ed- 
ucation of  their  two  daughters,  the  elder  of  whom  has 
just  passed  from  the  home  instruction  into  the  high 
school,  while  the  younger  will  take  another  year  to 
graduate  in  the  home  course. 

There  are  very  few  men  who  have  had  the  large  and 
varied  experience  with  bees  such  as  has  fallen  to  the 
lot  of  Mr.  Root.  I  suppose  all  such  could  be  counted 
upon  the  fingers  of  one  hand,  for  there  is  no  branch 
of  bee  culture,  either  theoretical  or  practical,  with 
which  he  is  not  familiar.  He  has  been  an  extensive 
producer  of  both  comb  and  extracted  honey;  is  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  the  details  of  a  large  supply- 
business,  including  the  purchasing  of  bees  in  box 
hives,  and  tran.sf erring  and  Italianizing  the  same;  the 
rearing  and  shipping  of  queens,  together  with  a  large 
experimental  knowledge  and  a  large  experience  as 
writer  and  author.—/^.  H.  Elwood,  in  Gleanings,  June, 
i888. 


EDWINT  FRANCE. 

Edwin  France,  of  Platteville,  Wis.,  is  noted  as  a  pro- 
ducer of  extracted  honey  on  a  large  scale.  He  was 
born  in  Herkimer  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  4,  1824.  His  father 
was  a  furnace-man,  molding  and  melting  iron;  and, 
having  a  large  family  to  support,  had  difficulty  in 
making  both  ends  meet.  At  the  age  of  eight,  young 
Edwin  was  sent  to  live  with  his  mother's  brother,  re- 
turning home  at  16.  He  then  served  an  apprenticeship 
of  four  years  at  the  furnace,  when  his  father  bought 
forty  acres  of  timber,  which  they  cleared  up  as  a  farm, 
working  at  the  furnace  winters.  At  the  age  of  2 1  his 
father  died,  leaving  him  the  main  stay  of  the  family. 
He  gave  up  the  furnace,  and  worked  part  of  the  time 
making  salt-barrels  summers,  and  cutting  sawlogs 
winters.  About  this  time  he  got,  and  kept  on  this 
little  place  in  the  woods,  a  few  hives  of  bees. 

At  the  age  of  32  he  took  the  "  Western  fever,"  and 
settled  on  a  200-acre  prairie  farm  in  Humboldt  Co.. 
Iowa,  marrying  and  taking  with  him  a  wife,  leaving 
his  mother  in  care  of  her  older  brother,  a  .single  man, 
amply  able  to  care  for  her.  Here  again  he  kept  a  few 
bees.  He  lived  here  six  years,  farming  summers  and 
trapping  winters,  when  the  breaking  out  of  the  war 
brought  prices  of  farm  products  down  to  a  ruinous 
point,  and  he  went  on  a  vi.sit  to  Platteville,  Wis.,  in- 
tending to  return  when  times  brightened.  Desiring 
some  employment,  he  answered  an  advertisement, 
"Agents  wanted,  to  sell  patent  bee-hives,"  and  was 
soon  the  owner  of  the  patent  for  his  county.  He  made 
the  hives  himself;  and  as  at  that  time  nearly  every 
farmer  kept  bees,  the  business  paid  well,  and  he  soon 
bought  two  more  counties.  In  his  trades  he  got  some 
bees,  his  starting-point  as  a  bee-keeper.  These  he  in- 
creased until  in  1871,  when  he  went  into  winter  quar- 


ters with  123  colonies,  bringing  out  25  in  the  spring, 
and  14  in  the  spring  following.  Enlarging  his  hives, 
and  studying  the  wants  of  the  bees,  led  to  better  suc- 
cess, reaching  500  colonies  in  the  spring  of  1888,  kept 
in  six  apiaries.  In  1886,  from  395  colonies  he  took 
42,489  pounds  of  honey,  increasing  to  507.  In  1885  his 
320  colonies  averaged  113  pounds  each,  and  his  410  col- 
onies in  1887  averaged  12  pounds  each.  He  owns  eleven 
acres  in  the  city  limits  of  Platteville  devoted  to  garden 
truck  and  berries. 


L_  .  :  —J 

EDWIN  FR.'VNCE. 

Mr.  France  and  his  son  do  all  the  work,  except  dur- 
ing a  few  weeks  in  the  busy  sea.son,  when  he  hires 
eight  as.sistants  from  12  to  18  years  old.  The  whole 
ten  go  to  one  of  the  different  apiaries  each  day,  mak- 
ing a  sort  of  picnic,  and  returning  at  night.  Mr. 
F.  has  not  written  much  for  the  press  ;  but  what  he 
has  written  bears  the  marks  of  ripe  experience. 


PHII.IP  HENRY  EI.WOOD. 
Philip  Henry  Elwood  is  a  good  illustration  of  the 
healthfulness  of  bee-keeping  as  a  vocation.  At  the  age 
of  23  he  was  advi-sed  by  his  physiciacs  to  abandon  a 
college  course  and  choose  some  outdoor  occupation, 
and  now  P.  H.  Elwood  the  bee-keeper  is  known  as  a 
man  who  tips  the  scales  at  225  lbs.  Soon  after  leaving 
school  he  was  offered  a  desirable  position  as  teacher  of 
natural  sciences  in  a  high  school  in  Michigan,  but  the 
offer  was  refused.  In  1872,  at  the  age  of  25,  he  com- 
menced bee-keeping  as  a  partner  of  Capt.  Hethering- 
ton.  This  partnership  was  profitably  continued  for 
five  years,  when  he  removed  a  distance  of  ten  miles  to 
Starkville,  Herkimer  Co.,  N.  Y.,  where  he  has  since 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  Xi 

remained,  to  earn,-  on  the  business  of  raising  honey. 
He  was  happiU-  married  in  1S79.  Mr.  E.  is  a  couse:v- 
ative  bee-keeper,  little  inclined  to  rush  after  new 
things  simplj-  because  they  arc  ne  v.  and  is  sometimes 
accused  of  being  at  fault  in  not  placing  sufficient  con- 
fidence in  the  recomraendati'jns  of  others.  He  carts 
more  to  be  sure  that  his  plans  and  implements  are 


p.  H.  Ei^WOOD. 

such  as  experience  proves  the  best,  than  to  be  con- 
stantly tr\-ing  to  invent  something  new.  He  uses  the 
small  Quinby  hive,  and,  after  giving  a  thorough  trial 
to  outdoor  wintering,  he  winters  exclusively  in  cellars. 
The  larger  part  of  his  comb  honey  is  put  up  in  two- 
pound  glassed  boxes,  and  it  was  his  honey  that  took 
the  first  prem-ium  at  the  Paris  World's  Exposition,  ex- 
hibited in  the  same  packing-cases  in  which  it  was 
shipped  from  his  apiary-.  He  prefers  Italian  hybrids, 
and  keeps  about  1300  colonies. 

Conser\-ative  in  most  things,  he  was  the  first  man  in 
his  county  to  cast  a  Prohibition  vote,  and  in  18S7  was 
run  for  member  of  the  Asseniblj-.  _.,^However  earnest 
he  ma^-  be  in  other  things,  he  believes  that  the  prepa- 
ration for  the  life  to  come  is  of  infinitely  more  impor- 
tance than  any  thing  else  in  this  life. 


PROF.  A.  J.  COOK. 

Albert  J.  Cook  was  born  Aug.  80,  1842,  at  Owosso, 
Mich.  Those  who  are  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
man  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  his  parents 
were  thoroughly  upright  Christians.  The  daily  read- 
ing of  the  Bible,  with  comments  by  the  father,  re- 
enforced  hy  the  constant  example  of  a  chaste,  honest, 
and  industrious  daily  life,  left  its  impress  for  life  on 
the  character  of  the  son. 

At  the  age  of  15  he  entered  Michigan  Agricultural 
College,  where  he  graduated  at  20.  ha\-ing  been  obliged 
•during  his  course  to  .suffer  the  sharp  disappointment 


TED  BEE-KEEPERS.  375 

of  suspending  study  a  whole  year  on  account  of  sick- 
ness, his  health  ha^-ing  been  rather  delicate  during  his 
earlier  years.  Upon  his  graduation  he  went,  on  ac- 
count of  poor  health,  to  California,  where  for  three 
years  he  labored  ver\-  successfully  as  a  teacher.  He 
then  studied  a  portion  of  two  years  at  Har\-ard  Uni- 
versity and  Har\-ard  Medical  College  with  Agassiz, 
Hazen,  and  Dr.  O.  W.  Holmes  as  teachers.  In  1866  he 
was  appointed  instructor  at  Michigan  Agricultural 
College,  and  in  1868  Professor  of  Entomology-  and 
Zoology-  in  the  same  college. 

He  has  done  and  is  doing  a  work  unique  in  charac- 
ter, for  he  instructs  the  students,  not  only  about  in- 
sects in^general.  but  about  bees  in  particular.  Ever\- 
student  that  graduates  goes  all  over  the  theory  of  bees, 
studies  the  bee^stnicturall}-  from  tip  of  tongue  to  tip 
of  sting,  and  goes  through  with  all  the  manipulations 
of  the^apiary- — that  is,  if  there  is  any  honey  to  manip- 
ulate ;  handles  the  bees,  clips  queens,  prepares  and 
puts  on  sections,  extracts,  etc.  Probably  in  no  other 
in.stitution  in  the  coiantr\-,  if  in  the  world,  is  this  done. 

Prof.  Cook  was  an  active  and  influential  member  of 
the  North  American  Bee-keepers'  Association,  of 
which  he  has  been  president:  was  one  of  the  origina- 
tors of  the  Michigan  State  Bee-keepers"  Association,  of 
which  he  was  president  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
helped  start  the  State  Horticultural  Society,  being  a 
member  of  its  board  for  some  years.  He  is  widely 
known  as  a  writer.  His  :Manual  of  the  Apiary  "  has 
reached  a  sale  of  17.000  copies,  and  ■'Injurious  Insects 
of  Michigan  "  8000  copies.    He  is  also  the  author  of 


PKOF.  A  .J.  COOK. 

"Maple  Sugar  and  the  Sugar-bush,"  of  which  5000 
copies  have  been  published.  He  has  written  much  for 
bee-journals,  as  also  for  the  general  press.  He  is  a 
clear,  practical  writer,  with  a  happy  style. 

In  the  battle  waged  against  insect-foes,  he  has  ren- 
dered valuable  service.    Remedies  which  he  first  ad- 


376 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


vised  are  now  common,  and  he  was  probably  the  first 
to  demonstrate  the  efficacy  and  safety  of  Paris  green 
for  codling  moth. 

Prof.  Cook  is  of  average  height  and  weight,  a  charm- 
ing conversationalist,  and  an  intensely  interesting 
lecturer.  His  very  pleasant  manner  is  only  a  fair  in- 
dex of  a  genial  and  loving  spirit  that,  in  an  unusual 
degree,  strives  to  put  the  best  con.struction  on  the  con- 
duct and  motives  of  every  one,  and  throws  a  mantle 
of  charity  over  their  faults.  His  spirit  of  kindness  ex- 
tends to  the  brute  creation  ;  and  on  his  farm,  in  which 
he  is  much  interested,  he  has  some  fine-blooded  stock; 
and  in  attempting  to  engage  a  hand  to  work  upon  the 
farm,  the  writer  once  heard  him  stipulate  as  essential 
that  the  employee  must  be  kind  to  animals,  and  free 
from  the  use  of  liquor,  tobacco,  and  profane  language. 

In  December,  1893,  Prof.  Cook  removed  from  Mich- 
igan and  went  to  Claremont,  Cal.,  where  he  now  fills 
the  chair  of  Entomologj'  in  Pomona  College. 


DR-  A.  B.  MASON. 
Dr.  A.  B.  Mason  was  born  in  the  town  of  Wales. 
Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  18,  1833.  His  father  and  mater 
nal  grandfatl  er  were  soldiers  in  the  war  of  1812.  Dr. 
M.  was  raised  on  a  farm,  and  all  six  of  his  brothers 
are  farmers.   At  17  years  of  age  he  taught  successfully 


DK.   A.    B.  AJASa.V. 

a  school  in  DeKalh  Co.,  111.,  for  $14.00  a  month,  and 
"  boarded  around."  At  the  close  of  this  school  he 
attended  several  terms  at  Beloit  (Wisconsin)  College. 
He  then  commenced  the  study  of  medicine,  attending 
lectures  during  the  winters  of  1857  and  1858  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor.  In  '62  he  moved 
to  Waterloo,  la.,  and,  the  practice  of  medicine  not  be 
ing  to  his  taste,  he  adopted  dentistry  as  his  life  pro- 
fession, having  .studied  it  in  connection  with  metli- 


cine.  He  was  president  of  the  Northern  Iowa  Dental 
Association  for  two  years. 

In  his  19th  year  he  united  with  the  church,  and  is 
an  earnest  Christian  worker.  For  years  he  was  an 
active,  if  not  the  most  active,  member  of  the  church 
to  which  he  belonged,  being  at  one  time  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sabbath-school,  church  clerk  a  trustee, 
and  clerk  of  the  board  of  tiu.stees.  He  was  a  leader 
in  Sabbath-school  work  at  home  and  in  adjoining 
counties.  One  year  he  was  secretary  of  eight  differ- 
ent organizations,  four  of  them  religious.  Dr.  Mason 
has  always  been  an  earnest  temperance  worker,  nei- 
ther he  nor  any  of  his  children  using  tea,  coffee,  to- 
b.icco.  or  liquor  in  any  form. 

In  1869  a  brother  left  in  his  care  two  colonies  of  bees 
till  convenient  to  move  them.  Watching  these  arous- 
ed an  interest  in  bees,  and,  as  usual,  the  way  to  bee- 
keeping in  full  was  not  long.  In  1873,  frequent  and 
Severe  attacks  of  rheumatism  obliged  him  to  give  up 
ihe  office  practice  of  dentistry,  and  he  has  since  made 
a  specialty  of  bee-keeping,  making  it  a  source  of 
revenue. 

In  1871  he  moved  to  Ohio,  where  he  has  always  been 
prominent  in  apicultural  matters.  Through  his  efforts 
Lhe  Tri-state  Fair  Association  at  Toledo  was  induced 
to  offer  premiums  for  the  display  of  the  products  of 
the  apiary,  and  this  display  has  increased  in  attrac- 
tiveness each  year  since.  He  was  appointed  superin- 
tendent of  the  department  the  first  year,  and  still 
holds  the  position.  He  was  chosen  superintendent 
of  the  Apiarian  Department  of  the  Ohio  Centennial 
Exposition,  held  at  Columbus,  in  1888.  In  1882  and  '3 
his  apiary  of  75  colonies  suffered  from  foul  brood, 
nearly  every  colony  being  infested  in  the  latter  year; 
but  he  cured  it,  and  has  had  no  return  of  the  disease. 
Dr.  Mason  is  a  poultry  fancier,  and  was  for  four  years 
.secretary  of  the  Buckeye  Union  Poultry  Association. 

lyarge  in  size,  and  of  fine  form.  Dr.  Mason  is  always 
]  rominent  at  conventions,  where  he  is  still  more  con- 
spicuous by  his  never-failing  joviality  and  good  na- 
ture. In  1887  he  was  made  president  of  the  North 
American  Bee-keepers'  Society.  He  was  re-elected  to 
that  position  for  1888-89,  and  since  that  time  he  has 
been  connected  with  that  organization  in  an  oflficial 
wa3^  and  at  the  present  time  he  is  secretary  of  it. 


A.  E.  MANUM. 

Augustin  E.  Manum,  whose  picture  is  herewith  pre- 
sented, was  born  in  Waitsfield,  Vermont,  March  18, 
1839.  When  the  war  broke  out  he  enlisted  in  Co.  G, 
14th  Vermont  regiment,  as  a  nine-months'  mair.  He 
served  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  where  his  com- 
rades in  line  on  either  .side  were  killed;  his  own  gun 
was  shattered,  and  he  was  hit  four  times. 

Irr  March,  1870,  a  friend  desired  to  lend  him  "  Qirin- 
by's  Mj'steries  of  Bee-keeping."  Reading  the  book, 
his  enthusiasm  upon  the  subject  was  kindled,  and  he 
immediately  purchased  four  colonies  of  bees  and  be- 
gan the  .study  of  apiculture.  Having  a  natural  apti- 
tude for  the  business,  and  a  love  for  the  bees,  he  was 
successful  from  the  first.  His  apiary  so  rapidly  in- 
creased, that,  at  the  end  of  four  years,  when  he  had 
165  colonies,  he  sold  out  his  harness-business  and  be- 
gan the  pursuit  as  a  specialist. 

Since  1884  Mr.  Manum  has  devoted  all  his  energies 
to  the  production  of  comb  honey,  increasing  his  plant 
until  his  bees  now  number  over  700  colonies  in  eight 
apiaries.  He  always  winters  his  bees  out  of  doors, 
packed  in  the  "Bristol"  chaff  hive.  For  the  eight 
years  previous  to  1887,  his  average  loss  in  wintering 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


377 


for  the  entire  time  was  only  3^  per  cent.  He  u.ses 
exclusively  a  frame  about  12%  XlO  inches,  outside  mea- 
sure, which  he  considers  the  best  for  practical  pur- 
poses in  his  apiaries.  His  hive,  the  "Bristol,"  is  al- 
most entirely  his  own  invention,  being  specially 
adapted  to  the  perfect  working  of  the  system  upon 
which  his  bees  are  managed.  In  1885  his  production 
was  J  1,000  pounds  of  comb  hone3^  an  average  of  Ookj' 
pounds  per  colon3',  all  made  in  twelve  days,  fioni 
basswood. 


A.  E.  MANTJM. 


Mr.  M.  is  of  medium  height,  with  dark  complexion, 
hair,  and  eyes.  A  kind  friend,  an  upright  gentleman, 
and  a  thorough  business  man,  he  has  attained  an 
enviable  position  among  the  bee-keepers  of  Vermont, 
where  he  is  so  universally  known.  His  extensive 
operations,  his  uniform  success,  and  his  practical 
writings,  have  also  given  him  a  national  reputation.— 
/.  JzT.  Larrabee.  hi  Gleanings,  page 301,  Vol.  XVII. 


J.  E.  CRANE. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  boiu  May  16,  1840,  on 
a  farm  in  the  town  of  Bridport,  in  Western  Vermont. 
During  his  early  life  he  had  a  great  fondness  for 
nature  and  nature-studies,  but  few  oppoi tunities  to 
gratify  that  taste.  He  desired  very  much  a  liberal 
education  that  he  might  be  more  useful  to  mankind  ; 
but  continued  ill  health  wholly  prevented,  and  his 
only  hope  of  living  at  all  was  continuous  life  in  the 
open  air. 

At  twenty-five  Mr.  Crane  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine,  but  soon  felt  it  necessary  to  give  it  up  for 
the  free  open-air  life  of  the  farm.  Having  given  up 
his  last  hope  of  an  education  he  turned  to  farm  life 
again,  and  at  once  bought  one  or  two  hives  of  bees, 
hoping,  by  the  aid  of  them,  to  be  able  to  pay  for  the 
necessary  labor  of  carrying  on  a  farm.  His  brother 
went  into  company  with  him.  The  first  year  proved 
a  complete  failure;  but  the  next  year  they  secured 
from  S!x  or  seven  hives  as  many  hundred  pounds  of 


comb  honey.  From  this  time  Mr.  Crane's  success 
with  bees  has  been  constant,  varying  with  the  seasons. 
He  increased  his  stock  until  he  had  nearly  700  hives 
of  his  own.  For  the  last  few  years  he  has  usually 
wintered  only  about  500  colonies  in  five  3-ards,  as  it  is 
as  many  as  he  has  strength  to  care  for.  He  believes 
it  safe  to  say  that  he  has  produced  much  more  honey 
than  any  other  person  in  New  England.  He  has  pro- 
duced comb  honej^  almost  entirely,  leaving  to  others 
the  simpler  method  of  extracting. 

As  his  conveniences  for  wintering  bees  in  cellar  were 
not  good,  nor  results  satisfactory,  he  early  began  exper- 
imenting wintering  out  of  doors,  and  was  one  of  the 
first  in  the  countr}'  to  adopt  winter  packing.  This  sys- 
tem of  wintering  has  been  largely  adopted  in  Vermont,, 
and  nearly  all  bees  there  are  wintered  on  their  sum- 
mer stands.  Mr.  Crane  says  he  remembers  when  A.  I. 
Root  was  having  so  much  trouble  with  wintering  he 
wrote  to  him  telling  his  success  in  wintering  in  hives 
packed  in  sawdust.  Mr.  Root  replied  that  one  swallow 
did  not  make  it  summer  ;  whereupon  Mr.  Crane  con- 
cluded, he  says,  he  was  not  of  so  much  consequence  as 
he  had  thought. 

Mr.  Crane  has  been  twice  married,  having  no  chil- 
dren by  his  first  wife. 

During  the  winter  of  1898-99  he  met,  while  in  Wash- 
ington, an  old  acquaintance  who  told  him  that  it 
seemed  very  doubtful,  in  the  neighborhood  where 
thej^  both  lived  in  early  life,  whether  he  would  ever 
be  able  to  take  care  of  himself  as  he  was  so  frail  and 
sickly.  Thanks  to  the  bees  and  the  constant  outdoor 
life,  he  is  now,  at  nearly  sixty,  quite  well,  although 
not  strong,  and  looking  forward  to  many  more  j-ears 
with  his  bees,  in  which  he  is  much  interested. 


J.   E.  CRANE. 

For  man\- years  he  was  superintendent  of  a  Sundaj-- 
school  in  his  native  town,  and  has  served  in  that  ca- 
pacity since  residing  in  Middlebury.  This  is  work 
he  thoroughly  er  joys.  Mr.  Crane  was  for  man^-  years 
deacon  of  the  church  of  his  native  town.  He  has  been 
for  manj'  years  much  interested  in  temperance  work; 
prepared  a  large  number  of  lantern  slides,  and,  with 
their  use,  gave  some  temperance  lectures,  but  was 
compelled  to  give  them  up  for  lack  of  strength.  He 
is  now  on  the  executive  committee  of  his  county  Anti- 
saloon  League. —  W  P.  Root,  Medina,  Ohio. 


378 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS 


CHARI^ES  DADANT  &  SON. 

Charles  Dadant  was  born  in  a  village  of  the  old  prov- 
ince of  t  hampagne  (now  department  of  Haute  Marne), 
France,  May  22d,  1817.  When  a  j'oung  man  he  was  a 
traveling  agent  for  a  dry-goods  firm,  and  afterward 
hecame  a  wholesale  dry-goods  merchant  himself,  sub- 
sequently leaving  this  business  to  associate  himself 
with  his  father-in-law  in  the  tranagement  of  a  tan- 
nery.  In  1863  he  came  to  the  United  States,  intending 
to  make  a  business  of  grape-growing,  with  which  bus- 
iness he  had  been  familiar  from  childhood,  as  it  was 
the  leading  business  of  his  native  place.  He  did  not 
know  a  word  of  English  at  this  time;  but  hy  the  aid  of 
a  dictionary  be  became  acquainted  v  ith  it,  so  that,  four 
years  later,  he  covild  write  articles  for  the  papers,  but 
he  never  learned  to  pronounce  English  correctly. 

In  1864,  a  love  for  bees,  which  had  shown  itself  in 
childhood,  asserted  itself  anew,  and  he  obtained  two 
Mves  of  bees  from  a  friend.  After  trying  movable- 
frame  hives  side  by  side  with  the  old  European  "  eke  " 
horizontally  divided  hives,  the  latter  were  cast  aside, 
and  in  1868  he  tried  to  get  the  French  apiculturi.sts  to 
tn,-  the  lyangstroth  system,  but  was  rebuked  by  M. 
Hamet,  the  editor  of  a  French  bee-journal,  who  has 
never  ceased  trjdng  to  fight  against  the  invading  prog- 
ress of  movable  frames,  although  other  bee-magazines 
have  started  in  France  which  have  done  the  work  he 
might  so  well  have  done.  About  this  time  Mr.  D. 
tried  to  import  bees  from  Italy.  In  1873  he  went  in 
person  to  JtaU\  but  was  not  entirely  .successful  till 
1874,  when  he  .succeeded  in  importing  250  queens. 
These  importations  were  kept  up  for  years.  In  1871 
he  started  an  out-apiar\-,  and  .steadih"  increased  the 
immber  of  his  colonies  from  ^-ear  to  3-ear.  In  1874  he 
took  into  partnership  his  son,  Camille  P.  Dadant,  then 
23  years  old,  who  had  been  raised  in  the  business. 


CHAKLFS  DADA^■T. 

Since  1876  they  have  kept  five  apiaries,  of  60  to  120  col- 
onies each.  They  have  built  up  a  large  trade  in  ex- 
tracted honey— the  product  of  their  bees  in  1884  hav- 
ing been  36,000  lbs.  Messrs.  Dadant  &  Son  are  among 
the  largest,  if  not  the  largest,  manufacturers  of  comb 
foundation  in  the  world.  Commencing  with  500  lbs. 
in  1878,  they  reached  in  1884  the  enormous  amount  of 
59,000  lbs.    Both  father  and  son  have  written  no  little 


for  the  American  press.  Mr.  C.  Dadant  is  better 
known  as  a  writer  for  European  publications,  and 
has  been  one  of  the  main  expounders  of  American 
methods  in  Europe  :  and  the  Langslroth  -  Quinb}-  - 


CAMILLE    p.  DADANT. 


Dadant  hive,  introduced  by  him  into  the  Old  World, 
is  largeh'  used  under  the  name  of  the  Dadant  hive. 
He  published  a  Peii'i  Cours  d' Apiculture  Pratique  in 
1874,  in  France.  To  him  was  committed  the  task  of 
preparing  a  revised  edition  of  I^angstroth's  book,  and 
this  he  has  also  translated  for  publication  in  the 
French  language.  The  English  edition  contains  520 
pages,  and  has  been  fully  brought  up  to  the  times. 
For  further  particulars  see  book  notices  elsewhere. 


G:i,BI^Rr  M.  DOOLITTI^E. 
Gilbert  M.  Dool  ttle  was  born  April  H,  1846,  in 
Onondaga  Co.,  N.  \  .,  not  far  from  the  home  of  his 
later  3-ears  at  Borodino,  N.  Y.  During  h's  childhood 
he  often  did  duty  by  -watching  swarms  from  10  to  3 
o'clock,  and  at  the  age  of  eight  was  given  a  second 
swarm  for  the  hiving.  A  thief,  however,  emptied  the 
hive  of  its  contents  ;  and  as  foul  brood  prevailed  in 
that  region  during  .several  of  the  succeeding  \-ears  it 
was  not  till  the  spring  of  1869  he  laid  the  foundation  of 
his  present  apiary  by  purchasing  two  colonies  of  bees. 
Ivike  many  others  he  commenced  with  great  enthusi- 
asm, diligently  studying  all  the  books  and  papers  ob- 
tainable, but,  unlike  many  others,  he  has  never  allow^- 
ed  his  enthusiasm  to  die  out.  and  is  to-day  a  diligent 
student  of  the  ways  of  the  busj^  bee.  It  is  rare  to  find 
anj'  one  .so  familiar  w  th  what  has  been  done  and 
written  relative  to  bee-keeping.  Asa  business,  Mr.  D. 
has  made  bee-keeping  a  success,  although  he  has 
never  kept  a  large  number  of  colonies,  principally  if 
not  wholly  because  he  prefers  to  keep  no  more  than 
he  can  manage  without  outside  help.    In  1886  he  wrote 


BIOGRAPHIKS  OF  NOTED  BEB-KEEPERS. 


379 


in  the  A^nericaji  Bee  Journal,  "  From  less  than  50  colo- 
nies of  bees  (spring  count)  I  have  cleared  over  $1000 
each  year  for  the  past  1 3  3^ears,  taken  as  an  average. 
I  have  not  hired  13  days'  labor  in  that  time  in  the  api- 
ary,  nor  had  any  apprentices  or  students  to  do  the 


M.   DO(.LITTI  E. 

From  Scieniijic  Bee-keeping. 


vs^ork  for  me,  although  1  have  had  many  applications 
from  those  who  wished  to  spend  a  season  with  me. 
Besides  my  labor  with  the  bees,  T  take  care  of  my  gar- 
den and  a  small  farm  (29  acres);  have  charge  of  my 
father's  estate,  run  my  own  shop  and  .steam-engine, 
sawing  sections,  hives,  honey-crates,  etc.,  for  mj-self 
and  my  neighbors  ;  write  for  seven  different  papers, 
and  answer  a  host  of  correspondence."  Mr.  D.  works 
for  comb  honey,  and  also  makes  quite  a  business  of 
rearing  queens  for  sale.  Although  a  prolific  writer, 
his  fund  of  information  never  seems  exhausted,  and 
he  is  uniformh'  practical  and  interesting.  His  writ- 
ings give  evidence  of  the  close  and  careful  thinker.  In 
personal  appearance  Mr.  D.  is  of  commanding  pres- 
ence, being  large  and  well  formed,  of  sandj^  complex- 
ion, and  in  manner  he  is  a  genial  Christian  gentleman. 

In  1889  he  brought  out  his  book,  "  Scientific  Queen- 
rearing,"  a  work  that  has  a  large  sale,  and  is  almost 
universally  regarded  as  the  best  book  on  the  subject 
extant.  For  particulars  regarding  his  methods  see 
"  Queen-rearing  "  in  the  body  of  this  work. 


JAMES  HEDDON. 

James  Heddon  was  born  Aug.  28,  1845,  in  the  Gene- 
see Valley,  New  York.  Early  in  life  he  removed  to 
the  West  ;  and  for  years  Dowagiac,  Mich.,  has  been 
a  name  w  ell  known  to  bee-keepers,  because  it  is  the 
home  of  James  Heddon.  Endowed  b^-  nature  with  a 
mind  of  remarkable  vigor  he  lacked  the  advantages  of 
much  training  in  schools,  and  possiblj-  also  its  disad- 
vantages. His  entrance  into  the  ranks  of  bee-keepers, 
about  the  year  18(39,  may  probably  be  traced  to  the 


fact  that  he  married  Miss  Hastings,  the  daughter  of  a 
bee-keeper,  serving  an  apprenticeship  with  the  father. 
Few  have  shown  such  faith  in  bee-keeping,  for  Mr.  H. 
was  the  first  in  the  State,  and  one  of  the  first  in  the 
country,  to  make  a  specialty  of  that  pursuit,  and  few 
have  .shown  that  their  faith  was  so  well  founded  ;  for, 
commencing  with  nothing,  he  credits  his  capital, 
amounting  to  thousands,  entirely  to  the  aid  of  the 
little  bus3'  bee.  His  apiaries  have  some  j-ears  con- 
tained between  500  and  600  colonies.  In  1879  he  added 
the  supplj'-business. 

Mr.  Heddon  is  slight  and  wiry  in  figure,  below  the 
medium  size,  of  sandy  complexion,  and  intenseh-  nerv- 
ous in  temperament.  This  nervous  tendency-  leaves 
its  -Strong  impress  on  his  writings,  and  more  especially 
on  his  speaking.  To  that,  and  to  the  state  of  health 
resulting  from  it,  ma3^  perhaps  be  attributed  a  fierce- 
ness in  controversy',  especially  in  his  earlier  writings, 
that  would  hardly  allow  one,  who  had  never  seen  him, 
to  give  him  credit  for  the  affability  that  he  really  pos- 
sesses. As  might  be  expected,  both  in  writing  and 
speaking  he  is  possessed  of  great  vigor.  He  is  a  pro- 
lific writer,  and,  when  not  too  much  carried  away-  by 
controversy,  eminently  practical.  In  1885  he  published 
"Success  in  Bee  Culture,"  a  practical  work,  giving  his 
plans  of  bee-management,  as  also  a  description  of  the 
Heddon  hive  invented  hy  him  —  a  hive  hay-ing  the 
brood-chamber  divided  into  two  sections,  with  the  in- 
tention of  making  manipulation  hy  hives  rather  than 
hy  frames.  He  is  also  editor  and  publisher  of  the 
Dowagiac  Times. 


JAMES    II  ED  DON. 

Among  his  inventions,  aside  from  the  Heddon  hive, 
are  the  Heddon  surplus  case  and  the  slat  honey-board, 
so  extensively  used.  He  is  the  father  of  the  "  Pollen 
Theory."  Mr.  Heddon  is  by  no  means  guided  by  v.  hat 
is  merely  popular,  seeming  rather  to  take  a  delight 
in  the  opposite,  and  for  a  time  championed  box  Lives 
after  their  general  abandonment.  He  now  prefers  a 
carefullj-  bred  cross  of  Italians  and  blacks. 


380 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


W.  X,.  COGGSHAI,!,. 

Among  the  prominent  bee-keepers  of  York  State— 
those  who  count  their  colonies  by  the  several  hun- 
dreds—is W.  L,.  Coggshall,  of  West  Groton.  Capt.  J.  E. 
Hetherington  owns  the  largest  number;  P.  H.  Elwood 
the  next  largest,  and  Mr.  Coggshall  comes  in  for  a 
very  close  third.  If  we  add  to  this  list  the  names  of 
M.  H.  Mendleson,  J.  F.  Mclntyre,  and  R.  Wilkin,  of 
California,  we  come  very  near  including  in  the  list  all 
of  those  who  own  in  the  neighborhood  of  1000. 

\V.  I,.  Coggshall  owns  and  operates — well,  he  does 
not  know  exactly  how  manj^  but  somewhere  from 
1100  to  1200  colonies.  These  are  distributed  among 
some  ten  different  j^ards,  the  furthest  one  being  some- 
thing like  40  miles  from  the  home  apiar\- .  They  are 
scattered  among  the  hills  between  lakes  Cayuga  and 
Skaneateles,  and  hardh^  a  better  location  for  such 
extensive  bee-keeping  could  be  found  in  the  whole 
State.  His  brother,  David  C,  formerly  his  partner  in 
business,  now  owns  something  like  600  colonies,  and 
the  two  have  covered  almost  all  the  territory'  between 
the  two  lakes  with  apiaries  that  range  from  two  to 
three  miles  apart. 


W.  L.  COGGSHALL. 

There  is  probably  no  man  in  the  world  who  secures 
as  large  a  number  of  pounds  of  honey  per  colony, 
with  as  little  labor,  as  W.  1^.  Coggshall.  Indeed,  his 
record  and  that  of  his  helpers  in  extracting  is  some- 
thing phenomenal.  An  extracting-house,  extractor, 
and  all  other  appurtenances,  are  stationed  at  each 
yard;  and  it  is  the  custom  for  Mr.  Coggshall  to  take 
with  him  two  or  three  men,  also  a  load  of  kegs,  bar- 
rels, and  half-barrels.  Arriving  at  the  yard,  they  don 
their  armor-proof  bee-suits,  because  no  ordinary  sting- 
proof  clothing  would  answer.  They  then  proceed  to 
extract,  not  after  the  orthodox  fashion,  but  in  a  man- 
ner that  would  make  the  hair  of  an  average  bee-keep- 
er stand  on  end.  The  hives  are  ripped  open — yes, 
even  kicked  open  sometimes  if  a  kick  will  do  it  more 
quickly — smoke  is  driven  down  between  the  frames, 
combs  are  jerked  out,  and  with  a  peculiar  nervous 
trembling  motion,  which  they  have  acquired,  they 
will  shake  the  bees  almost  entirely  off.  What  few 
may  remain  are  cleaned  off  the  combs  with  one  or  two 
sweeps  of  a  long  whisk-broom  which  the  apiarist  has 


tied  to  his  person.  The  air  may  be  filled  with  mad 
stinging  bees,  but  that  makes  no  difference;  the  work 
goes  on  just  the  same.  The  combs,  as  fast  as  cleaned,, 
are  set  down  in  the  regular  hive-supers  placed  on  a 
hand-cart.  As  soon  as  four  supers  are  filled  with 
combs,  one  of  the  boys  draws  the  hand-cart  to  the 
extracting-house  where  the  combs  are  uncapped  and 
extracted  at  a  speed  that  defies  competition.  One  of 
Coggshall's  "lightning  operators"  and  two  boys  ac- 
tually took  from  the  hives  one  afternoon  1400  lbs.  of 
honey  in  an  hour  and  a  quarter,  or  at  the  rate  of  over 
1100  lbs.  an  hour.  This  included  taking  combs  out  of 
the  hive,  brushing  bees  off,  uncapping,  extracting, 
putting  the  honey  into  kegs,  and  replacing  the  combs. 
This  record  is  the  more  remarkable  from  the  fact  that 
a  non- reversible  extractor  was  used,  and  that  the 
"operator"  is  of  light  build,  and  the  boys  both  under 
16.  Some  of  the  other  records  are,  900  lbs.  in  one  hour 
for  two  men;  and  2500  lbs.  in  a  daj'  for  one  operator 
and  two  boys. 

Mr.  Coggshall  places  the  localitj^  first,  the  man  sec- 
ond, hives  last.  That  he  thoroughly  believes  in  this  is 
attested  by  the  fact  that  he  has  one  of  the  finest  loca- 
tions in  the  world,  right  in  the  heart  of  the  great 
buckwheat  country,  so  famous  for  its  immense  crops, 
and  by  the  further  fact  that  he  himself  is  an  alert, 
keen  business  man,  ever  active,  always  studying  the 
shortest  cuts,  and  ever  watchful  of  the  latest  methods.. 
His  hives — well,  the  less  said  about  them  the  better. 
They  are  any  thing  and  every  thing,  but  generally  of 
the  eight-frame  lyangstroth  type— such  hives  as  he  has 
been  able  to  buy  up  from  his  less  successful  neighbors 
who  tried  their  hand  at  keeping  bees  and  did  not 
make  them  pay.  He  will  take  these  same  bees  and 
the  same  hives  in  the  same  location,  and  make  them 
return  to  him  a  big  revenue,  thus  proving  that  there 
is  something  besides  locality  in  getting  honey. 

Mr.  Coggshall  is,  in  some  ways,  the  most  remarkable 
bee-keeper  in  the  United  States.  While  the  majoritj^ 
of  us  feel  that  we  could  not  afford  to  use  the  hives  and 
methods  (the  kicking  and  the  stinging)  employed  by 
him,  yet  there  is  no  denjdng  the  fact  that  he  produces 
great  results  in  spite  of  the  stings,  and  in  spite  of  rob- 
bing and  the  home-made  equipments  that  he  makes 
for  himself. — B.  R.  Root,  in  Gleanings  for  Dec.  /,  i8gg.. 


MIIvES  MORTON. 

Mr.  Miles  Morton  was  distinguished,  not  because  of 
his  having  owned  a  large  number  of  colonies,  nor  for 
producing  large  crops  of  honey  (although  he  was 
prominent  for  both),  but  because  of  the  fact  that  lie 
was  a  fine  mechanic  and  an  inventor  as  well. 

He  was  born  in  Groton,  N.  Y.,  in  1836.  He  early 
commenced  work  in  his  father's  carriage-shop,  and 
very  soon  became  an  expert  in  wood-working  and 
in  blacksmithing.  I,ater  on  he  engaged  in  the  gro- 
cery business,  and  continued  in  that  line  for  eight 
j-ears;  but  he  finally  sold  out  that  he  might  enter  into 
his  favorite  pursuit — bee-keeping. 

He  soon  began  the  manufacture  of  bee  keepers' 
supplies,  and  supplied  his  friends  and  neighbors  for 
miles  around  in  a  locality  that  probably  has  more 
bees  and  colonies  to  the  square  mile  than  any  other 
one  section  in  the  United  States.  He  was  continually 
experimenting  that  he  might  improve  upon  the  old 
methods  and  old  supplies.  Among  other  things  he 
was  one  of  the  fir•^t  to  adopt  a  tall  section,  and  among 
the  very  first  to  •)ring  into  use  the  cleated  separator, 
or  "  fence,"  as  we  now  call  it. 

When  the  writer  called  on  Mr.  Morton  in  1897  he 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE  KEEPERS. 


417 


found  his  barn  a  veritable  "  curiosity -shop,"  for  it 
seemed  as  if  he  had  experimented  with  nearh'  everj^ 
plan,  method,  and  device  known,  and  finally  had  set- 
tled down  on  the  eight-frame  I^angstroth  hive  with  a 
super  that  would  take  four-piece  sections  and  slatted 
separators.  It  was  at  this  time  that  he  showed  me 
the  value  of  the  fence  ;  and  when  I  came  home  and 
introduced  it  to  the  bee-keeping  public  through  our 
journal.  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  it  met  with  a  ready 
reception,  since  which  time  the  plain  section  and 
fence  have  grown  rapidlj-  into  favor. 


MILES  MORTQ- . 


^rr.  Morton  freeh*  gave  the  products  of  his  genius, 
notwithstanding  his  experiments  had  cost  him  hun- 
dreds of  dollars.  Quiet  in  his  manner,  one  would  not 
at  first  measure  up  the  man  at  his  true  value  ;  but  as 
one  became  more  and  more  acquainted  with  him  he 
realized  that  here  was  evers-  inch  a  man,  a  true  gen- 
tleman, and  Christian  friend. 

I  had  expected  to  make  him  another  call  during  the 
fall  of  1898,  but  sickness  prevented  my  going  at  the 
time  appointed,  and  in  a  few  da3-s  more  I  received 
word  that  our  friend  had  joined  the  other  world.  He 
waited  anxiousl3'  for  my  visit,  notwithstanding  he 
was  suffering  severe  pain  at  the  time,  and  expected 
death  to  follow  soon,  for  he  felt  he  had  a  message  to 
give — a  message  that  I  was  equall^^  anxious  to  receive 
— for  at  that  time  I  desired  to  learn  more  particularh- 
about  the  fence  ;  but  when  ]  failed  to  come  he  told  his 
brother-in-law  what  he  wished  to  impart  to  me,  and 
that  information  was,  later  on,  given  to  me  hy  Mr.  S. 
A.  Niver.  If  the  reader  desires  to  know  some  of  the 
things  Mr.  Morton  did  transmit  through  his  brother- 
in-law  I  wovild  refer  him  to  the  fence  system,  under 
"  Comb  Hone3%"  in  the  body  of  this  work. 

Mr.  Morton  died  vSept.  1,  1898.  Relatives,  friends, 
bee-keepers— in  fact,  the  whole  community  for  miles 
around— felt  that  they  had  suffered  an  irreparable 
loss.  His  quiet  Christian  character  had  left  its  deep 
impress  on  eveiy  one  who  knew  him,  and  the  whole 
bee-keeping  world  will  one  day  recognize,  if  it  does 
not  now,  his  contribution  to  the  more  modern  sj-stem 
of  comb-honey  production. — E.  R.  Root. 


W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON. 

W.  Z.  Hutchinson  is  one  of  the  man}^  who,  although 
born  in  the  East,  have  spent  in  the  West  all  of  life 
that  can  be  remembered.  Born  in  Orleans  Co.,  N.  Y., 
Feb.  17,  1S51,  he  was  taken,  four  3-ears  later,  with  his 
father's  famih-,  to  the  dense  forests  of  Genesee  Co., 
Michigan,  where  his  father  literally  hewed  out  a  farm. 
W.  Z.  had  the  full  benefit  of  pioneer  backwoods  life  ; 
and  although  hunting,  trapping,  etc.,  had  a  full  share 
of  his  time,  his  natural  bent  was  toward  machinery. 
This  passion  tor  machiners-  was,  as  he  advanced  in  his 
"teens,"  put  to  practical  use  b^-  building  a  turning- 
lathe,  and  beginning  the  manufacture  of  spinning- 
wheels  and  reels.  These  he  continued  to  make  for 
several  A-ears,  peddling  them  out  in  the  surrounding 
countrs'.  At  eighteen  he  began  teaching  school  win- 
ters. V\  hile  thus  "  boarding  around,"  a  copj^  of  King's 
"  Text-Book"  fell  in  his  way.  It  was  to  him  a  revela- 
tion. He  learned  that  the  owner  had  about  fift^-  colo- 
nies of  bees  down  cellar,  which  he  was  not  long  in 
asking  to  see,  and  for  the  first  time  he  looked  upon  a 
movable-comb  hive— the  American.  The  next  season, 
in  swarming  time,  he  visited  this  friend,  and  the 
charms  of  bee-keeping  appeared  greater  than  those  of 
any  other  business.  Although  not  really  owning  a  bee 
till  the  lapse  of  many  months,  he  became  then  and 
there  in  spirit  a  bee-keeper,  reading  all  he  could  find 
on  the  subject,  and  visiting  bee-keepers.  The  intro- 
duction of  woolen-factories  compelled  him  to  abandon 
the  r.pinning-wheel  trade  ;  and  one  afternoon  in  June, 


if 


5- 


W.   Z.  HUTCHIS'SON. 

while  peddling  out  his  la,-t  lot,  he  made  a  sale  to  a 
farmer  about  16  miles  from  home  ;  and  although  it 
was  only  about  fotir  o'clock,  he  begged  to  be  allowed 
to  sta3-  all  night,  urged  thereto  hy  the  sight  of  a  long 
row  of  bi-ightly  painted  hives.  This  bee-keeper  had 
an  onh-  daughter,  and  the  reader  can  weave  his  own 
romance,  upon  being  told  that  the  father,  .VTr.  Clark 
Simpson,  became  the  father-in-law  of  Mr.  Hutchinson. 

In  1877  he  began  bee-keeping  with  four  colonies,  and 
an  excellent  theoretical  knowledge  of  the  business^ 


418 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


Mr.  H.  has  never  kept  a  very  large  number  of  colo- 
nies, but  has  made  a  comfortable  living  by  the  sale  of 
comb  honey.  In  1887  he  moved  from  Rogersville  to 
Flint,  Mich.,  where  he  established  the  Bee-keepers'' 
Review,  which  fills  a  place  not  previously  occupied, 
and  is  edited  with  the  ability  that  might  be  expected 
from  one  who  has  been  so  favorably  known  through 
his  many  articles  published  in  the  bee-journals. 

In  appearance,  Mr.  H.  might  more  readily  be  taken 
for  a  professional  man  than  for  a  farmer  or  bee-keep- 
er. Tall,  straight  as  an  arrow,  with  side  whiskers, 
and  rather  dark  complexion,  he  presents  a  conspicu- 
ous figure  at  the  gatherings  of  bee-keepers,  where  he 
is  alwaj^s  in  office,  whether  the  gathering  is  local  or 
national. 

GEORGE  W.  YORK. 
Geo.  W.  York  is  better  known  as  the  editor  of  a  bee- 
journal  than  as  a  bee-keeper.    To  edit  and  publish 
each  week  a  journal  in  so  able  a  manner  as  that  in 


GEORGE  W.  YORK. 

which  Mr.  York  edits  and  publishes  the  American  Bee 
Journal  leaves  time  for  bee-keeping  on  only  a  very 
limited  scale. 

(ieorge  Washington  York  was  born  Feb.  21,  1862,  at 
Mount  Union,  Stark  Co.,  O.,  where  his  father,  John 
B.,  was  completing  his  studies  at  Mount  Union  Col- 
lege, m  1869  the  family  (which  later  numbered  ten 
members)  moved  upon  a  farm  of  nearly  100  acres,  in 
Randolph,  Portage  Co.,  O.  Here  he  grew  up  as  a 
country-  lad  working  on  the  farm  and  fighting  bum- 
ble-bees in  the  summer,  and  attending  district  school 


till  18  years  of  age,  when,  after  some  preliminary  ne- 
gotiation, he  received  a  postal  card  from  the  directors 
of  a  school  12  miles  away,  saying,  "  We  have  conclud- 
ed to  let  3'ou  teach  our  school  this  winter.  Wages 
$1.75  per  day.  Three  months  if  a  No.  1  school  ;  if  not, 
to  be  closed  at  our  option.  If  every  thing  is  satisfac- 
tory, may  continue  four  months."  The  conditions 
were  made  necessary  from  the  fact  that  several  prede- 
cessors had  come  off  second  best  in  their  encounters 
with  the  boys  of  the  school.  (Mem. — Young  York 
finished  the  four  months).  The  night  before  begin- 
ning this  school  his  father  drove  him  to  his  boarding- 
place,  and  on  leaving  handed  him  a  piece  of  money, 
saying,  "  Here  is  fifty  cents;  you  must  be  very  econom- 
ical, George."  George  was;  for  that  was  all  the 
money  he  saw  till  his  four  months  were  up. 

In  1882  he  was  graduated  from  the  commercial 
department  of  Mount  Union  College,  and  continued 
there  for  a  time  as  instructor  in  penmanship,  mathe- 
matics, and  book-keeping.  A  subsequent  engagement 
at  the  same  school  he  had  first  taught  led 
to  acquaintance  with  T.  G.  Newman,  editor 
and  publisher  of  the  Amei  ican  Bee  Journal^ 
and  on  April  1,  1884,  Mr.  York  went  to  Chi- 
cago to  work  in  any  part  of  Mr.  Newman's 
business  or  in  that  of  his  son  (a  supply- 
dealer)  in  which  they  might  desire  his  ser- 
vices. That  ranged  from  sweeping  out  the 
office  to  reading  proof,  including  setting 
type,  washing  the  windows,  acting  as  ship- 
ping-clerk, etc.  It  was  precisely  the  train- 
ing to  fit  him  for  the  position  he  has  so 
well  filled  these  later  years.  His  remark- 
able memory  soon  made  him  as  good  as  a 
cyclopedia  to  his  employer,  who  could  de- 
pend upon  him  for  names,  addresses,  or  to 
find  any  item  that  had  appeared  in  the 
journal.  In  an  editorial  in  1892,  Mr.  New- 
man said,  "  Step  hy  step  he  advanced  to 
positions  of  responsibility  and  confidence,, 
until,  during  our  late  and  long-continued 
indisposition,  he  has  had  the  entire  editori- 
al management  of  this  journal." 

At  this  date,  189-',  Mr.  York  bought  out 
the  journal,  almost  his  sole  capital  being: 
his  experience,  having  enough  to  pay  for 
a  third  and  going  in  debt  for  the  rest. 
Six  years  saw  him  clear  of  debt,  and  seven 
with  a  subscription  list  40  per  cent  larger 
than  when  he  took  it. 

A  w&ry  pleasing  manner,  united  with  real 
executive  ability,  makes  his  office  work 
move  without  friction,  a  strong  bond  unit- 
ing together  his  office  force  in  unusual  loy- 
laty  to  the  employer.    His  constant  study 
is  for  some   fresh   improvement   for  his 
beloved  journal.    The  clock-work  regulari- 
ty of  its  weekly  appearance  is  something 
remarkable. 
Since  1878  an  active  worker  in  the  M.  E- 
Church,  he  has  been  prominent  in  Sundaj'-school  and 
L,eague  work,  and  his  wife  and  he,  both  good  singers,, 
have  rendered  efficient  service  with  their  voices.  He 
is  an  officer  in  the  church  at  Kavenswood  (,a  suburb  of 
Chicago,  where  he  has  a  delightful  home),  and  since 
1896  superintendent  of  its  Sunday-school  of  600  mem- 
bers.   For  two  years  in  succession  he  was  honored 
with  the  presidency  of  the  North  American  Bee-keep- 
ers' Association,  which  office  he  has  filled  with  the 
same  characteristic  faithfulness  and  energy-  that  have 
marked  his  career  as  editor  and  publisher. 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


H.  R.  BOARD  MAN. 
H.  R.  Boardman  was  born  Apr.  2,  183-),  in  Swanzey, 
K.  H.,  and  at  about  one  year  of  age  he  was  taken  to 
what  was  then  the  wilderness  West,  and  during  near- 
ly all  his  life  his  present  place  of  residence.  East 
Townsend.  Ohio,  has  been  his  home.  The  district 
school  was  his  only  college,  unless  we  take  into  ac- 
count the  opportunities  for  development  afforded  by 
an  acquaintance  with  the  wild  woods,  abounding  in 


H.  R.  BOARDMAN. 

deer,  turkeys,  and  other  wild  game.  Mr.  Boardman 
says,  ■■  The  wild  woods  have  ever  possessed  a  charm 
for  me.  The  pages  of  Nature's  great  open  book  have 
furnished  me  much  with  which  to  make  life  pleasant : 
and  it  is  this  aesthetic  taste,  no  doubt,  that  has  led  me 
to  my  present  occupation  of  bee-keeping."  Mr.  B. 
has  a  cabinet  of  mounted  specimens  of  birds,  prepared 
by  his  own  hands,  in  which  he  takes  a  pride  next  to 
that  which  he  takes  in  his  apiaries. 

Mr.  Boardman's  training  as  a  bee-keeper  commenced 
at  a  very  early  age.  His  father  was  a  bee-keeper  of 
the  old  school,  and  a  ver\-  successful  one.  By  means 
of  box  hives  and  the  brimstone-pit  he  secured  honey 
for  the  family  table,  and  also  some  to  sell,  nearly  every 
season.  Later  on.  boxes  were  put  on  top.  the  boxes 
sealed  around  with  lime  mortar  or  moist  clay,  to  ex- 
clude the  light  entirely,  in  order  to  induce  the  bees  to 
commence  work  in  them.  One  year  his  father  bought 
2-5  colonies  of  bees  early  in  the  season,  away  from 
home  ;  and  as  there  was  no  one  to  watch  them  a', 
swarming  time,  he  tiered  them  up  by  putting  an  emp- 
t^-  hive  over  each  colony,  there  being  a  hole  througii 
which  the  bees  could  pass  into  the  hive  above.  In  the 
fall  the  bees  were  brimstoned.  and  the  honey  hauled 
home,  nearly  a  ton  '  Considerable  wild  honey  was 
also  obtained  from  the  trees.  The  abundance  of  thesj 
wild  bees  before  tame  bees  were  abundant,  suggested. 
Mr.  B.  thinks,  that  they  were  native. 

Mr.  B.  is  a  careful  obser\-er.  doing  his  own  thinking, 
and  adhering  to  plans  which  he  has  found  successful. 


He  produces  comb  honey,  and  keeps  400  or -500  colonies 
in  four  apiaries.  He  is  7 ernarkab/v  snccesstul  in  win- 
tering. He  aims  to  secure  a  moderate  yield  with  mod- 
erate increase,  and  has  thus  carried  on  a  profitable 
and  increasing  business. 

Mr.  B.  is  of  spare  figure,  hardly  up  to  medium  size, 
earnest  in  manner,  suggesting  a  person  of  great  de- 
cision and  acti%-ity.  Although  not  a  prolific  writer, 
whatever  has  come  from  his  pen  is  practical  and  valu- 
able. 


HON.  R.  L.  TAYLOR. 
R.  L.  Taylor,  ex-president  of  the  National  Bee-keep- 
e:s' Association,  was  bom  on  a  farm  at  Almont.  La- 
peer Co..  Mich..  ^  ov.  3.  1S39.  He  was  the  son  of  .Scotch 
parents  who  were  pioneers  in  that  new.  hea\-ily  tim- 
bered part  of  Michigan.    We  hardly  need  say  more  to 

prove  that  our  friend  was  early  taught  to  be  religious, 
truthful,  honest,  and  industrious  :  for  how  loyal  are 
almost  all  the  Scotch  to  all  these  grand  principles, 
which  are  the  ver\-  basis  of  true  manhood  !  Pres. 

■  aylor  was  one  of  fourteen  children.  Like  most 
fanner  bo^-s.  he  worked  on  the  farm  summers,  and 
went  to  common  district  school  in  winter.  At  the  age 
cf  nineteen  he  lost  his  father,  who  was  carried  off  by 
an  accident,  when  the  severe  and  arduous  duties  of  a 
large  farm  devolved  on  our  friend.  But  he  had  learn- 
ed to  labor,  a:!d  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  But  our 
f  riend  aspired  to  a  college  edi:cation.  He  taught  win- 
ters, and  prepaied  hints  If  for  the  classical  1  epart- 


IIOX.    R.  L.  TAYLOR. 

ir.ent  of  the  Michigan  Universitv,  which  he  entered 

iu  lMi2. 

In  IS<3")  ^^r.  Taylor  left  college.  He  entered  mer- 
cantile life,  which  he  followed  at  Almont  ver^.-  success- 
fvlly  for  three  years.  But  mere  business  was  not 
wholly  to  Mr.  Taylor's  taste,  and  so  he  spent  his  spare 
lir.ie  in  the  study  of  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
iu  ISW.  In  1S72  he  was  elected  Register  of  Deeds  by 
the  largest  majority  ever  received  by  any  county  offi- 
cer of  his  county-.    He  then  moved  to  Lapeer,  where 


420 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


he  has  resided  ever  since.  Two  3'ears  later  he  was  re- 
elected. In  1877  he  resumed  the  practice  of^law,  and 
was  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney  the  following  year. 

At  that  time,  fortunately  for  apiculture,  two  colonies 
of  bees  fell  into  Mr.  Taylor's  possession.  They  in- 
creased rapidly,  and  his  interest  kept  pace,  owing, 
doubtless,  to  the  success'which  marked  his'labors  from 
the  first.  'I'hus  he  declined  a  renomination  as  Pros- 
ecuting Attornej',  and  very-  soon  gave  up  the  practice 
of  law,  that  he  might 
devote  his  entire  time 
to  his  bees.  Thus  here 
as  every-where  Mr. 
Taylor  is  consistent. 
He  preaches  exclusive 
apicvilture  for  the  api- 
arist, and  practices 
what  he  preaches.  He 
is,  perhaps,  the  largest 
bee  -  keeper  i  n  t  h  e 
State  of  Michigan. 

As  an  apiarist  he 
stands  among  the 
first.  H  i  s  cautious, 
scientific,  thoroughly 
informed  mind  grap- 
ples even  with  foul 
brood,  and  the  fell 
disease  is  worsted  in 
the  struggle.  He  told 
me  once,  as  I  visited 
his  apian,',  that  he 
rather  enjoyed  the 
malady,  as  it  was  in- 
teresting to  watch  and 
study  it.  How  few  are 
cautious  enough  to 
hold  this  dire  scourge 
at  arm's  length,  even 
though  it  be  right  in 
the  apiary-  ! 

Mr.  Taylor's  style  as 
a  speaker  and  writer 
is  quite  earnest  but 
ver^^  convincing.  He 
is  candid,  very  cau- 
tious, and  rather  con- 
servative ;  so  those 
who  know  him  place 
great  weight  upon  his 
opinion  or  judgment. 
Slow  to  draw  conclu- 
sions, his  conclusions 
rarely  need  reconsid- 
eration. In  our  litera- 
ture, in  our  conven- 
tions, and,  best  of  all, 
in  his  home  city,  he  is 
a  power.  His  presence 
is  felt  to  be  of  signal 
advantage. 

That  Mr.  Taylor's  neighbors  appreciate  his  worth  is 
evinced  by  the  fact  that  he  was  elected  to  our  State 
Senate  in  1888,  where  he  was  an  able  member.—  Co7i- 
densed  from  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  for  Ni^v.  i  iSgo 
from  a  sketch  written  by  Prof.  A.f.  Cook. 


parents  removed  to  Napoleon,  Henry  Co.,  O.,  where,, 
two  3^ears  later,  his  father  died,  leaving  his  mother  a 
widow  with  two  sons,  in  straitened  circumstances. 
Two  years  later  his  mother  married  Mr.  Joseph 
George,  of  Clyde,  O.,  and  settled  in  Sanduskj^  Co. 
After  living  there  a  few  years  the  great  inducements 
of  the  West  influenced  his  stepfather  to  move  to 
Northern  Iowa,  where  they  settled  in  Chickasaw  Co., 
when  Mr.  Poppleton  was  12  3-ears  of  age.    This  was 


O.  O.  POPPI.ETON. 
O.  O.  Poppleton  was  born  near  Green  Springs,  Sen- 
eca Co.,  O.,  June  8th,  1843.    When  four  years  old  his 


(\  o.  rcrPLETox. 

his  home  until  1887.  when  he  removed  to  Florida  on 
account  of  his  health. 

As  Iowa  was  a  ver^'  new  country^  Mr.  Poppleton  had 
the  full  benefit  of  pioneer  backwoods  life.  His  edu- 
cation was  obtained  in  common  schools,  except  about 
two  years  at  Oberlin,  where  he  also  took  a  commercial 
course.  When  16  and  17  years  of  age,  in  company 
with  an  uncle  of  his  he  taught  writing-school  at  sev- 
eral places  in  Ohio— at  Lithopolis,  Homer,  Washing- 
ton C.  H.,  and  Springfield.    At  the  latter  place  he  also 


BIOGRAPHIKS  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


421 


kept  books  for  a  short  time  in  the  office  of  a  daily 
paper. 

Jn  October,  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  7th 
Iowa  Infantr\-,  and  re-enlisted  as  a  veteran  in  1863. 
In  February,  1864,  he  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy^ 
in  the  lllth  U.  S.  C.  Inf.,  and  a  few  months  later  he 
was  made  regimental  adjutant.  It  was  while  per- 
forming the  duties  of  this  office,  and  also  at  the  same 
time  those  of  post-adjutant  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn., 
that  overwork  resulted  in  the  eye-trouble  that  has  so 
seriously  affected  his  health  ever  since,  and  which 
compelled  the  refusal  of  an  excellent  offer  of  employ-- 
ment  at  the  time  of  mustering  out.  He  serv^ed  his 
country-  faithfully  for  five  j^ears  ;  and  though  he  re- 
ceived no  scar  upon  his  body-,  yet  the  smell  of  smoke 
was  strong  upon  his  garments.  He  was  in  several 
hard-fought  battles,  and  taken  prisoner  once,  but  was 
held  only  a  few  weeks,  when  he  was  released  or 
exchanged. 

On  leaving  the  ser\'ice  he  settled  down  on  a  farm 
adjoining  his  parents'  in  Iowa.  He  married  a  Miss 
Groom,  who  died  twelve  years  after,  leaving  him  two 
daughters.  Mrs.  Poppleton  was  a  confirmed  invalid 
for  nine  years. 

Dec.  6th,  1881,  he  married  Mrs.  Mattie  Herrick,  of 
Ft.  "Wayne,  Ind.,  who  is  a  sister  of  the  writer  of  this 
sketch.  On  account  of  poor  health,  and  the  very- 
severe  winters  of  Iowa,  thej-  went  to  Florida  to  spend 
the  winter  for  several  winters,  where  he  found  the 
change  of  climate,  with  outdoor  living,  greath-  im- 
proved his  health. 

When  first  married  his  stepfather  gave  him  a  colo- 
ny of  bees  in  a  box  hive.  It  so  happened  that,  in  the 
winter  of  1869,  an  acquaintance  stopped  over  night  at 
his  house,  and  among  other  papers  he  had  with  him 
was  the  bee-paper  that  was  at  that  time  published  by 
H.  A.  King,  at  Nevada.  Ohio,  now  the  Bee-keepers' 
Magazine.  This  he  became  vers^  much  interested  in 
during  the  evening,  and  immediateh-  afterward  ob- 
tained all  literature  on  bees  he  covild  find,  and  made 
a  study-  of  the  "  bvisy  bee."  He  soon  learned  there 
was  a  better  way-  of  handling  than  in  a  box  hive.  He 
transferred  the  two  colonies  he  then  had  into  mov- 
able-comb hives,  obtained  other  colonies,  and  in  a 
y^ear  or  so  he  had  qiiite  an  apiary,  which,  in  common 
w-ith  so  many  other  apiaries  in  the  country-,  was 
almcst  destroyed  by  bad  wintering.  But  the  use  of 
chaff  hives  removed  this  trouble  for  the  future. 

On  account  of  having  such  poor  health  he  made  no 
effort  to  do  a  large  business,  but  confined  himself  to  a 
simple  apiai-y-  vary-ing  from  75  to  150  colonies,  spring 
count,  and  to  the  almost  exclusive  production  of  ex- 
tracted honey-.  For  the  last  ten  y-ears  that  he  lived  in 
Iowa,  his  annual  crop  of  honey  averaged  110  lbs.  per 
colony-.  His  half-brother,  Mr.  F.  W.  George,  has  had 
charge  of  his  apiary  since  his  removal  to  Florida. 

Some  fourteen  or  fifteen  y-ears  ago  he  discovered  the 
value  of  chaff  as  a  winter  protection  for  bees,  without 
knowing  that  any  one  else,  notably  Mr.  J.  H.  Town- 
ley,  of  Michigan,  had  previously  made  the  same  dis- 
covery^  He  also  invented  the  solar  wax  -  extractor 
about  the  same  time.  He  was  vice-president  for  sev- 
eral years  of  the  N.  A.  B.  K.  A.;  president  of  the  Iowa 
B.  K.  S.,  and  honorary-  member  of  the  Michigan  State 
Bee-keepers'  Society\ 

Mr.  Poppleton  is  of  spare  figure,  hardly-  up  to  me- 
dium size.  His  very  pleasant  manner  is  only-  a  fair 
index  of  a  genial  and  lo\-ing  spirit  that,  in  an  unusual 
degree,  strives  to  put  the  best  construction  on  the  con- 
duct and  motives  of  every  one. — Condensed  from  Glean- 
ings in  Bee  Culiure  for  May  /,  i88g,  from,  a  sketch  by 
Mrs.  M.  George. 


EUGENE  SECOR. 

Eugene  Secor  was  born  in  Putnam  Co.,  N.  Y.,  in 
1841,  and  it  was  his  good  fortune  to  be  kept  thereon 
a  farm  until  he  attained  his  majority.  In  1862  he 
went  to  Iowa,  entering  Cornell  College  at  Mount  "Ver- 
non. A  brother  who  was  county  treasurer  and  re- 
corder, as  well  as  postmaster,  enlisted  to  hold  up  his 
country's  flag,  and  Eugene  abandoned  his  college 
course  to  take  charge  of  his  brother's  business,  thus 
occupying  two  years.  Had  his  health  been  more  ro- 
bust, he  probably  would  have  borne  his  brother  com- 
pany in  the  army. 

Asked  what  his  business  is,  aside  from  bee-keeping, 
Mr.  Secor  replies,  "  v\  hen  the  bees  are  not  swarming, 
and  no  public  duty  calls  me,  I  '  recreate  '  by  running 
a  real-estate  and  abstract  office  in  the  daytime,  and 
writing  for  the  papers  at  night." 

Besides  filling  many  offices  of  trust  during  the  last 
25  y-ears,  both  public  and  ecclesiastical,  he  has  borne 
his  share  of  the  burden  of  educational  matters  in  his 
own  city  by  acting  as  a  member  of  the  school  board, 
and  being  president  thereof. 


% 


EUGENE  SECOR. 


In  spite  of  his  special  interest  in  apiculture  he  has 
a  leading  hand  in  agricultural  matters,  having  organ- 
ized the  agricultural  society  of  his  county  (Winneba- 
go), of  which  society-  he  was  president  for  two  years, 
and  in  18S8  he  was  elected  by  the  State  legislature  one 
of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  State  Agricultural  Col- 
lege, to  ser\-e  a  term  of  six  y-ears. 

The  State  Horticultural  Society^  showed  its  apprecia- 
tion of  his  serv-ices  by-  re-electing  him  as  president 
thereof  and  giving  him  charge  of  one  of  its  experi- 
ment stations.  The  State  Bee-keepers'  Society  elected 
him  president  in  1891  and  1892^ 

In  1896  Mr.  Eugene  Secor  was  elected  to  the  position 


422 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


of  General  Manager  of  the  United  States  Bee-keepers' 
Union.  When  the  National  and  the  United  States 
Bee-keepers'  Unions  were  amalgamated  into  what  is 
now  known  as  the  National  Bee-keepers'  Association, 
Mr.  Secor,  by  the  act  of  amalgamation,  was  made 
General  Manager  of  the  new  organization.  Ever 
since,  he  has  been  unanimously  re-elected  to  the  po- 
sition. The  office  has  required  tact,  executive  abilit3^ 
and  general  business  qualifications.  In  all  of  these 
points  Mr.  Secor  has  filled  the  bill.  One  of  the  strong 
characteristics  of  his  make-up  is  geniality.  There  is 
no  more  popular  bee-keeper  in  the  ranks  of  all  bee- 
dom  than  "  Genial  Gene."  His  popularit5^  coupled 
with  his  other  qualifications,  has  placed  him  and 
maintained  him  in  the  position  he  has  held  with  such 
credit. 

As  a  writer  of  verse,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  he 
sometimes  shows  a  reckless  disregard  for  the  laws  of 
grammar  and  versification  ;  but  the  true  spirit  of  po- 
etry is  in  him,  and  bee-keepers  may  well  be  proud  of 
liim  as  their  poet-laureate.  Indeed,  wipe  out  of  exist- 
ence the  bee-keepers'  songs  written  by  Eugene  Secor, 
and  there  is  little  left  worth  their  singing.  The  great 
trouble  is,  that  he  writes  only  as  the  spirit  moves  him, 
and  the  "  moving  "  seldom  comes.  He  once  sent  me 
a  single  stanza  of  a  bee-keepers'  song  (urged  to  the 
writing,  I  think,  by  Dr.  Mason),  asking  me  if  I 
thought  it  would  do.  Of  course  it  would  do,  and  I 
advised  its  completion.  That's  the  last  I  ever  heard 
of  it.  It  may  never  get  further  than  the  first  stanza, 
and  it  may  be  completed.  If  it  is,  it  will  be  a  good 
song. 

Most  of  the  readers  of  these  pages  are  more  or  le.ss 
familiar  with  the  poetic  writings  of  Mr.  Secor,  and  he 
has  been  especially  happy  in  his  dialect  songs.  Take 
that  one  in  which  the  good-natured  German  has  been 
hearing  the  big  stories  of  what  bees  will  do  with  little 
or  no  care.  He  gets  a  colonj'  of  bees  and  then  sings, 
care-free, — 

Oh  !  I  ish  von  of  dose  happy  bee-mans, 

1  don't  got  to  vork  any  more, 
I  loafs  all  day  on  der  apple-tree  shade. 

Or  smokes  mine  pipe  on  der  door. 

More  or  less  of  this  vein  of  humor  seems  ready  to 
bubble  up  at  all  times  in  his  writings.  Even  the  tor- 
tures of  the  grip  have  for  him  a  funny  side,  and  he 
writes, — 

I  don't  feel  well.    I  can  not  sleep. 
The  chills  along  my  backbone  creep. 
I'm  tired  and  nervous.    I  go  home 
And  call  the  doctor,  who,  when  come. 
Says,  "  Grip  !  " 

After  all,  I  like  best  the  poems,  which  show  his  ten- 
der side.  I  think  the  right  kind  of  heart  never  grows 
old,  and  Eugene  Secor's  heart  seems  to  be  of  that  sort. 
The  poem,  "A  love-letter,"  shows  finely  this  tender 
side,  with  a  quaint  touch  of  the  humorous.  No  pi-oper 
ilea  can  be  had  from  any  .short  quotation  ;  but  after  a 
description  of  his  anxiety  to  meet  again  his  loved  one, 
that  involuntarily  pictures  to  j-our  mind  the  ardent 
young  lover,  he  winds  up, — 

For  love  is  in  the  present  tense,  no  future  doubts  can 
chill  ; 

Besides,  the  one  who  longs  for  me,  'twixt  anxious 

hopes  and  fears. 
Has  been  my  wife  and  true  love,  lo  !  these  five  and 

twenty  years. 

While  you  smile  at  the  neat  little  trick  that  has  been 
played  upon  you,  on  discovering  that  it  is  a  grand- 
father, and  not  a  youth,  who  is  talking,  the  whole  ef- 
fect is  such  that  tears  are  near  the  surface. 

Spare  in  form,  somewhat  above  medium  height, 
iron-gray  hair  and  beard,  Mr.  Secor's  whole  appear- 


ance impresses  j'ou  as  belonging  to  a  man  of  force  ; 
but  in  another  respect  the  face  belies  the  man,  for  it 
gives  the  impression  of  inflexible  sternness,  with  no 
hint  of  the  genial,  kindly  nature  that  lies  back  of  it. 
Modest  and  quiet  in  demeanor,  you  might  be  with  him 
for  some  time  without  finding  out  what  he  was.— Cow- 
densed  from  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  far  May  /,  iSg2, 
from  a  sketch  by  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller. 


JOHN  H.  MARTIN. 
John  H.  Martin,  better  known,  perhaps,  as  "  Ram- 
bler," was  born  in  the  town  of  Hartford,  N.  Y.,  Dec. 
30,  1839.  His  grandfather  came  from  Massachusetts, 
and  was  one  of  those  hardy  "  Puritan  pioneers  "  who 
settled  in  that  region  near  the  close  of  the  last  centu- 
ry, and  there  carved  out  comfortable  homes  from  the 
virgin  forests.  He  was  a  man  of  high  native  qualities 
and  Yankee  shrewdness,  and  from  him  John  H.  cer- 
tainly seems  to  have  inherited  his  full  share.  As  John 
was  an  only  son  he  was  given  good  educational  oppor- 
tunities, spending  some  time  at  a  neighboring  acade- 
my, and  at  the  Fort  Edward  Collegiate  Institute. 


JOHN  H.  MARTIN. 

In  1868  he  married  Miss  Libbie  C.  Edwards,  who 
died  in  1881,  leaving  no  children.  She  was  an  estima- 
ble lady,  and  her  death  was  a  great  loss  to  all. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Martin  followed  agricultural 
pursuits  on  his  father's  farm  ;  but  owing  to  a  rather 
frail  constitution,  and  the  death  of  his  wife,  follow- 
ed, in  1883,  by  the  death  of  both  his  parents,  he  gave 
up  the  farm  entirely  ;  and  bee  culture,  which  had  for- 
merh'  been  a  side  issue,  was  given  all  his  time  and 
attention. 

His  grandfather  was  the  first  to  introduce  into  that 
section  the  Weeks  patent  hive,  which  at  that  time  was 
a  great  improvement.  By  observdng  his  grandfather's 
bees  and  methods,  he  early  became  interested  in  the 
bees,  and  hence  he  can  hardly  tell  when  his  career  as 
an  apiarist  began.    As  eSirly  as  1874  we  find  him  with 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS 


423 


55  colonies  of  bees,  and  a  contributor  to  Gleanings  in 
Bee  Culture.  Since  that  time  his  apicultural  career 
has  been  plaiuh-  indexed  by  his  contributions  to  that 
journal.  While  he  resided  in  Xew  York  it  was  his 
method  to  keep  from  200  to  800  colonies,  running  them 
for  extracted  hone^-,  and  doing  all  the  work  himself, 
except  during  the  extracting  season.  One  season  his 
crop  was  Itj.UOO  lbs.  of  honey,  and  his  average  for 
twelve  or  fifteen  years  was  about  7000  lbs.  of  extracted 
honey  per  year.  After  the  advent  of  the  Heddon  hive 
he  adopted  it  and  its  methods,  and  the  chaff  hives  and 
outdoor  wintering  were  discarded. 

In  person  Mr.  Martin  is  quite  tall  and  slender- 
there  is  not  an  ounce  of  spare  flesh  about  him.  In 
manner  he  is  ver\-  modest  and  quiet,  yet  continually, 
through  his  ej-es  and  in  his  words,  one  sees  the  humor 
of  the  man.  He  has  great  love  for  the  quaint  and 
hi;morous  side  of  humanity,  yet  his  humor  never  of- 
fends b}-  its  coarseness  nor  galls  by  its  acidity.  The 
series  of  articles  written  during  the  last  few  years, 
under  the  wow  de  plume  ol  Ramhl&r."  in  Gleani)igs. 
have  made  him  well  known  to  bee-keepers  generally. 
His  method  of  combining  the  entertaining  and  the  in- 
structive in  a  manner  to  make  it  read  by  all  is  ver\- 
characteristic. 

Mr.  :Martin"s  first  article  under  his  now  favorite  nojn 
/fie^/?<;;/£' was  published  in  Glean i>igs  for  Jime  1,  1888. 
His  first  rambles  covered  the  territory-  of  Eastern  New 
York,  but  they  gradually  enlarged  till  they  took  in 
the  bordering  States.  But  John  was  a  rover,  and  could 
not  be  held  down,  and  the  circle  of  his  wanderings 
kept  on  enlarging  imtil  he  reached  the  land  of  the 
setting  sun.  Since  the  summer  of  18^  his  rambles 
have  been  confined  particularly  to  California,  Wash- 
ington, and  Oregon.  Assisted  b^- pencil  and  camera 
he  has  made  his  travels  among  bee-keepers  peculiarly 
graphic.  Ever\-where  he  went  he  was  sure  to  be  wel- 
comed, and  sometimes  was  recognized  on  sight  "  b}- 
bee-keepers.  even  though  they  had  never  seen  him. 
His  long  lank  appearance,  his  striped  pants,  his  char- 
acteristic long-tailed  coat,  his  ever  present  umbrella 
and  camera,  were  exhibited  in  a  series  of  articles  in 
hundreds  of  different  poses.  These,  and  his  quaint 
wav  of  writing,  made  him  one  of  the  most  popular 
writers  in  bee  culture.  Indeed,  he  might  almost  be 
styled  the  Mark  Twain  of  beedom. 

Mr.  Martin  is  a  true  Christian— ven,-  zealous  in  Chris- 
tian work,  and  was  a  leading  member  and  deacon  of 
the  Congregational  Church  of  his  town.  He  long 
ser\-ed  as  superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  ;  and 
in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
welfare  of  society-  his  influence  is  felt,  and  it  is  always 
on  the  side  of  right.— Condensed  from  Gleanings  in 
Bee  Culture  for  March  is.  iSgi.from  a  sketch  zvritten  by 
John  H.  Larrabee. 


J.  F.  McIXTYRE. 
J.  F.  Mclntyre  was  bom  Nov.  1,  18-57,  in  Ontario, 
Can.,  eight  miles  from  Brantford.  Like  many  other 
sterling  sons  of  toil  he  was  raised  on  a  farm,  going  to 
school  in  winter,  and  helping  to  do  the  farmwork  in 
summer.  He  was  the  oldest  son  in  a  family  of  three 
sons  and  three  daughters.  He  was  of  an  investigat- 
ing turn  of  mind,  and  liked  gardening,  but  farming 
he  detested.  His  father  did  not  keep  bees,  but  his 
neighbors  did.  Interested  and  charmed  by  what  he 
saw  of  them,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  with  a  capital  of 
§12.00,  he  made  a  start,  S7.00  of  which  he  invested  in  a 
colony  of  bees.  Later  he  saw  advertised  the  bee- 
Taooks  of  Ouinby  and  Langstroth.  The  former  he  pur- 
chased because  it  explained  the  mysteries,  and  ver\- 


soon  he  constructed  a  movable-comb  hive — the  first 
one  he  ever  saw.  He  afterward  came  into  possession 
of  Cook's  Manual  and  this  book,  and  subscribed  for 
Gleanings  in  Bee  C/<ltu>-e  and  the  Atnerican  Bee  Jour- 
nal. He  then  bought  a  hone^'-extractor.  With  this  he 
took,  on  an  average,  150  lbs.  of  honey  per  colony  from 
his  apiar\-.  As  has  happened  to  many  other  growing 
and  successful  bee-keepers,  it  set  the  neighborhood 
wild.  They  all  wanted  to  embark  in  the  business.  So 
man}-,  in  fact,  went  into  it  that  it  ruined  his  location. 

Some  articles  which  he  saw  in  our  journal  and  in 
the  American  Bee  Journal,  particularly  some  from  E. 
(iallup,  caused  him  to  make  up  his  mind  that  Cali- 
fornia was  the  place  for  a  man  who  desired  to  make 
the  culture  of  bees  a  specialty ;  and  on  the  7th  ot 
December,  1881,  he  bade  good-by  to  his  relatives  and 
friends,  and  started  for  the  land  of  gold  and  honey, 
but  not,  he  says,  -R-ithout  some  regret  on  his  part  as 
he  looked  back  and  saw  his  mother  standing  in  the 
door,  with  her  handkerchief  to  her  eyes.    He  reached 


J.   F.  M'INTYRE, 


Los  Angeles,  and  was  just  in  time  to  attend  a  session 
of  a  bee-keepers'  convention  there.  Here  he  met  a 
large  number  of  old  pioneer  bee-keepers,  who,  he 
says,  running  over  with  hospitality,  made  him  an 
honorary-  member  of  the  association.  He  had  been 
informed  that  Mr.  Gallup  wished  to  sell  an  apiary  of 
70  colonies  in  Ventura,  Cal.  This,  with  another  apiar\- 
of  10  colonies,  he  purchased.  He  built  a  small  house 
on  government  land,  and  for  two  seasons  he  kept 
"bachelor's  hall."  The  first  season,  he  says,  was 
not  a  ver\-  good  one,  but  he  made  nearly  S800.00.  In 
the  meantime  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  R.  Wil- 
kin, who,  the  next  year,  desired  him  to  work  for  him 
for  two  months.  Now,  Mr.  Wilkin  had  a  daughter. 
Miss  Hattie,  who,  naturally  enough,  was  a  bee-keep- 
er herself.  It  is  not  necessary-  to  tell  the  rest ;  enough 
to  say.  that,  following  in  the  wake  of  many  another 
bee-keeper,  he  found  a  helpmate  among  the  bees. 


424 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


In  1886,  Mr.  Mclntyre,  and  his  wife  to  help,  took 
42,000  lbs.  from  2-10  colonies,  the  proceeds  of  which 
were  sold  for  $2000  cash.  Two  j-ears  later  Mr.  Wilkin 
sold  200  colonies  in  Sespe  Apiary  to  Mr.  1,.  E.  Mercer, 
and  moved  the  rest  to  his  home  apiary  in  Ventura, 
leaving  his  old  location  to  his  son-in-law.  He  bought 
up  bees  in  the  vicinity,  and  made  it  his  home  apiary. 
He  had  150  colonies  on  the  government  claim,  three 
miles  distant,  for  an  out-apiary,  which  was  run  dur- 
ing the  seasons  of  1888  and  '89  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Holley, 
who  has  since  bought  it.  Mr.  Mcintyre  has  now  500 
colonies  on  the  old  Wilkin  place,  on  Sespe  Creek.  He 
savs  it  is  all  his  location  will  stand.  It  seems  remark- 
able that  any  location  in  the  United  States  can  stand 
that  much.  From  this  we  get  some  idea  of  the  vast 
nectar  resources  of  some  of  the  California  locations. 
Mr.  Mclntyre  does  all  the  work  with  the  bees  himself, 
with  the  exception  of  a  man  in  the  honey-house,  to  ex- 
tract. Mrs.  Mclntyre  does  not  find  time  to  work  in 
the  apiary,  her  time  being  taken  up  with  family 
duties. 

Mr.  Mclntyre  has  the  honor  of  being  the  first-ap- 
pointed foul-brood  inspector  in  his  county.  In  Oc- 
tober, 1884,  invested  with  proper  authority,  he  cleared 
the  county  of  about  300  diseased  colonies.  Two  whole 
apiaries  were  found  rotten  with  the  disease.  Both  of 
these  apiaries  were  burned.  The  county  is  now  said 
to  be  almost  free  from  the  disease. 

Mr.  Mclntyre  does  not  devote  his  time  wholly  to 
bees,  as  he  has  a  taste  for  raising  things,  such  as 
oranges,  etc. — Gleanings  in  Bee  Cnltiii  e,  July  /,  i8go. 


M.  H.  MENDLESON. 
M.  H.  Mendleson  was  born  in  Kerhonkson,  Ulster 
Co.,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  22,  1853.  His  parents  were  German. 
His  maternal  grandfather  was  a  Christian,  but  his 
other  grandparents  were  Jews.  Mr.  M.,  however,  is 
not  an  adherent  of  the  latter  faith.  Tn  speaking  of 
his  mother  he  says  :  "  1  had  a  noble  mother,  of  a  good 
education,  who  gave  me  a  good  moral  training."  His 
father  was  extensiveh'  engaged  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness, farming,  etc.  At  ti  e  age  of  nine,  Mr.  M.  was 
taken  out  of  school  eight  months  in  each  year  to  assist 
his  father,  owing  to  which  he  says  he  regrets  having 
but  a  limited  education,  though  craving  a  better.  In 
his  personal  habits  he  is  abstemious  to  the  last  degree, 
using  no  intoxicants  of  any  kind,  nor  tobacco,  abhor- 
ring the  use  of  either.  His  father  early  taught  him  to 
be  skillful  in  the  use  of  tooLs— a  marked  peculiarity  of 
the  distinguished  race  from  which  he  partly  sprung. 

In  1869  his  father  took  two  colonies  of  bees,  in  box 
hives,  on  a  store  debt.  But  ti'.e  father,  thinking  any 
further  fussing  with  bees  an  unprofitable  piece  of 
work,  refused  to  help  his  son  further.  But  the  "  bee 
fever  "had  alread3^  taken  a  firm  hold  on  him,  and 
from  this  time  on  he  began  a  course  which  has  now 
placed  him  among  the  most  prominent  of  the  bee- 
keepers of  America.  He  began  his  apicultural  career 
by  purchasing  a  copy  of  Mr.  L,angstroth's  work  and  a 
hive  from  Mr.  L.  himself.  n  1873  we  sent  him  a  copy 
of  our  journal.  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  which,  to- 
gether with  the  American  Bee  Jourual,  he  has  read 
almost  continuously  ever  since.  But  let  ns  follow  him 
as  a  bee-keeper. 

His  first  honey  was  sold  at  from  25  to  30  cts.  per  lb., 
in  2-lb.  sections,  and  extracted  at  20  cts.  He  says  that, 
by  following  our  advice,  he  has  always  wintered  suc- 
cessfully in  chaff.  His  California  fever  was  brought 
on  by  reading  about  R.  Wilkin's  crop  of  48,000  lbs.  in 
1878.    The  next  year,  1879,  was  a  poor  one  in  Califor- 


nia. In  1880  Mr.  Mendleson  started  for  that  State  on 
his  birthday,  Feb.  22d.  L,eaving  snow  and  mud  in 
New  York,  and  finding  peaches  and  almonds  in  bloom 
in  Sacramento,  Cal.,  in  March,  he  was  greatly  pleased 
with  the  change.  He  then  took  a  steamer  for  Ven- 
tura, arriving  there  three  days  later.  To  reach  Mr. 
Wilkin's  he  had  to  ride  sixteen  miles  in  an  old  rickety 
coach,  drawn  by  poor  old  horses  driven  by  a  cruel 
teamster.  He  arrived  two  miles  east  of  Santa  Paula 
after  dark,  having  some  nine  miles  still  to  walk. 
After  going  about  half  way  he  lost  his  road.  Seeing  a 
light  in  the  distance,  he  proceeded  to  it.  He  found, 
as  he  half  expected,  a  hermit,  whose  long  gray  hair 
hung  down  in  wild  confusion.  The  hospitable  old 
man  invited  the  wanderer  in.  Mr.  M.  soon  found  that 
his  host  was  a  very  intelligent  bee-man,  his  family 
being  at  Ventura  while  he  himself  was  preparing  for 
what  afterward  proved  to  be  the  great  honey-crop  of 
1880.  The  next  morning,  March  14th,  Mr.  M.  arrived 
at  the  "Wilkin  residence.  Heavy  rains  had  arrayed 
Dame  Nature  in  her  most  beautiful  robes  of  living 
green  ;  and  the  sight  to  a  new  comer  from  the  East 
was  as  though  he  had  entered  the  Elysian  Fields.  At 


M.   H.  MENDLESON. 


the  door  he  met  another  "  hermit  "  with  long  hair, 
but  not  living  alone.  It  was  none  other  than  R.  Wil- 
kin, whom  he  found  to  be  a  very  intelligent  and 
agreeable  man.  Mrs.  Wilkin  made  the  traveler  wel- 
come, and  was  to  him  as  a  mother  from  the  first.  Mr. 
W.  let  his  hair  grow  down  over  his  shoulders  to  avoid 
stings,  and  also  to  render  a  veil  unnecessarj-.  Evei-y 
thing  around  the  place  was  orderly  and  neat— hives 
painted,  and  arranged  in  square  piles.  The  work  was 
all  arranged  in  advance,  in  order  to  avoid  an3'  delays. 
Mr.  W  ilkin's  crop  for  1880  was  48,0i  0  lbs.,  and  was  sold 
to  a  firm  in  I,iverpool,  England.  In  order  to  keep  all 
hands  busy  during  the  winter,  Mr.  Wilkin  purchased 
machinery  for  making  one,  two,  and  ten  pound  cans. 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE  KEEPERS 


425 


and  at  this  work  Mr.  Mendleson  was  put.  After  a 
good  many  drawbacks,  and  with  the  help  of  an  old 
tinner,  the^-  succeeded  in  making  very  good  cans. 
After  getting  the  trick  of  soldering  well  learned,  he 
taught  Mr.  J.  F.  Mclntj-re  how  to  handle  the  irons. 
At  Ventura  he  dipped  both  ends  of  over  3000  cans  in  a 
daj'  — several  hundred  more  than  had  been  dipped  at 
Mr.  Wilkin's. 

In  1882  Mr.  Mendleson  bought  an  apiar\'  in  partner- 
ship with  one  of  the  largest  honej'-producers  on  the 
Newhall  ranch.  Two  seasons  later  he  sold  out  and 
went  to  Ventura,  and  had  a  good  position  dviring  the 
winter.  In  1884  he  bought  an  apian,-  at  Coleta.  10  miles 
from  his  present  residence.  Moving  the  bees  to  his 
own  county  he  extracted  17,000  lbs.,  selling  it  at  6  and 
7  cts.,  while  his  neighbors  at  Ventura  had  to  sell  at  3 
and  4  cts.  He  then  moved  that  apiar^^  on  to  "  the  Ave- 
nue." The  year  1885  was  a  poor  one.  In  1886  he  ex- 
tracted 17,000  lbs.  A  stinging  mania  now  seized  his 
bees,  they  stinging  everj^  moving  object  in  sight. 
Even  fence-posts  were  stung.  This  made  it  necessary- 
to  move  the  bees,  with  onU-  half  a  crop  har\'ested.  A 
small  crop  was  secured  in  1887.  In  1888  he  secured 
10,000  lbs.  Another  failure  followed  in  1S89.  In  1890 
he  secured  12,000  lbs.;  in  1891,  10,000 lbs.;  1892  was  poor. 
He  began  1893  with  700  colonies,  and  increased  to  1000, 
taking  38,000  lbs.  of  honey  from  sages.  Mo\'ing  to  the 
bean-fields  he  secured  8500  lbs.  more.  His  instruc- 
tions not  being  followed,  he  lost  two  extra ctings  that 
year.  From  the  home  apiar\^  that  season  (1893)  he 
secured  only  11,000  lbs.  His  total  extractings  for  1898 
were  about  35  tons.  These  large  figures  show  the  gen- 
eral run  of  Mr.  Mendleson's  success  as  a  bee-keeper, 
and  they  are  among  the  very  largest  we  have  ever 
printed. 

On  the  25th  of  October,  1893,  Mr.  Mendleson  was 
married  to  Mrs.  Eloise  Stone  Freer,  a  daughter  of 
Alderman  Stone,  of  Denver,  Col. 

Mr.  M.  has  alwa^-s  been  a  hard  worker,  no  matter 
where  his  lot  has  been  cast  ;  and  in  all  of  his  dealings 
with  his  fellow-men  he  has  always  adhered  to  the 
principles  of  rigid  honest}-. 


FRANCIS  DANZENBAKER. 
Francis  Danzenbaker  was  born  January-  8,  1837,  near 
Bridgeton,  N.  J.  His  interest  in  bees  began  at  an 
early  age.  Being  of  an  inventive  turn  of  mind,  he 
set  to  work  experimenting  with  various  improved 
devices  ;  but  it  was  not  until  he  had  been  a  bee-keeper 
for  more  than  thirty  3-ears  that  he  came  prominentU- 
before  the  bee-keeping  world,  and  that  was  in  the 
summer  of  1890,  when  he  introduced  what  he  then 
called  his  Dual  hive.  At  this  time  he  called  the  atten- 
tion of  The  T.  Root  Co.  to  the  value  of  the  dovetail- 
ed, or,  more  properly  speaking,  lock  corner,  in  hives — 
a  feature  that  the  company  subsequently  adopted, 
since  which  time  it  is  used  universally  by  all  the  man- 
ufacturers of  bee-keepers'  supplies.  While  it  was  con- 
ceded at  that  time  that  this  joint  would  be  satisfacton,- 
for  packing-boxes,  it  was  feared  it  would  hardly'  be 
suitable  to  stand  the  weather.  Bnt  experience  dviring 
all  these  years  has  not  only  shown  that  it  does  stand, 
but  it  makes  the  strongest  possible  joint  that  can  be 
devised  outside  of  the  true  dovetail,  a  corner  which 
would  be  impractical  by  reason  of  the  expense  of 
making. 

And  so  Mr.  Danzenbaker  became  prominent,  not 
because  he  was  an  extensive  bee-keeper,  or  produced 
large  crops  of  hone}-,  but  because  of  the  fact  that  he 
ntroduced    a  number  of  valuable  improvements  in 


hives  outside  of  the  one  already  mentioned— the  lock 
corner. 

Always  a  believer  in  thinner  combs,  he  at  first  advo- 
cated sections  i]4  square  and  1%  inches  thick  to  those 
square  and  1%  thick;  but  after  having  visited  Capt. 
7.  E.  Hetherington,  he  became  convinced  that  a  box 
taller  than  broad  was  not  onU-  more  artistic,  and  more 
in  keeping  with  objects  around  us,  but  economized 
space  on  the  hive,  so  that  more  sections  could  be  used 
per  super. 

Later  on  he  introduced  his  shallow-brood-chamber 
hive,  and  aftei'ward  discarded  this  for  what  he  now 
calls  the  Danzenbaker,  making  use  of  closed-end 
frames,  plain  sections,  and  slatted  separators  or 
fences.  This  hive  is  fully  described  under  "  Hives,'" 
to  which  the  reader  is  referred. 

Mr.  Danzenbaker  is  a  firm  believer  in  a  4X5  section,, 
and  has  proven  to  his  own  satisfaction,  and  that  of 
his  friends  and  followers,  that  it  is  a  better  seller  than 
the  regular  -i^,  looks  handsomer,  and  is  less  liable  to 
break  during  shipment.    >ee  "  Comb  Honej-." 


FRANCIS  DANZENBAKER. 


He  has  traveled  extensively  over  the  coiintry.  visited 
many  bee-keepers  of  note,  Avith  the  view  of  bringing 
his  hive  to  still  greater  perfection  if  possible,  but  now 
believes  he  has  the  ?ie  plus  ultra.  He  has  attended 
many  conventions,  is  prominent  in  the  discussions,  and 
is  ever  the  persistent  advocate  of  closed-end  frames, 
shallower  hives,  and  taller  sections. — E.  R.  Root. 


DR.  C.  C.  MIIvI^ER. 
One  among  the  ven,-  few  who  make  bee-keeping 
their  sole  business  is  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller,  of  Marengo,  Ilk 
He  was  born  June  10,  1831,  at  I,.igonier,  Pa.  With  a 
spirit  of  independence  and  a  good  deal  of  self-denial 
sometimes  bordering  upon  hardship,  yoiing  Miller 
worked  his  wa}-  throiigh  school,  graduating  at  Union 
College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  at  the  age  of  22.  Unlike 
many  boA's  who  go  through  college  self-supported, 
running  into  debt  at  the  end  of  their  covirse,  our 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


young  friend  graduated  with  a  surplus  of  some  seven- 
ty odd  dollars,  over  and  above  his  current  expenses  at 
school;  but,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  it  was  at  the 
expense  of  an  otherwise  strong  constitution.  He  did 
not  know  then,  as  he  does  now,  the  importance  of 
observing  the  laws  of  health.  Instead  of  taking  rest 
he  immediately  took  a  course  in  medicine,  graduating 
from  the  University  of  Michigan  at  the  age  of  25. 
After  settling  down  to  practice,  poor  health,  he  says, 
coupled  with  a  nervous  anxiety  as  to  his  fitness  for  the 
position,  drove  him  from  the  field  in  a  year.  He  then 
clerked,  traveled,  and  taught.  He  had  a  natural  talent 
for  music,  which  by  hard  study  he  so  developed  that 
he  is  now  one  of  the  finest  musicians  in  the  country. 
If  you  will  refer  to  the  preface  to  Root's  Curriculum 
for  the  Piano  (a  work,  by  the  wa.y,  which  is  possessed 
or  known  in  almost  every  household  where  music  is 
appreciated),  you  will  see  that  this  same  Dr.  Miller 
rendered  "much  and  important  aid  "  to  the  author  in 
his  work.  In  this  he  wrote  much  of  the  fingering  ; 
and  before  the  Curriculum  was  given  to  the  printers 
for  the  last  time,  Mr.  Root  submitted  the  revised 
proofs  to  the  doctor  for  final  correction. 


D'.   C    C  MILI.ER. 

— Courtesy  of  American  Bee  JoiirnaL. 

His  mlisical  compositions  are  simple  and  delightful, 
and  you  would  be  surprised  to  learn  that  one  or  two 
of  the  songs  which  are  somewhat  known  were  com- 
posed by  Dr.  Miller.  Speaking  of  two  songs  com- 
posed by  friend  M.,  especially  to  be  sung  at  a  bee- 
keepers' convention.  Dr.  Geo.  F.  Root,  than  whom  no 
one  now  living  is  better  able  to  judge,  said,  "  They 
are  characteristic  and  good."  Dr.  Miller  also  spent 
about  a  year  as  music  agent,  helping  to  get  up  the  first 
Cincinnati  Musical  Festival  in  1873,  under  Theodore 
Thomas.  Dr.  M.  is  a  fine  singer,  and  delights  all  who 
hear  him.    Upon  hearing  and  knowing  of  his  almost 


exceptional  talents  for  music,  we  are  unavoidably  led 
to  wonder  why  he  should  devote  his  attention  solely 
to  bee-keeping  ;  and  this  wonder  is  increased  when  we 
learn  that  he  had  salaries  offered  by  music-publishing 
houses  which  would  dazzle  the  eyes  of  most  of  us. 
But  he  says  he  prefers  Hod's  pure  air,  good  health, 
and  a  good  appetite,  accompanied  with  a  smaller 
income  among  the  bees,  to  a  lai-ger  salary  indoors 
with  attendant  poor  health. 

As  has  been  the  case  with  a  good  many  others,  the 
doctor's  first  acquaintance  with  bees  was  through  his 
wife,  who  in  1861,  secured  a  runaway  swarm  in  a 
sugar-barrel.  A  natural  hobbyist,  he  at  once  became 
interested  in  bees.  As  he  studied  and  worked  with 
them  he  gradually  grew  into  a  bee-keeper,  against  the 
advice  and  wishes  of  his  friends.  In  1878  he  made  bee- 
keeping his  sole  business.  He  now  keeps  from  200  to 
400  colonies,  in  four  out-apiaries.  All  the  colonies  are 
run  for  comb  honey,  and  his  annual  products  run  up 
into  the  tons.  He  is  intensely  practical,  and  an  enthu- 
siast on  all  that  pertains  to  his  chosen  pursuit.  Though 
somewhat  conservative  as  to  the  practicability  of  "  new 
things,"  he  is  ever  ready  to  cast  aside  the  old  and 
adopt  the  new,  providing  it  has  real  merit.  Although 
he  claims  no  originality,  either  of  ideas  or  of  inven- 
tion, he  has  nevertheless  given  to  the  bee-keeping 
world  not  a  few  useful  hints,  and  has  likewise  improv- 
ed devices  or  inventions  otherwise  impracticable. 

As  a  writer  he  is  conversational,  terse,  and  right  to 
the  point.  Not  unfrequently  his  style  betrays  here 
and  there  glimmerings  of  fun,  which  he  seems,  in  con- 
sequence of  his  good  nature,  unable  to  suppress.  His 
"  Year  Among  the  Bees  "  (see  Book  Notices),  his  large 
corre.spondence  for  the  bee-journals,  and  his  biograph- 
ical sketch  preceding  this,  as  aLso  his  writings  else- 
where in  this  work,  are  all  characteristic  of  his  style. 

Of  him  as  a  man,  a  personal  friend,  and  a  Christian 
brother,  it  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  speak.  Phys- 
ically he  is  rather  under  the  medium  height,  thick 
set,  and  of  an  exceptionally  pleasant  face.  To  know 
him  intimately,  and  to  feel  his  intense  friendship,  is 
to  know  a  near  kinsman  indeed.  There  are  few  more 
devoted  Christians  than  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller.  He  has  al- 
ways been  active  in  c  hristian  work,  especially  in  all 
lines  of  Sunday-school  work. — E.  R.  Root. 


W.  F.  MARKS. 

W.  F.  Marks,  of  Chapinville,  N.  Y.,  while  not  an 
extensive  bee-keeper  in  the  sense  that  he  owns  a  great 
number  of  colonies,  yet  he  is  one  of  the  prime  moving 
spirits  both  in  bee-keeping  and  fruit-growing  in  his 
State.  He  is  president  of  the  New  York  State  Associa- 
tion of  Bee-keepers'  Societies,  and  also  Director  of  the 
National  Bee-keepers'  Association,  and  Secretary,  I 
think,  of  his  county  organization.  Besides  these  he 
is  an  active  member  of  various  horticultural  societies. 

Mr.  Marks  is  a  born  fighter;  and  while  he  is  not  dis- 
agreeable or  antagonistic,  yet  when  the  interests  of 
bee-keepers  are  at  stake  we  find  him  at  the  forefront 
ready  to  do  battle  with  the  opposing  forces. 

Soon  after  the  value  of  spraying  fruit-trees  was 
made  known,  it  was  discovered  that  bees  were  dying  by 
the  thousand  during  the  spraying  season,  because  the 
poisonous  mixtures  were  administered  during  bloom- 
ing time.  But,  soon  after,  it  was  discovered  that  just 
as  good  results  could  be  secured  by  spraying  before 
and  after  the  trees  were  in  bloom,  thus  saving  the 
bees  ;  and  some  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  better 
results  could  be  thus  secured.  Realizing  this  fact,  Mr. 
Marks  was  largely  in.strumental  in  getting  through 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


427 


the  New  York  Legislature  a  bill  making  it  a  mis  1 
meaner  to  spray  fruit-trees  during  the  time  they  are  in 
bloom.  Although  there  was  plenty  of  opposition,  he 
and  his  friends  saw  to  it  that  the  measure  was  enacted 
into  law.  There  have  been  attempts  made  since  then 
to  have  it  repealed  ;  but  President  Marks  was  not 
asleep.  Armed  with  statistics  and  facts  from  experi- 
ment stations  and  private  persons,  he  soon  satisfied 
the  committee  of  the  house  that  such  repeal  was  un- 
necessarj^ 

f  1 


W.  F.  MAKKS. 

— Courtesy  of  American  Bee  Journal. 

When  foul  brood  began  to  develop  in  New  York, 
Mr.  Marks  was  at  the  front  again  in  helping  to  secure 
legislation  by  which  this  dread  disease,  or  any  of  a 
like  nature,  could  be  held  in  control.  The  wisdom  of 
such  legislation  was  soon  made  apparent  when  black 
brood  broke  out  in  all  its  virulence  in  the  eastern  part 
of  New  York.  Again  we  find  the  "fighter"  before 
the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  of  that  State,  urging 
the  appointment  of  one  or  more  special  foul-brood 
inspectors.  Through  his  own  personal  influence,  and 
that  of  some  other  bee-keepers  whose  aid  he  had  se- 
cured, four  inspectors  were  appointed,  with  the  result 
that  in  two  years'  time  the  disease  was  rapidly  brought 
under  control,  and  is  not  now  feared  as  it  once  was. 

President  Marks  has  done  more,  perhaps,  than  any 
other  man  in  his  State  in  bringing  about  an  organiza- 
tion of  bee-keepers.  As  a  result  of  his  efforts  there  are 
now  several  flourishing  county  organizations,  all  aflili- 
ated  with  the  State  society  of  which  he  is  President, 
and  all  of  them  are  recognized  by  the  great  Kmpire 
State,  and  receiving  aid  in  the  way  of  speakers  from 
a  distance. 

In  every  thing  that  pertains  to  the  general  welfare 
of  the  bee-keeping  industry  we  always  find  Mr.  Marks 
interested,  and  yet  he  never,  as  he  might,  seeks  ofiice 
for  himself.  On  numerous  occasions  he  has  spared 
neither  his  time  nor  his  money.    The  only  regret  is. 


that  there  are  not  more  such  unselfish  bee-keepers  like 
him,  who  are  willing  to  do  and  to  work  for  others. — 
E.  R.  Root. 


EMERSON  T.  ABBOTT. 

Rev.  E.  T.  Abbott  was  born  in  Brown  Co.,  Ohio,  in 
March,  1847.  As  a  young  man  he  was  an  enthusiastic 
worker  in  the  church  and  in  the  cause  of  temperance. 
His  interest  in  these  causes  was  so  great  that  he 
finally  entered  the  ministry.  As  a  preacher  of  the 
gospel,  and  as  a  temperance  worker,  he  was  active, 
aggressive,  and  fearless,  and,  with  all  his  other  quali- 
ties, a  real  orator  So  active  was  he  in  his  fight  against 
the  liquor  business  that  on  one  occasion  he  was  at- 
tacked by  a  druggist,  and  knocked  down  three  times 
in  the  street  ;  but  this,  so  far  from  intimidating  him  or 
dampening  his  ardor,  only  fired  him  up  the  more. 

He  continued  preaching  until  ill  health  and  a  fail- 
ure of  voice  compelled  him  to  go  into  something  else, 
and  this,  fortunately  for  bee  culture,  was  bee-keeping 
itself.  He  and  some  friends  bought  200  colonies  of 
bees,  and  in  two  years  more  he  bought  out  his  part- 
ners, and  went  into  bee-keeping  in  real  earnest.  He 
has  now  a  large  and  flourishing  bee-keepers'  supply 
business  at  St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

Mr.  Abbott  has  been  an  active  worker  in  the  Nation- 
al Bee-keepers'  Association.  Once  president  of  it,  he  is 
now  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  a  position  that 
carries  with  it  not  a  little  responsibility.  He  has  been 
sent  three  times  as  a  delegate  by  the  Association  to 
the  National  Pure-food  Congress  at  Washington.  On 
each  of^^Tcion  he  received  prominent  recoenition  on 


E    T.  ABBOTT. 

— Courtesy  of  American  Bee  Journal. 

the  floor;  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
organization,  and  vice-president  for  Missouri  Later 
on  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  committee  on  legis- 
lation. 

Besides  bees,  Mr.  Abbott  has  taken  an  active  inter- 
est in  other  rural  industries,  prominent  among  which 
is  poultry.  So  successful  was  he  in  each  department 
of  work  that  he  was  finally  appointed  by  the  State  of 


428 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


Missouri  one  ot  the  lecturers  at  farmers'  institutes  ; 
and  although  the  writer  has  never  heard  him,  yet  I 
have  been  told  that  his  talks  on  chickens  bring  down 
the  house  wherever  he  goes. 

He  is  a  practical  and  forceful  speaker,  and  at  every 
convention  of  bee-keepers  which  he  attends  he  gains 
the  closest  attention,  often  calling  forth  round  after 
round  of  applause.  E.  R.  Root. 


D.  A.  JONES. 

Most  prominent  among  the  bee-keepers  of  Canada 
is  Mr.  D.  A.  Jones,  of  Beeton;  Ontario.  If  for  no  other 
reason,  his  name  deserves  a  place  in  the  history  of 
bee-keeping  as  the  man  who  undertook  to  scour  for- 
eign lands  and  the  isles  of  the  seas  for  new  races  of 
bees.  Few  would  have  undertaken  such  a  daring 
enterprise  as  that  of  Mr.  Jones,  when,  in  1879,  accom- 
panied by  Prof.  Frank  Benton,  now  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Entomology,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  he  set  out  in  person,  at  great  expense, 
and  amid  dangers  and  exposures,  visited  Cyprus  and 
Palestine  in  search  of  the  races  of  bees  which  he  not 
only  sought  but  found.  As  a  fitting  adjunct  to  this 
undertaking  he  established,  on  separate  islands  in 
Georgian  Baj',  apiaries  where  the  different  races 
might  be  kept  in  purity,  or  crossed  at  will.  Such 
things  as  these,  of  which  the  public  enjo5^s  the  benefit. 


D.  A.  JONES. 

are  usually  undertaken  by  the  government ;  but  Mr. 
Jones  drew  on  his  private  purse,  and  estimates  that  he 
was  poorer  by  several  thousand  dollars  by  the  opera- 
tion. 

Oct.  9th,  1886,  D.  A.  Jones  was  born  near  Toronto, 
Canada.  Until  of  age  he  worked  on  the  farm  with 
his  father.  He  then  engaged  in  different  occupations, 
bringing  up  in  Illinois  about  1860,  where  he  worked  a 
few  months  with  a  stockman  In  the  fall  of  the  same 
year  he  attended  a  large  exhibition  at  Chicago,  where 
he  was  intensely  interested  in  seeing  a  man  exhibit- 
ing the  Langstroth  hive,  manipulating  the  combs  cov- 
ered with  bees,  and  explaining  the  advantages  of 


movable  combs.  Mr.  Jones  took  measurements  of  the- 
parts  of  the  hive,  a  fresh  interest  being  awakened,  for 
his  father  had  been  a  bee-keeper,  and  among  his  earli- 
est recollections  was  that  of  being  carried  by  his  father 
to  the  hives  to  watch  the  bees.  At  the  age  of  five  he 
was  fairly  versed  in  what  was  then  generally  known 
as  to  the  habits  of  bees  ;  and  before  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  hunted  and  captured  bees  without  the  aid  of  his. 
father. 

Mr.  Jones  married  and  settled  in  Beeton,  where  he 
engaged  in  merchandising,  afterward  becoming  so- 
much  interested  in  real-estate  affairs  and  improve- 
ment of  his  village  that  he  sold  out  his  store,  and  thus 
had  leisure  to  gratify  his  taste  for  bees,  and  com- 
menced with  two  colonies  in  L,angstroth  hives.  After- 
ward he  established  a  much  larger  store,  became  prof- 
itably interested  in  railroad  and  other  matters,  but 
still  found  time  to  give  attention  to  bees  until  his  two 
colonies  became  several  apiaries.  He  built  np  a  large 
trade  in  extracted  honey,  and  during  the  80's  gave 
great  impetus  to  exhibitions  of  honey  at  fairs,  espe- 
cially in  very  small  packages. 

In  1878  he  commenced  in  a  small  way  to  manufac- 
ture supplies,  and  about  six  years  later  built  a  large 
factory.  In  1886  the  business  had  grown  to  sv:ch  pro- 
portions that  a  conipanj^  was  chartered,  with  the  title,. 
"The  D.  A.  Jones  Co.,  I^iniited,"  and  a  capital  of 
$40,000. 

Mr.  Jones,  in  spite  of  his  earnestness  and  energy,  is. 
a  very  social  and  jovial  person,  always  ready  to  com- 
municate to  others  the  result  of  his  investigations.  He 
is  of  medium  size,  rather  inclined  to  stoutness,  and  of 
sandy  complexion.  He  is  still  active  in  public  affairs,, 
but,  better  than  all,  is  a  professing  Christian. 


A.  I.  ROOT. 

Up  till  the  edition  of  this  work  had  reached  the  75th 
thousand,  there  had  been  no  biographical  sketch  in  it 
of  A.  I.  Root.  Now  that  the  authorship  of  the  present 
work  has  passed  largely  out  of  his  hands,  it  seems  ap- 
propriate in  the  book  which  he  named,  and  which  he 
originally  wrote,  that  at  least  a  brief  sketch  should 
appear. 

A.  I.  Root  was  born  in  a  log  house,  in  December, 
1839,  about  two  miles  north  of  the  pre.sent  manufac- 
turing plant  of  The  A.  I.  Root  Co.  He  was  a  frail 
child,  and  his  parents  had  little  hopes  of  raising  him 
to  manhood,  although  some  of  the  neighbors  said  his- 
devoted  mother  would  not  let  him  die.  As  he  grew 
older  his  taste  for  gardening  and  mechanics  became 
apparent.  Among  his  earlj'  hobbies  were  windmills, 
clocks,  poultry,  electricit5',  and  chemistry — any  thing 
and  every  thing  in  the  mechanical  line  that  would  in- 
terest a  boy  who  intensely  loved  machinery.  lyater 
on  we  find  him  experimenting  in  electricity  and 
chemistry;  and  at  18  he  is  out  on  a  lecturing-tour  with 
a  fully  equipped  apparatus  of  his  own  construction. 

We  next  find  Mr.  Root  learning  the  jeweler's  trade, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  he  decided  to  go  into  busi- 
ness for  himself.  He  accordingly  went  to  an  old  gen- 
tleman who  loaned  money,  and  asked  him  if  he  would 
let  him  have  a  certain  amount  of  money  for  a  limited 
time.  This  friend  agreed  to  lend  him  the  amount, 
but  he  urgently  advistd  him  to  wait  a  little  and  earn 
the  money  by  working  for  wages.  This  practical 
piece  of  advice,  coming  as  it  did  at  the  very  beginning 
of  his  career,  was  indeed  a  God-send,  and,  unlike 
most  boys,  he  decided  to  accept  it.  Imbued  with  a 
love  for  work,  and  having  indomitable  push,  he  soon 
earned  enough  to  make  a  start  in  business,  without 
borrowing  a  dollar.    The  business  prospered  till  A.  I. 


BIOGR.IPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE  KEEPERS 


429 


"Root  &  Co.  were  the  largest  manufacturers  of  7-eal 
■coin-silver  jewelr%-  in  the  country.  From  5200  to  ^500 
worth  of  coin  was  made  weekly  into  rings  and  chains, 
and  the  firm  emplo3-ed  something  like  15  or  20  men 
and  women. 

It  was  about  this  time,  or  in  lSt>5,  that  a  swarm  of 
bees  passed  over  his  shop  ;  but  as  this  incident  is  giv- 
en so  fulh-  in  the  introduction  I  omit  it  here.  ZSTot 
long  after  he  became  an  A  B  C  scholar  himself  in  bees, 
he  began  to  write  for  the  Americati  Bee  Journal  under 
\.h.Q  notn  de  plume  oi  "Xovice."'  In  these  papers  he 
recounted  a  few  of  his  succe.^ses  and  man\-  of  his  fail- 
ures with  bees.  His  frank  confession  of  his  mistakes, 
his  st^-le  of  writiug.  so  simple,  clear,  and  clean-cut. 


inventions  may  be  named  the  Simplicity  hive,  the 
Xo\-ice  honey-knife,  several  reversible  frames,  and 
the  metal-cornered  frame.  The  last  named  was  ihe 
only  invention  he  ever  patented,  and  this  he  subse- 
quently gave  to  the  world  long  before  the  patent  ex- 
pired. 

In  the  line  of  horticultural  tools  he  invented  a  num- 
ber of  useful  little  devices  which  he  freely  gave  to  the 
public.  But  the  two  inventions  which  he  considers 
of  the  most  value  is  one  for  storing  up  heat,  like  stor- 
ing electricity  in  a  storage  batter^.-,  and  another  for 
disposing  of  sewage  in  rural  districts.  The  first 
named  is  a  s\-stem  of  storing  up  the  heat  from  ex- 
haust steam  in  Mother  Earth  in  such  a  wav  that 


A.  I.  ROOT  AMO-VG  HIS  PLANTS  IX  THE  GREiiXHOCaE. 


broiight  him  into  prominence  at  once.  So  many  in- 
quiries came  in  that  he  was  finally  induced  to  .'^tart  a 
bee-jotirnal,  entitled  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture.  Of 
this,  how  his  business  grew  to  such  a  size  that  the 
manufacturing  plant  alone  covered  five  acres,  and  em- 
ploj-ed  from  100  to  200  men — all  this  and  more  is  told 
in  the  introduction  \>y  the  writer. 

As  an  inventor  Mr.  Root  has  occupied  quite  a  unique 
field.  He  was  the  first  to  introduce  the  one-pound- 
section  honey-tox,  of  which  something  like  -50.000.000 
are  now  made  annually.*  He  made  the  first  practical 
all-metal  honej'-extractor.  This  he  ver\-  modestly 
stj-led  the  ■"Novice."'  a  machine  of  which  thousands 
have  been  made  and  are  still  made.   Among  his  other 

*  He  did  not  invent  a  section  box  for  holding  honev, 
but  ouU-  a  box  i^\j^-s.i,%.  or  just  the  right  size  to  put  S 
into  a  Langstroth  frame. 


greenhouses  and  dwelling-houses  can  be  heated,  even 
after  the  engine  has  stopped  at  night,  and  for  several 
days  after.  The  other  invention  relates  to  a  method 
of  disposing  of  the  sewage  from  indoor  water-closets 
so  that  "Mother  Earth."  as  he  calls  it.  will  take  it 
automatically  and  convert  it  into  plant  life  without 
the  least  danger  to  health  or  life,  and  that,  too.  for  a 
period  of  years  without  attention  from  any  one. 

Some  of  the  secrets  of  his  success  in  business  may 
be  briefly  summed  up  b^-  saying  that  it  was  always 
his  constant  aim  to  send  goods  \>y  return  train,  and  to 
answer  letters  b}- return  mail,  although,  of  course,  as 
the  business  continued  to  grow  this  became  less  and 
less  practicable.  He  believed  most  emphatically  in 
mixing  business  and  religion — in  conducting  business 
on  Christian  principles  ;  or.  to  adopt  a  modern  phrase, 
doing  busijiess  "  as  Jesus  would  do  it."    As  might  be 


430 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE  KEEPERS. 


expected,  such  a  policy  drew  an  immense  clientage, 
for  people  far  and  wide  believed  in  him.  But  how 
few,  comparatively,  in  this  busy  world,  go  beyond  the 
practice  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy  !  While  A.  1. 
Root  believed  in  this  good  rule  he  did  not  think  it 
went  far  enough,  and,  accordingly,  tried  to  adopt  and 
live  the  Golden  Rule. 

The  severe  strain  of  long  hours  of  work,  together 
with  constantly  failing  health,  compelled  Mr.  Root  to 
throw  some  of  the  responsibilities  of  the  increasing 
business  on  his  sons  and  sons-in-law.  This  was  be- 
tween 1886  and  1890.  At  no  definite  time  could  it  be 
said  that  there  was  a  formal  transfer  of  the  manage- 
ment of  the  supply  business  and  the  management  of 
the  bee  department  of  Gleanings  to  his  children  ;  but 
as  time  went  on  they  gradually  assumed  the  control, 
leaving  him  free  to  engage  in  gardening  and  other 
rural  pursuits,  so  for  the  last  ten  years  he  has  given 
almost  110  attention  to  bees,  devoting  nearly  all  his 
time  to  travel  and  to  lighter  rural  industries.  He  has 
written  much  on  horticultural  and  agricultural  sub- 
jects ;  indeed,  it  is  probable  that  he  has  done  more 
writing  on  these  subjects  than  he  ever  did  on  bees. 

For  the  last  twenty-five  years  he  has  been  writing  a 
series  of  lay  sermons,  touching  particularly  on  the 
subject  of  mixing  business  and  religion,  work  and 
wages,  and,  in  general,  the  great  problem  of  capital 
and  labor.  As  an  employer  of  labor  he  had  here  a 
large  field  for  observation,  and  well  has  he  made  use 
of  it.  Perhaps  no  series  of  articles  he  ever  wrote  has 
elicited  a  more  sympathetic  response  from  his  friends 
all  over  this  wide  world  than  these  same  talks  ;  and 
through  these  he  has  been  the  means  of  bringing 
many  a  one  into  the  fold  of  Christ. 

It  has  been  a  rather  difi&cult  matter  to  get  a  pic- 
ture that  was  in  any  way  satisfactory  to  the  mem- 
bers of  his  family.  Finally  the  writer,  one  day,  with 
a  kodak,  took  a  "  time  view  "  of  him  in  his  favorite 
place  of  resort,  the  greenhouse,  among  his  "posies," 
where  he  spends  hours  of  his  happiest  moments. 
This  view  shows  him  just  as  he  appears  around  home 
in  his  everyday  work  clothes.  Ill  health,  or  a  sort  of 
malaria  that  has  been  hanging  about  him  for  years, 
has  forced  him,  during  winter,  to  wear  a  fur  cap  and 
to  keep  his  overcoat  constantly  on,  indooi  s  and  out- 
doors, with  the  collar  turned  up. 

Mr.  Root,  ever  since  his  conversion,  in  1875,  has 
been  a  most  active  working  Christian.  No  matter 
what  the  condition  of  his  health,  he  is  a  regular  at- 
tendant at  church  and  prayer-meeting.  He  takes 
great  interest  in  all  lines  of  missionary  work,  and  es- 
pecially in  the  subject  of  temperance.  He  annually 
gives  considerable  sums  of  money  to  support  the 
cause  of  missions,  and  to  the  Ohio  Anti-saloon  League; 
and  now  that  the  heavier  responsibilities  of  the  busi- 
ness have  been  lifted  from  his  shoulders  he  is  giving 
more  and  more  of  his  time  and  attention  to  socio- 
logical problems.— £.  R.  Root. 


Before  the  foregoing  was  given  to  the  printers,  my 
son  Earnest  asked  me  to  take  time  to  read  it  over,  and 
there  is  just  one  thing  I  wish  to  add.  Since  the 
"boys"  have  kindly  relieved  me  from  business,  and 
permitted  me  to  take  wheelrides  to  visit  successful 
gardeners,  fruit-growers,  and  bee-keepers,  I  have  en- 
joyed my  vacation  fully  as  much  as  I  ever  enjoyed 
any  work  or  play  in  my  boyhood  days.  It  has  been 
suggested  by  some  that,  as  we  grow  older,  we  lose 
interest  in  things  around  us.  It  has  not  been  so  in 
my  case.    In  fact,  I  have  thanked  God  again  and 


again  for  the  liberty  that  I  now  enjoy  (in  this  the  62d 
year  of  my  age),  of  being  able  to  take  up  and  follow 
out,  without  interruption  from  business,  any  wonder- 
ful line  of  industry  that  I  may  come  across  or  hear 
about  in  this  busy  world  of  ours.  Many  thanks  to 
the  younger  members  of  our  firm — not  my  two  boy& 
alone,  but  my  two  sons-in-law  as  well.— ^4.  /.  Root. 


DR.  JOHN  DZIERZON. 

Probably  few  readers  of  English  have  come  across 
this  name  for  the  first  time  without  stopping  to  look 
at  it  in  order  to  ascertain  what  to  call  it.  The  Ger- 
mans have  had  the  same  difficulty,  and  got  around  it 
by  calling  it  Tseer-tsone  ;  and  as  this  pronunciation  is 
pretty  well  established,  perhaps  it  would  be  well  to 
stick  to  it.  There  is  little  doubt,  however,  that  it 
should  be  looked  at  from  a  Polish  standpoint,  and  call- 
ed Jeer-zone.  As  a  considerable  part  of  this  book  is 
taken  up  in  the  explanation  of  the  genesis  of  the  bee> 
and  as  this  necessarily  involves  the  theory  which  has 
made  this  man  famous  for  all  time,  more  as  a  natural- 
ist than  as  a  bee-keeper,  I  will  not  stop  to  dwell  on 
what  is  now  called  the  Dzierzon  theory— a  theory  so 
well  established  that  it  is  no  theory  at  all,  more  than 
is  the  rotundity  of  the  earth  About  a  year  ago  it  was 
rumored  in  Europe  that  Mr.  Dzierzon  was  revising 
his  previous  views  on  the  subject  and  had  even  called 
them  in  question  ;  but  this  rumor  was  wholly  unfound- 
ed. Mr.  D.  says  he  is  more  than  ever  convinced  of 
the  truth  of  the  theory  which  seems  to  be  inseparably 
connected  with  his  name. 

This  eminent  man  was  born  in  I^okowitz,  Upper  Si- 
lesia, Jan.  16,  1811,  just  three  weeks  after  the  birth  of 
Mr.  I,angstroth.  Thus  we  see  these  two  great  lives 
starting  out  like  two  rivers  at  the  same  time,  and  run- 
ning nearly  parallel  with  each  other  for  85  years,  each 
a  woithy  example  for  all  time  to  come.  Dr.  Dzierzon, 
like  Mr.  I^angstroth',  showed  from  his  earliest  youth  a 
great  love  for  the  works  of  nature  ;  and  the  most  in- 
teresting of  all  things  to  him  was  the  observation  of 
the  habits  of  bees,  his  father  keeping  a  few  in  log 
skeps.  He  early  manifested  a  deeply  religious  turn 
of  mind,  which  his  father  cultivated  with  care,  send- 
ing him  to  the  public  school  at  Pitschen.  No  matter 
how  severe  the  strain  of  the  regular  course  of  studies 
might  be.  Dr.  Dzierzon,  a  boy  of  only  eleven,  managed 
to  find  time  to  indulge  in  his  favorite  sport,  the  study 
of  the  bee.  At  home,  during  the  holidays,  his  time 
was  spent  in  the  same  way  ;  and  at  Breslau,  where  he 
afterward  attended  school,  he  visited  all  the  noted 
apiaries,  and  read  all  he  could  find  relating  to  bees. 
"What  most  interested  him  was  the  skill  of  the  bee  as 
a  builder. 

In  order  to  have  more  time  and  means  to  pursue 
this  branch  of  natural  history.  Dr.  Dzierzon  chose  the 
clerical  profession,  and  here  again  is  a  remarkable 
similarity  to  the  career  6f  I^angstroth.  A  German 
writer  whom  I  translate  says:  "In  his  capacity  as 
pastor  ot  a  rural  congregation.  Dr.  Dzierzon  was  able 
to  care  for  the  bees ;  and  time  enough  remained  to 
him,  after  caring  for  his  spiritual  flock,  to  busy  him- 
self experimenting  in  the  solution  of  apicultural 
problems."  Some  might  think  that  a  division  of 
energies  might  impair  the  usefulness  of  a  pastor  ;  but 
if  the  apostle  John  found  needed  recreation  by  play- 
ing with  his  pet  quail,  no  preacher  nowadays  need  be 
ashamed  to  work  with  bees. 

The  hives  in  vogue  when  Dr.  Dzierzon  was  a  boy 
were  simply  four-sided  boxes,  and  with  them  he  be- 
gan apiculture  in  earnest  in  1835,  just  as  he  began  his 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEE-KEEPERS. 


431 


pastorate  in  Karlsmarkt.  He  was  not  slow  to  discover 
the  gross  defects  of  such  hives,  and  the  first  thing  he 
did  was  to  devise  a  straw  cover  which  would  not  allow 
so  much  moisture  to  be  precipitated  as  was  the  case 
with  hives  covered  with  boards  alone.  To  quote  a 
German  writer,  ''  In  order  that  this  straw  cap  might 
be  lifted  off  without  injury  to  the  combs  he  put  on  as 
many  inch  wide  bars,  spaced  a  finger-breadth  apart, 
as  were  required  to  cover  the  hive.  This  being  done, 
and  the  bees,  having  built  regularly  to  these  bars,  he 
fastened  to  each  bar  a  piece  of  comb  saved  from  old 
hives.  This  was  the  first  step  toward  the  invention  of 
movable  combs,  for  thereby  was  the  master  enabled 
to  remove  from  the  hive  each  individual  comb." 


or  from  different  potentates  and  associations  ;  but  his 
natural  modesty  prompts  him  rather  to  conceal  them 
than  to  displaj^  them. 

The  last  we  heard  concerning  this  great  naturalist 
was  that  he  still  enjoyed  a  happy  old  age  in  the  full 
possession  of  all  his  faculties. —  W.  P.  Root. 


FRANCIS  HUBER. 


DR.  JOHX  DZIERZOX. 

The  idea  of  the  mobility  of  frames  being  establish- 
ed, Dr.  Dzierzon  gave  himself  no  rest  in  his  desire  to 
unlock  the  inner  mysteries  of  the  hive  :  and  while 
working  with  the  bees  he  cast  a  glance  at  them  when- 
ever he  could.  "  By  this  research  many  other  myste- 
ries were  cleared  up— pre-eminent  among  which  was 
one  that  revoluticnized  the  teachings  in  natural  his- 
tory in  certain  classes  of  zoology."  in  establishing 
this  theory  the  Italian  bee  was  the  chief  factor,  its 
color  itself  forming  a  proof  of  the  theory.  I,ike  most 
truths,  the  contrary  of  which  has  been  held,  this  theo- 
ry met  with  great  opposition  ;  but  it  was  finally  set- 
tled for  all  time  by  an  appeal  to  the  dissecting-knife 
and  microscope.  Dr.  Dzierzon's  triumph  was  so  com- 
plete that  he  was  soon  decorated  with  medals  of  hon- 


[In  view  of  the  many  animated  discussions  that 
have  been  held  in  regard  to  the  benefits  arising  from 
Huber's  investigations,  we  deem  it  no  more  than  fair 
to  state  that  his  efforts,  as  the  writer  of  the  article 
suggests,  were  directed  mainly  toward  the  habits  of 
the  bee  rather  than  toward  any  particular  method  of 
securing  large  amounts  of  honey ;  but  his  labors. 

nevertheless,  will  always  be  held 
in  very  high  esteem  by  the  world 
at  large.  The  sketch  below  was 
written  in  the  German  language 
by  Mr.  T.  Kellen.  of  I,uxemburg, 
and  first  appeared  in  Graven- 
horst's  Illustrated  Bee  Journal.— 
Ed.] 

Francis  Huber,  by  his  investi- 
gations and  researches  in  apicul- 
ture, did  more  to  promote  that 
science  than  all  his  predecessors 
who  had  employed  themselves  in 
the  study  of  this  interesting  in" 
sect.  It  was  his  discoveries  alone 
that  marked  that  golden  age  in 
the  history  of  apiculture  which  is 
destined  to  remain  for  all  ages. 
Huber's  observations  are  not  only 
of  the  greatest  importance  of 
themselves,  but  wonderful  for 
the  manner  in  which  they  were 
all  made  ;  for  Huber  was  blind. 

This  distinguished  man  was 
born  in  Geneva,  July  2,  1750.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  prosperous  and 
respectable  family,  which  as 
early  as  the  17th  century  were 
celebrated  for  their  knowledge  of 
the  arts  and  sciences.  His  father, 
John  Huber  (born  in  1722,  died  in 
1790),  was  well  known  on  account 
of  his  attachment  to  the  celebrat- 
ed French  philosopher  Voltaire. 

From  his  earliest  youth  Huber 
showed  a  pa.^sionate  predilection 
for  natural  history,  and  he  ap- 
plied himself  to  study  with  such 
zeal  as  to  endanger  his  health,  so 
that  at  the  age  of  fifteen  the  re- 
flection of  glary  snow  destroyed 
his  sight.  If  ever  a  man  bitter- 
ly deplored  the  loss  of  eyesight, 
that  man  was  Huber.  But  his 
misfortune  did  not  hinder  him  from  applying  him- 
self to  the  study  of  these  insects  for  which  he  had  an 
especial  liking  ;  namely,  the  bees.  It  was  this  little 
insect  that  turned  the  darkness  of  the  investigator 
into  day  ;  for  Huber  was  the  first  to  see  clearly  into 
that  domain  which  to  the  best  eyes  had  previouslj"  re- 
mained in  darkness. 

Huber  did  not  lose  his  vigor  of  mind,  for  he  went 
forward  in  the  study  of  bees  ;  but  he  could  do  this 
on  y  by  the  help  of  his  wife,  Marie- Aimie  I^ullin  ; 
his  niece.  Miss  Jurine,  and,  above  all,  his  servant 
Burnens.  He  himself  manifested  the  most  untiring 
perseverance  and  the  greatest  ingenuity,  so  that,  by 
Burnens'  sagacity,  all  of  Huber's  experiments  with 
bees  were  practically  demonstrated.     Miss  Jurine, 


432 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  NOTED  BEEKEEPERS. 


-who  loved  natural  history  above  all  else,  supplemented 
Huber's  work  all  she  could,  fearing  not  to  take  up  the 
dissecting-knife  and  microscope  in  his  aid.  She  was 
the  first  after  Swammerdam  to  demonstrate  that  work- 
er-bees are  females.  She  it  was,  too,  who,  with  Huber, 
established  the  principles  on  which  the  sages  of  our 
century  grounded  the  doctrine  of  parthenogenesis. 
Besides  that.  Miss  Jurine  was  Huber's  secretary,  full 
of  willingness  and  self  devotion.  Everyday  she  noted 
down  the  results  of  the  new  investigations,  and  she 
albo  wrote  the  letters  which  Huber  dictated  to  Charles 
Bonnet  and  his  friends,  and  imparted  to  him  the  re- 
sults of  his  labors,  and  directed  their  attention  to  nu- 
merous questions  relating  to  bees. 

Huber's  intere.st  in  bees  was  greatly  enhanced  by 
the  researches  and  writings  of  Swammerdam,  Reau- 
mur, Schirach,  and  probably  also  of  the  celebrated 
Swiss  bee-keeper  Duchet  de  Remauffens,  and  the 
Messrs.  Gelieu.  As  a  conclusion  to  the  investigations 
of  these  men,  it  was  possible  for  him,  in  spite  of  his 
xmfortunate  surroundings,  to  add  greatly  to  the  realm 
of  apiculture  ;  hence  we  may  not  forget  that  he  every- 
where encouraged  and  helped  others  by  the  nobility 
of  his  life. 


FRANCIS  HUBER. 


In  his  later  days  he  lived  retired,  but  in  peace,  at 
X,ausanne,  where  he  died,  Dec.  22,  1831,  aged  81  years. 

Huber's  di.'-coveries  are  known  to  scholars  through 
his  I^ttters  to  Charles  Bonnet;  and  they  made  his 
name  so  celebrated  in  all  Europe,  and  even  in  Ameri- 
ca, that  for  many  years  he  was  recognized  as  the 
greatest  apicultural  genius  ;  and  even  yet  Mr.  Hamet 


calls  him  the  greatest  of  the  lovers  of  bees  {le  plus 
grand  des  apiphiles).  It  was  in  1796  that  his  first  epoch- 
making  work  was  brought  to  light,  bearing  the  title, 
Nouvelles  Observations  sur  les  Abeilles  (New  Observa- 
tions on  Bees).  His  son,  Peter  Huber,  in  1814,  pub- 
lished the  work  in  two  editions,  and  added  thereto  an 
appendix  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  wax. 

Huber's  work  is,  not  only  on  account  of  its  contents, 
but  for  the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  it  was 
first  brought  to  light,  entirely  without  parallel  in 
scientific  literature.  The  recognition  it  received  was 
universal,  so  that,  after  the  first  appearance  of  the 
work,  Huber  was  received  into  the  French  Academy 
of  Sciences  and  other  scientific  bodies. 

The  New  Observations  was  translated  early  into 
every  European  tongue.  The  Saxon  commissariat 
Reim,  in  Dresden,  translated  it  into  German  in  1798, 
and  Pastor  Kleine,  of  I,uethorst,  translated  it  again 
in  1856,  and  published  another  edition  in  1869,  with 
notes. 

Huber,  by  his  observations  on  the  secrets  of  bee- 
life,  made  clear  what  the  most  sagacious  and  learned 
observers  from  the  time  of  Aristotle  and  Aristomachus 
down  to  Swammerdam  and  Reaumur  had  sought  for 
in  vain  ;  and  it  is  to  be  the  more  regretted  that  some 
German  bee-keepers  of  great  influence,  such  as,  for 
instance,  Spitzner  and  Matuschka,  gave  him  no  recog- 
nition. 

He  gave  interesting  explanations  in  regard  to  the 
habits  of  bees,  their  respiration,  the  origin  of  wax, 
the  construction  of  comb,  etc.  He  confirmed  Schi- 
rach's  proposition,  that,  by  a  change  in  the  mode  of 
treatment  and  food  of  larval  bees,  queens  could  be 
reared  from  worker  eggs,  and  showed,  likewise,  the 
influence  which  the  cell  exerts  on  the  insect.  He 
showed  further,  that  not  only  the  queen  but  a  certain 
species  of  worker  -  bee  could  lay  fertile  eggs,  and 
showed,  likewise,  the  function  of  drones.  In  opposi- 
tion to  Braw,  Hattorf,  Contardi,  Reaumur,  and  others, 
who  held  very  peculiar  opinions  in  regai  d  to  the  fer- 
tilization of  queens,  Huber  showed  that  the  fertiliza- 
tion takes  place  outside  cf  the  hive,  at  the  same  time 
that  drones  are  flying,  and  that  the  union  is  effected 
in  the  air,  and  that  the  queen,  on  her  return  from  the 
flight,  has  adhering  to  her  body  the  evidences  of  fertil- 
ization, and  that  egg-laying  takes  place  about  46  hours 
afterward.  These  and  numerous  other  experiments  he 
often  proved  in  his  works  with  the  utmost  exactness  ; 
and  especially  did  he  lay  down  the  most  important 
and  interesting  information  in  regard  to  feeding  bees, 
their  method  of  building,  the  leaf-hive,  foul  brood, 
etc.,  in  his  letters  to  an  eminent  apiculturist  in  Swit- 
zerland, Mr.  C.  F.  P.  Dubied.  These  eighteen  very 
long  letters  of  Huber,  the  first  of  which  was  dated 
Oct.  12,  1800,  and  the  last  Aug.  12,  1814,  were  written 
partly  by  Huber  himself,  partly  by  his  wife  or  daugh- 
ter, to  whom  he  dictated.  So  far  as  I  know,  this  cor- 
respondence has  never  been  translated  into  German. 


ABC  PICTURE-GALLERY 


-OF- 


APIARIES  AND  BEE-EXHIBITS 


During  the  years  since  our  journal.  Ghanings  in  Bse  Culture,  was  started,  a  large  number 
of  fine  and  beautiful  engravings  of  apiaries  and  of  bee  and  honey  exhibits  have  been  presented 
to  our  subscribers.  These  engravings  were  executed  at  considerable  cost  ;  and  as  they  are 
instructive,  and  suggestive  of  many  ideas  in  regard  to  apiaries  and  exhibits.  I  have  thought 
best  to  put  the  better  part  of  them  in  permanent  form  right  after  our  biographical  sketches. 
Inst-ad  of  going  to  a  large  expense  in  visiting  different  apiaries,  one  can  see  how  different  bee- 
keep.^rs  arrange  their  hives,  and  how  their  apiaries  look.  The  apiary  below  is  very  suggestive, 
on  account  of  its  being  on  a  side  hill.  The  owner,  Mr.  A.  E.  Manum.  can,  from  any  part  of 
said  apiary,  see  whether  swarms  are  out,  or  whether  robbers  are  attacking  a  weak  colony.  So 
each  engraving  in  order  will  be  found  to  contain  some  hint  or  distinctive  feature  which  I  trust 
will  be  found  valuable.  As  our  space  is  limited,  I  give  a  brief  description  of  each  engraving  by 
number.    The  unsigned  sketches  were  written  by  W.  P.  Root. 


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NO.   l6— W.  S.  hart's  apiary,  hawks  park,  FLORIDA. 


— ---^^ 


m.- 


NO.   19.— APIARY  OF  J.  J.  RAPP,  MATILIJA,  CAL. 


NO.  22.— AIKIn's  solar  WAX-EXTRACTOR,  SHOWING  FRANK  RAUCHFUSS  AND  R.  C.  AIKIN^ 


to 


> 


NO.  28.— L.  L.  LANGSTROTH  IN  HIS  82ND  YEAR. 


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Description  of  Preceding  Engravings. 

^^^^^^^^^  -^t 


i 


JS'o.  1. — This  picture  shows  A.  E.  Manum's  side- 
hill  apiary.  This  spot  was  selected  because  the 
ground  is  descending,  thus  affording  good  drainage 
and  Mr.  Manum  thinks  the  bees  can  locate  their 
hives  better  in  such  a  place,  especially  the  young 
queens  when  they  go  out  to  mate  :  and  as  every 
hive  can  be  seen  from  the  the  honey-house,  the  at- 
tendant can  be  watching  for  swarms  while  work- 
ing inside.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  hill 
is  very  steep,  as  the  picture  would  lead  one  to 
think,  as  the  descent  is  very  slight :  neither  are 
the  hives  arranged  on  the  amphitheater  plan,  but 
are  set  in  straight  rows.  Mr.  Manum  has  three 
apiaries  on  level  ground,  and  he  finds  the  water 
from  melting  snow  often  makes  it  too  damp  for 
the  bees  ;  hence  his  preference  for  a  slope. 

Xo.  2. — In  the  summer  of  1S91  Mr.  J.  H.  Martin 
(Rambler),  on  his  way  to  California,  called  at 
this  apiary,  and  says  of  it : 

"The  picture  gives  you  a  view  of  an  apiary  in 
the  Salt  Lake  Valley  Utah,  and  is  the  property  of 
A.  B.  Thomas,  of  Springlake.  Mr.  Thomas  and  his 
son  are  the  parties  in  the  apiary.  The  owner  looks 
a  little  surprised,  for  the  photo  was  taken  soon 
after  the  apiary  had  been  moved  to  its  present 
location,  and  he  was  hardly  ready  for  having  pic- 
tures taken.  The  apiary  is  worked  for  extracted 
honey,  and  the  yield  in  1891  was  about  100  lbs. 
per  colony.  The  crop  was  mainly  from  sweet 
clover.    The  apiary  is  located  in  a  fruit-orchard. 

Xo.  3. — The  engraving  shows  a  near  view  of  the 
south  half  of  J.  F.  Mclntyre's  apiary.  Fillmore. 
Cal.  The  hives  in  this  apiary  are  arranged  in 
straight  rows  six  feet  apart,  with  a  five-foot  alley 
between  the  backs  for  the  honey-cart  to  run  up 
and  down,  and  12  feet  clear  between  the  fronts, 
with  a  row  of  grapevines  in  the  middle.  You  can 
get  the  honey-cart  up  close  to  the  back  of  the  hive 
where  it  is  in  the  most  convenient  position  to  load. 
You  will  see  a  number  stake  at  the  back  corner  of 
a  hive  just  below  the  honey-cart.  It  reads  19  K. 
That  means  K  row,  Xo.  19.  The  rows  are  lettered 
from  A  to  V.  The  rows  run  east  and  west,  and 
the  hives  face  north  and  south.  Mr.  Mclntyre 
thinks  the  bees  do  best  in  the  rows  facing  south. 

Xo.  4. — This  shows  the  apiary  of  Mr.  Geo.  W. 
Brodbeck,  Los  Angeles.  Cal.  The  view  was  fur- 
nished tis  by  Rambler,  who  says  :  "The  apiary  is 
located  in  narrow  quarters,  and  close  to  one  of 
those  little  eucalyptus  groves  so  common  in  and 
near  Los  Angeles.  The  reader  will  observe  from  a 
mere  glance  that  Mr.  Brodbeck  is  a  scientific  bee- 
keeper." He  uses  a  hive  that  takes  a  Hoffman 
frame  16%  inches  in  length,  and  7  in.  deep. 


yo.  5. — Mr.  Chalon  Fowls,  of  Oberlin.  0..  has 
for  twenty  years  been  a  practical  bee-keeper  :  but 
his  specialty  of  late  has  been  the  marketing  of  a 
high  quality  of  extracted  honey  in  bottles  and 
tumblers.  He  puts  up  such  a  fine  article,  and  in 
such  an  attractive  style,  that  the  trade  all  round 
about  him  is  willing  to  pay  double  price  for  the 
sake  of  getting  his  goods. 

The  first  essential,  he  says,  is  a  thick,  well- 
ripened,  extracted  honey,  either  clover  or  bass- 
wood,  running  about  12  pounds  to  the  gallon. 
It  is  heated  to  a  temperature  of  about  160.  and 
bottled  and  sealed  while  hot  in  jelly-tumblers  and 
in  self-sealing  jars.  For  heating  the  honey  he 
finds  a  gasoline-stove  best,  as  an  absolutely  uni- 
form temperature  can  thus  be  maintained — some- 
thing that  he  can  not  do  on  a  common  cook- 
stove.  If  the  honey  is  in  square  cans  the  cans  are 
immersed  in  a  pail  of  water,  and  the  water  around 
the  honey  is  brought  to  the  requisite  temperature. 
After  It  is  melted  it  is  siphoned  out  into  the  fill- 
ing-tank, which  is  shown  in  the  illustration.  His 
daughter  fills  the  jars.  Mr.  Fowls  crowds  the 
caps  on.  having  first  put  on  top  of  the  pars  two 
thicknesses  of  paper.  Mrs.  Fowls,  at  his  left, 
puts  on  the  labels,  when  the  jars  are  ready  for 
market. 

Mr.  Fowls  sells  all  the  honey  of  his  own  pro- 
duction in  this  way,  and  has  to  buy  large  quantities 
besides,  to  supply  his  local  demands  :  but  he  al- 
ways makes  sure  to  get  a  first  quality  of  heavy- 
bodied  light  honey.  He  then  puts  it  up  in  the 
winter  time,  when  he  can  do  nothing  else,  supply- 
ing the  trade  as  fast  as  it  calls  for  it. — E.  R.  Root. 

Xo.  6. — Conducting  a  hrancli  business  near  the 
home  office  is  the  general  tenor  of  the  things  rep- 
resen-red  in  the  beautiful  half-tone  Xo.  6.  The 
two  girls  have  been  on  a  still  hunt,  and  have 
made  a  grand  "catch."  The  girl  holding  the  bees 
certainly  has  about  her  "  an  air  of  unconscious 
ease"  that  meets  all  the  requirements  of  the  case, 
cousidering  the  possibilities  bound  up  in  that 
swarm.  And  equal  praise  ought  to  be  given  the 
other  girl  for  standing  so  calmly  by.  But  after 
all.  what  is  there  to  make  a  bee  mad  in  the  pres- 
ence of  such  womanly  gentleness  on  the  one  hand 
and  gentle  womanliness  on  the  other,  in  so  beauti- 
ful a  yard,  near  so  fine  a  home  ?  Xever  were  bees 
under  obligation  to  behave  better  than  here.  Some 
might  wonder  why  no  man  is  to  be  seen.  Two 
reasons  might  be  given.  First,  he  got  scared  and 
took  to  his  heels  :  second,  the  girl  with  the  bees 
is  looking  at  him  while  he  takes  the  picture,  hence 
he  is  invisible. 

The  open  hive,  with  all  its  furniture,  certainly 
offers  as  good  a  home  for  the  bees  as  can  possibly 


462 


DESCRIPTION  OF  ENGRAVINGS, 


be  imagined  ;  and  it  seems  a  pity  tliat  ttiey  can 
never  linow  what  man  nas  done  for  them.  The 
whole  picture,  although  rigidly  true  to  life,  re- 
minds one  of  those  dreamy  idylls  of  the  poet — 
a  thing  we  often  wish  to  see,  but  never  find  :  and 
it  fills  the  heart  with  love  for  our  country  to  think 
WG  have  a  nation  of  homes  like  this — differing  in 
details,  of  course,  but  still  the  abodes  of  comfort 
and  virtue.  A  "love  story"  has  been  suggested. 
What  else  does  the  picture  show,  from  corner  to 
corner?  And  what  physical  substance  better  rep- 
resents the  noblest  of  all  human  feelings  than 
honey  as  a  type  of  love  ? 

We  regret  that  we  can  not  give  a  continuous 
moving  picture  here,  showing  the  way  in  which 
the  girl  puts  the  bees  in  their  "little  bed."'  Per- 
haps the  first  change  would  show  her  beating  a 
hasty  retreat  for  that  rocking  chair  while  her 
father  does  the  rest  of  the  work  ;  but  the  writer 
must  say,  with  Dr.  Miller,  "I  don't  know." 

No.  7. — This  shows  the  home  apiary  of  M.  H. 
Mendleson,  Ventura,  Cal.  Rambler,  who  photo- 
graphed the  place  in  1892,  says  of  it:  "A  glance 
at  this  apiary  showed  that  the  owner  is  a  careful, 
methodical  man,  and  had  learned  his  trade  well  ; 
for,  next  to  Mr.  Mclntyre,  it  was  the  best-regu- 
lated apiary  I  had  seen.  The  apiary  contains  400 
colonies,  and  is  worked  for  extracted  honey.  The 
first  building  at  the  right  is  a  little  work  room 
well  supplied  with  tools.  The  next  little  building 
is  the  extracting  room.  The  cart  in  front  has 
room  for  a  large  load  of  hives,  which  are  passed 
to  the  operator  inside.  A  galvanized  pipe,  two 
inches  in  diameter,  conducts  the  honey  to  the 
strong  wooden  ripening-tank,  holding  eight  tons 
of  honey."  To  meet  the  needs  of  an  extra  flow, 
there  is  an  "emergency  tank"  at  the  corner  of  the 
extracting-room.  The  two  tanks  hold  about  27 
tons.  Two  sun  wax-extractors  take  care  of  all 
the  cappings  and  odds  and  ends.  Mr.  M.  is  seen 
manipulating  a  hive  near  the  small  wax-extractor. 
When  the  tank  is  not  used  for  honey,  water  is 
caught  in  it  and  stored  for  drinking  and  irrigating- 
Rambler  says  he  drank  some  that  had  been  stored 
nine  months,  and  it  was  cool,  fresh,  and  sweet. 
Full  particulars  concerning  this  great  apiary  will 
be  found  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  page  462, 
1892. 

No.  8. — This  represents  an  apiary  in  Northern 
Michigan,  near  Thompsonville.  It  is  the  property 
of  George  E.  Plilton,  who  has  two  other  apiaries 
near  here.  Mr.  Hilton  is  seen  at  the  right.  Lean- 
ing against  a  hive-cover  is  Mr.  J.  T.  Calvert,  of 
The  A.  I.  Root  Co.  The  boy  behind  the  veil  is 
the  son  of  the  man  who  manages  the  apiary.  For 
3'ears  to  come  Northern  Michigan  will  be  an  ideal 
location  for  honey,  and  bee-keepers  are  fast  bring- 
ing in  their  bees  there.  There  are  many  places  here 
where  bees  have  access  to  raspberries,  basswood, 
and  willow-herb  ;  and  as  fast  as  the  land  is  cleared 
white  clover  comes  in  and  completes  the  chain,  mak- 
ing one  continuous  flow  from  spring  till  fall.  W.  Z. 
Hutchinson,  of  the  Bee-keepers'  Review,  to  whom  I 
am  indebted  for  the  facts  above,  says,  "Desolation 
is  the  one  word  that  best  describes  that  country 
from  which  the  lumberman  has  stripped  the  pine 
timber.  Stumps,  logs,  brush  and  fallen  tree-tops 
cover  the  ground  in  a  great  confusion  that  is  in- 
describable.    After  the  summer's  sun  has  poured 


down  on  this  mass  of  resinous  material  only  a 
spark  starts  a  fire  that  sweeps  across  the  country, 
mile  after  mile  leaving  the  earth  bare  and  black- 
ened." 

No.  9. — All  who  have  had  occasion  to  haul  bees 
in  wagons  for  any  considerable  distance  will  be 
interested  in  this  cut.  It  represents  a  hive-wagon 
belonging  to  J.  A.  Green  of  LaSalle,  111.  The  top 
is  divided  so  as  to  take  four  rows  of  hives,  eleven 
in  a  row.  Springs  are  not  really  necessary,  but 
they  arc  a  great  help.  Mr.  Green  says  "For 
fastening  the  bees  in  the  hives  I  use  a  strip  of 
lath.  On  one  side  the  middle  is  cut  out  to  corre- 
spond with  the  entrance.  Over  this  is  tacked  a 
folded  strip  of  wire  cloth.  The  whole  is  fastened 
over  the  entrance  by  a  couple  of  inch  nails.  In  hot 
weather  a  frame  covered  with  wire  cloth  takes  the 
place  of  the  cover."  This  method  of  moving  bees 
is  very  common  in  Germany,  where  whole  apiaries 
are  carried  about. 

No.  10. — This  shows  a  general  view  of  J.  F. 
Mclntyre's  apiary,  located  about  three  miles  from 
Ventura,  Cal.,  on  the  Big  Sespe  River.  Those  who 
have  the  older  editions  of  this  work  will  remem- 
ber a  wood  engraving  of  this  apiary,  then  owned 
by  the  father-in-law  of  Mr.  Mclntyre,  R.  Wilkin, 
a  name  known  the  world  over  among  bee-keepers. 
Mr.  Mclntyre  keeps  track  of  his  colonies  entirely 
by  the  use  of  a  record  book.  The  hives  are  all 
painted  white,  and  look  like  a  miniature  city. 
The  surrounding  mountains  form  a  very  pictur- 
esque feature  in  the  scene.  At  the  right  in  No.  10 
is  the  honey- house.  At  the  left  of  the  honey-house 
are  three  large  tanks,  not  shown,  holding  four 
tons  each.  A  full  description  of  this,  probably  the 
most  important  apiary  in  California,  will  be  found 
in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  Oct.  1,  1891. 

No.  11. — This  engraving  represents  the  apiary  of 
J.  W.  Young,  of  Youngs,  N.  Y.  The  photograph 
was  taken  in  December,  1899.  The  apiary  con- 
tains in  fill  80  dovetailed  chafE  hives.  Mr.  Young- 
runs  his  hives  for  comb  honey  ;  and  by  placing  a 
good  article  on  the  market  he  has  succeeded  in 
building  up  a  fine  home  trade.  In  1899  he  used 
tall  sections  with  cleated  separators,  and  was  fa- 
vorably impressed  with  them.  The  apiary  is  well 
protected  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  typical  one  in 
that  great  honey-producing  region.  The  building 
in  the  foreground  seems  to  be  used  as  a  storage- 
room  for  honey. 

No.  12. — This  picture  shows  the  apiary  and 
residence  of  P.  H.  Elwood,  Starkville,  N.  Y.  The 
hives  are  ten  feet  apart  in  the  row,  and  the  rows 
are  ten  feet  apart.  One  hive  faces  south,  next 
east,  making  similar  entrances  twenty  feet  apart. 
The  rows  are  very  irregular  on  purpose,  so  as  to 
aid  the  bees  in  finding  their  own  hive.  Mr.  El- 
wood is  one  of  the  greatest  honey-producers  in  the 
country,  and  for  further  particulars  regarding  him 
we  would  refer  the  reader  to  the  Biographical 
Sketches. 

No.  IH. — This  represents  one  of  the  apiaries  of 
W.  E.  Coggshall,  West  Groton,  N.  Y.  Mr.  C.  is 
one  of  the  most  uniformly  successful  bee-keepers 
in  New  York,  and,  consequently,  in  the  world.  His 
rapidity  of  work,  and  thorough  system  have  be- 


DESCRIPTION  OF  ENGRAVINGS. 


463 


come  proverbial  among  bee-keepers.  The  picture 
was  taken  by  E.  R.  Root  while  visiting  Mr.  Cogg 
shall  in  1897.  Mr.  C.  runs  over  1,000  colonies  in 
nine  out-yards,  or  did  when  the  picture  was  taken, 
since  which  time  he  has  bought  more.  His  crops 
are  measured  by  the  ton.  Those  desiring  a  more 
detailed  account  of  how  Mr.  Coggshall  manages 
so  many  bees  are  referred  to  Gleanings,  1898,  page 
170. 

Xo.  14. — This  view  takes  us  back  to  old  New 
England.  It  shows  the  apiary  of  W.  W.  Gary, 
Colrain,  Mass.  Mr.  C.  is  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  successful  bee-men  in  the  country.  His 
father  established  what  may  be  called  the  forerun- 
ner of  this  apiary,  in  1840.  and  here  is  soil  hal- 
lowed by  the  feet  of  father  Langstroth  at  the  time 
he  was  working  out  his  problems  in  bee  culture. 
This  apiary  usually  contains  about  100  full  colo- 
nies, and  this  number  is  sometimes  increased  to 
300  in  summer.  Mr.  Gary's  father  was  the  first 
man  to  propagate  the  Italian  bee  in  this  country. 
Mr.  G.  has  tested  all  kinds,  but  finds  nothing  equal 
to  the  Italians.  Further  particulars  will  be  found 
on  p.  411,  Gleanings  for  1897. 

Xo.  15. — While  Galifornia  may  boast  of  the  larg- 
est trees  of  one  kind  in  the  world,  we  believe  Ohio 
can  justly  claim  to  have  the  largest  tree  in  the 
world  which  is  most  intimately  connected  with  bee- 
keeping— the  basswood.  It  stands  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Erie  at  Linwood  Park,  and  is  a  magnificent 
sight.  In  the  opening  near  the  foot  will  be  seen  a 
young  man  of  about  18.  Inside  of  the  tree  is  a 
hollow  space  large  enough  to  take  in  a  family  of 
six  or  eight  people.  It  is  eight  feet  in  diameter, 
and  towers  far  above  the  surrounding  trees.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  photograph  the  whole  shaft, 
but  the  light  was  too  dim.  This  basswood  patri- 
arch stands  30  miles  west  of  Gleveland,  and  is  an 
object  of  curiosity  to  visitors,  who  are  sure  to  be 
impressed  at  the  enormous  proportions  of  this 
proud  monarch  of  trees. 

Xo.  16. — This  picture  shows  a  glimpse  of  one  of 
the  most  important  apiaries  in  Florida — that  of 
W.  S.  Hart.  At  the  left  is  a  section  of  bee-sheds 
covered  by  scuppernong  grapevines.  This  kind  of 
grape  grows  enormously,  and  is  going  over  the 
palmetto-trees,  shutting  off  the  view  beyond.  This 
picture  was  taken  July  17,  1890.  The  principal 
object  in  taking  it  was  to  show  a  cabbage  palmetto 
in  full  bloom,  but  the  buds  were  not  quite  per- 
fected. You  will  notice  Mr.  Hart  holding  a  sprig 
of  the  bloom  over  his  head.  This  will  give  an  idea 
of  its  size  and  form.  Mr.  Hart's  reports  from  this 
apiary  are  among  the  largest  and  most  astonishing 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  In  1894  he  received  from 
one  hive  554 1/4  lbs.,  and  averaged  354  lbs.  from 
116  colonies. 

Xo.  17. — This  picture  is  of  eespecial  interest  to 
bee-keepers,  it  being  the  home  of  Julius  Hoffman, 
the  inventor  of  the  frame  bearing  his  name.  We 
can  not  do  better  here  than  to  copy  a  few  words 
concerning  it.  written  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Xellis,  in  1892. 
Mr.  Hoffman's  picture  will  be  found  in  the  Bio- 
graphical Sketches,  which  see.  Mr.  Xellis  says : 
"The  reader  looks  toward  the  northeast — i.  e..  the 
house  fronts  the  south.  The  bees  shown  in  the 
engraving  are  not  the  home  apiary,  but  a  lot  bought 


from  out-apiaries,  and  placed  here  expressly  to 
show  in  this  picture.  The  man  near  the  center,  in 
shirt-sleeves,  is  Mr.  HofEman.  To  his  right  stands 
his  daughter  Lizzie,  a  pretty  assistant  of  no  mean 
value.  To  the  extreme  right  is  Mrs.  Hoffman,  and 
in  the  background  may  be  seen  other  members  of 
the  family.  At  the  left  appears  Mr.  Hoffman's 
faithful  man,  who  has  helped  for  some  years.  Be- 
hind the  young  man,  to  the  left,  can  be  seen  the 
barn,  wagon-house,  and  farm-buildings.  To  the 
extreme  right,  and  partially  hidden,  is  the  shop 
and  honey-house,  a  2-story  building  about  22x32 
feet.  On  the  upper  floor  are  stored  the  box-honey, 
and  fixtures  used  in  its  production.  Underneath 
is  a  cellar  about  19x29  feet." 

Xo.  18. — Every  thing  connected  with  the  little 
republic  of  Ghile  is  just  now  receiving  world-wide 
attention.  Within  a  few  years  it  has  become  the 
dominant  factor  in  the  world's  politics  south  of  the 
equator,  and  is  virtually  the  arbiter  and  umpire 
of  discussions  in  regions  where  the  north  star  is 
always  invisible.  The  country  has  been  developing 
greatly  in  wealth  and  educational  matters  of  every 
description.  In  the  midst  of  all  this  brushiug- 
away  of  old-time  cobwebs  that  have  so  long  hung 
over  her  windows,  bee-keeping  has  kept  an  equal 
pace.  We  have  no  statistics  as  to  the  number  of 
colonies  of  bees  kept  there,  nor  concerning  the 
amount  of  honey  and  wax  produced  ;  but  from  what 
I  have  read  in  Apicultor  Chileno,  a  Spanish  bee- 
journal  published  in  Santiago,  the  capital  of  Ghile, 
it  is  evident  that  they  have  burned  everything 
that  is  out  of  date,  and  are  satisfied  with  nothing 
but  the  very  best  and  newest.  Fig.  18  shows  a 
modern  apiary  in  Goncepcion,  in  the  agricultural 
school  of  that  place.  It  represents  20  dovetailed 
hives  manufactured  by  the  publishers  of  this  work. 
The  number  will  be  doubled  the  coming  season. 
It  is  not  stated  why  the  hives  are  elevated  on 
stands,  but  probably  for  greater  convenience.  The 
general  surroundings  indicate  a  place  under  a  high 
state  of  improvement,  and  probably  few  bee-keep- 
ers have  a  better  place  to  manipulate  their  hives. 
Goncepcion  is  as  far  south  of  the  equator  as  Rich- 
mond. Ya.,  is  north. 

Xo.  19. — This  view  represents  the  apiary  of 
J.  J.Rapp.  Matilija,  Gal.  The  mountain  back  of 
the  apiary  is  a  most  beautiful  one.  and  is  covered 
with  an  even  growth  of  evergreen  chapparal.  The 
Galifornia  lilac  predominates.  It  commences  to 
bloom  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and  a  zone  of 
blue  extends  upward  day  by  day  till  the  summit 
is  reached.  Only  a  small  portion  of  Mr.  Rapp's 
apiary  is  shown  here,  as  he  had  at  the  time  the 
picture  was  taken,  in  1892.  about  320  colonies. 
The  writer  of  this  book  visited  this  place  in  the 
winter  of  1891. 

Xo.  20. — The  leading  honey-producer  of  South- 
ern Galifornia  is  W.  T.  Richardson,  of  Simi.  One 
of  his  apiaries  is  represented  in  the  picture,  a 
somewhat  grotesque  appearance  being  imparted  to 
it  by  the  stones  on  the  hives,  to  keep  the  covers 
from  blowing  off.  The  view  is  one  of  many  taken 
by  the  Rambler  while  making  the  rounds  of  the 
bee-yards  of  Galifornia.  Mr.  Richardson  runs  about 
L200  colonies,  in  four  apiaries,  all  situated  in  the 
Simi  Yalley.  A  full  account  of  his  history  is  given 
in  Gleanings  for  1898.  page  720.  where  a  portrait 
is  given  of  this  famous  bee-man. 


464 


DESCRIPTION  OF  ENGRAVINGS. 


No.  21. — We  have  here  a  very  fine  view  of  one 
of  the  largest  if  not  the  largest  queen  rearing 
apiaries  in  the  southern  hemisphere.  It  is  oper- 
ated by  Mr.  H.  L.  Jones,  of  Goodna,  Queensland, 
Aus.  This  apiary  contains  about  300  colonies ; 
and  while  it  presents  a  remarkably  neat  and  order- 
ly appearance,  its  owner  says  it  was  not  "got  up 
for  the  occasion,"  as  the  photographer  came  along 
unexpectedly.  It  is  very  seldom  that  one  sees  an 
apiary  of  such  trim  neatness  in  its  usual  working 
order.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  uncommon 
to  see  hives  in  the  average  yard  more  or  less  tipped 
sidewise,  a  little  out  of  square  with  the  points  of 
the  compass,  weather-beaten,  unpainted,  besides 
quite  an  array  of  old  broom-frames,  sticks,  old 
covers,  old  bottom-boards,  and  other  things  too 
numerous  to  mention.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
bee-keepers  of  this  country  are  disorderly  ;  but  in 
the  rush  of  the  season,  when  everything  is  "hurrah, 
boys  I"  and  "any  thing  and  every  thing  to  get 
there  quickly,"  we  are  liable  to  find  things  not 
quite  dress-parade  style  for  a  snap-shot  photo. 

No.  22. — Mr.  R.  C.  Aikin,  of  Loveland,  Colo., 
President  of  the  Colorado  State  Bee-keepers'  As- 
sociation, and  Vice-President  of  the  National  Bee- 
keepers' Association,  is  a  bee-keeper  owning  and 
operating  between  500  and  600  colonies,  his  annual 
crops  running  up  into  the  tons.  Mr.  Aikin,  be- 
sides being  a  successful  up-to-date  bee-keeper,  is 
also  a  Jack  at  all  trades.  In  winter,  when  he  can 
do  nothing  else,  he  can  lay  brick  and  shingle 
roofs.  The  little  structure  shown  in  the  engraving 
in  No.  22  is  one  he  built  himself.  In  front  of  this 
is  a  large  solar  wax-extractor,  also  his  own  handi- 
work. This  extractor  differs  from  the  ordinary 
devices  of  the  kind,  in  that  it  not  only  uses  the 
sun  heat  but  artificial  heat  from  beneath.  The 
pan,  or  tray,  on  which  the  old  combs  and  particles 
of  wax  are  placed  is  built  over  a  brick  arch.  This 
arch  has  connection  with  the  chimney  shown  in 
the  engraving  ;  and  whenever  Mr.  Aikin  has  a  large 
amount  of  wax  to  melt  and  refine  he  places  it  in 
this  solar  wax-extractor  and  builds  a  slow  fire  in 
the  arch.  He  has  found  that,  while  solar  heat  will 
handle  light  combs  that  are  nearly  new,  a  sub- 
heat  is  necessary  to  complete  the  work  in  the 
melting-up  of  old  combs. 

The  gentleman  who  stands  on  the  left  in  the 
picture  in  each  case  is  Mr.  Frank  Rauchfuss,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Colorado  State  Bee-keepers'  Associ- 
ation. He  is  a  successful  bee-keeper,  and  has 
charge  of  the  Bee-keepers'  Exchange  in  Denver — 
an  organization  that  handles  annually  almost  the 
entire  crop  of  honey  for  Colorado. 

Mr.  Rauchfuss  and  the  writer  visited  Mr.  Aikin, 
and  on  this  occasion  I  took  the  photos  that  are 
shown  in  No.  22.  Mr.  Aikin  himself  is  shown  at 
the  right  in  the  upper  view. — E.  B.  Root. 

No.  23. — This  shows  the  apiary  of  that  well- 
known  bee-keeper  W.  A.  Selser,  situated  at  Jenkin- 
town.  Pa.,  near  Philadelphia.  It  was  taken  in 
1895,  at  the  time  the  Philadelphia  Bee-keepers' 
Association  was  holding  a  meeting  there.  The 
situation  is  lovely  and  every  thing  tends  to  render 
the  place  attractive.  Mr.  Selser  has  lately  come 
into  prominence  as  a  queen  breeder  and  as  a  pro- 
ducer of  honey.  He  also  sells  large  quantities  of 
honey,  often  extending  his  route  as  far  as  New 
York,  some  90  miles  north  of  his  place.  This 
apiary  , is  only  one  of  several  owned  by  Mr.  Selser. 

No.  24. — The  original  photograph  from  which 


this  view  was  taken  was  probably  the  largest  and 
best  of  any  bee-keepers'  convention  ever  taken. 
The  persons  are  seated  in  front  of  the  City  Hall 
in  Brantford,  Ontario,  the  International  Conven- 
tion having  been  held  in  that  place  in  the  winter 
of  1889.  As  we  can  not  give  here  a  key  to  all  the 
faces,  we  mention  only  a  few  ;  but  if  a  full  key 
is  desired  it  can  be  found  on  page  136  of  Glean- 
ings IN  Bee  Culture  for  1890,  No.  1.  is  R.  F. 
Holterman  :  Nos.  24  and  3,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  P. 
Dadant  ;  31  and  11,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  T.  Calvert ; 
33  and  12,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  R.  Root ;  14,  Prof. 
A.  J.  Cook  (see  No.  26)  ;  26,  Rev.  W.  F.  Clarke; 
61,  S  Cornell ;  30,  F.  A.  Gemmill  ;  21,  R.  L.  Tay- 
lor ;  17,  Wm.  Couse ;  27  and  6,  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Mason ;  20,  J.  B.  Hall ;  23,  Martin  Emigh ;  56, 
O.  L.  Herschiser;  79,  Jacob  Alpaugh. 

No.  25. — This  group  represents  the  convention 
held  in  Lincoln,  Neb.,  in  1896.  We  give  the  names 
of  a  few  of  those  best  known.  1,  Mrs.  J.  M. 
Heater;  5,  A.  I.  Root;  8,  E.  B.  Gladlsh  ;  9,  E.  R. 
Root;  10,  G.  W.  York;  12,  Dr.  A.  B.  Mason;  13, 
E.  T.  Abbott ;  14,  Mrs.  E.  Secor ;  15,  E"ugene 
Secor;  18,  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller;  22,  Mrs.  R.  C.  Aikin; 
23,  R.  C.  Aikin;  28,  Prof.  L.  Brunner ;  29,  L.  D. 
Stilson  ;  31,  Mrs.  E.  T.  Abbott ;  38,  E.  Kretchmer  ; 
40,  W.  C.  Frazier;  53,  Charles  White,  or  "Buck- 
skin Charley." 

No.  26. — W.  L.  Coggshall,  of  whom  there  is  a 
biographical  sketch  in  the  Biographies  of  this  work^ 
is  here  shown  with  his  helpers  in  front  of  his 
residence,  preparatory  to  their  start  for  the  out- 
yards.  Mr.  Coggshall  and  his  youngest  son  are, 
in  this,  shown  in  the  wagon.  The  boys  will  run 
on  ahead  with  their  bicycles,  and  Mr.  C.  will  ar- 
rive right  in  the  height  of  the  work. 

He  arranges  to  have  at  each  outyard  a  cheap 
extracting  building,  an  extractor,  uncapping-can, 
uncapping-knlves,  smokers,  kegs,  barrels  and  every- 
thing else  that  one  can  possibly  need  in  a  well- 
regulated  extractlng-yard.  By  far  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  going  to  and  fro  between  the  outyards 
is  done  on  bicycles,  as  much  better  time  can  be 
made  ;  and  when  the  work  is  finished  at  one  yard 
the  boys  .lump  on  their  wheels  and  rush  to  another. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  carry  anything  along,  be- 
cause, as  explained,  everything  is  on  hand  at  each 
yard  ;  but  on  big  days  the  wagon  is  usually  taken 
along  to  pick  up  the  few  stray  odds  and  ends  and 
to  supply  the  several  yards  with  such  little  articles 
as  they  may  happen  to  need. 

Further  particulars  in  regard  to  Mr.  Coggshall's 
methods  will  be  found  in  the  Biographies  already 
referred  to. — E.  B.  Boot. 

No.  27. — This  cut  shows  a  display  of  honey 
made  by  Chas.  McCulloch  &  Co.,  dealers  in  honey, 
made  in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  in  1891.  It  was  in  the 
form  of  a  house  12x12,  and  15  feet  high.  It  took 
over  400  cases  of  honey,  weighing  in  all  over  four 
tons,  to  build  it.  The  room  inside  was  hand- 
somely furnished  with  easy-chairs,  center-table, 
mirrors,  rugs,  and  pretty  lace  curtains  at  the  win- 
dows. Over  the  door  was  the  appropriate  motto, 
"Home,  Sweet  Home."  It  was  the  headquarters 
for  all  honey-producers  visiting  the  fair. 

No.  28. — A  full-size  view  of  father  Langstroth 
while  taking  a  walk  in  one  of  the  parks  of  Day- 
ton, O.  Mr.  L.  was  82  years  of  age  when  this 
view  was  taken.  For  further  particulars  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Biographical  Sketches. 


I  Index. 


Absconding  1-5 

"  Caused  by  Dissatisfaction  with  Hive. 3,  4 
"        Directions  for  Preventing  in  Spring. .  2,  3 

"        First  Swarms,  Prevention  of   2 

"        from  Want  of  Food  3 

"        in  Early  Spring  3 

"         Nucleus  Swarms   3 

"         Prefprto  Enter  other  Hives   2 

"  "      Several  Unite   2 

u        ijiQ  Prevent,  of  New  Swarms   1 

Adulteration  of  Honey   30,) 

"     Wax  34S 

After-swarming   5,  6 

"  "      Amusing  Features  of   5 

"  "      Heddon  s  Method   6 

"  "      Number  of   5 

"  "      Prevention  of    6 

Age  of  Bees   6 


"   Affected  by  Brood-rearing   6 

"         "   Cut  Short  by  Wearing  out  of  Wings ....  6 

"         "   How  to  A  scertain   fi 

"         "   (see  Bees)  53 

Age  of  Queens  at  Wedding-flight  368 

Aikin's  Candied  Honey   69 

Aikin'sLawof  Comb  building  liM 

Alfalfa   7 

Appearance  of  11 

Cultivation  of   11 

Hay  of   T 

Honey  7,  200 

Honey  Candying   67 

Honey,  Flavor  of   7 

Honey,  Quality  of   7 

Importance  of  as  a  Hoiiey-nlant   9 

in  the  East   7 

Irrigation  of   7 

Roots  8-10 

Tonnage  per  Acre  -   7 

where  Grown?   7 

Alley  Trap  to  Hive  Swarms  331 

Alley's  Di  one  excluder  iind  Queen  trap  117,  331 

Automatic  Hiver  321 

"      Hatcher  3  3 

Queen-nursery  3t3 

Alsike  Clover  72-74 

"     Amount  of  Seed  to  the  Acre  73 

"     for-  Faimers  73 

Preparation  of  Ground  for  13 

Profit  from  Seed  of  73 

"     Rank  of,  as  Honey-plant  73 

"     Saving  Seed  of  73 

"     Sown  with  Other  Crops  72 

"     Time  of  Blossoming  72 

"     Time  of  Sowing  73 

"     Value  of,  for  Hay  and  Pasture  73 

"     Weight  of  Seed  per  Bushel  73 

Alsike  Honey  73,300 

Amber  Honey  200 

Anatomy  of  Bees  11, 14 

Alimentary  Canal  11,  13 

Brain  of  Bee  compared  with  other  Insects. .  14 

Colon   13 

Gaaglia,  or  "little  brains"  13,  14 

Honey-sac   13, 13 

Honey,  How  Bees  "Make"  13, 199 

Intestines   12 

Ni^rvous  System   13 

CEsophagus   12 

Respiratory  System   14 

RoyalJell.v,  its  Composition  14 

Stomach,  True   12 

Stomach-mouth   12 


Anger  of  Bees  15-17 

"  "    Can  Generally  be  Avoided  by  Care 

 28-',  283,  303 

"  "    from  Colonies  Having  a  Habit  of 

Robbing  16 

"    How  Excited  16 

"    Indicated  by  High  Key-note  16,  282 

"    Intense  15,  16  287,  288 

"  "    Occasioned  by  Feeding  Outdoors  .16 

Antiseptics  for  Foul  Brood  154,  155 

Ants   17 

Ants  in  the  North   17 

Ants  in  tbe  South   18 

Ants'  Nests  in  \Vay  of  Lawn-mower  17 

Ants'  Nests,  To  Destroy   17 

Apbides   ..    .  .206  207 

Apiary   18 

"      Grouping  Hives  in  22,24 

House   26 

Ideal  Location  for   18 

In  an  Orchard  18,  30 

"      in  Large  Cities   18 

Keeping  Grass  down  in   24 

Location  of  18 

Numbpr  of  Colonies  in  24.  6i.  234,  241.  242 

Number  of  Colonies  in  (see  Out-apiary)..  24 

"      on  the  Farm   18 

Plans  for..  20,22,24 

"      Sheep  for  Keeping  Grass  down  in   26 

Windbreaks  for  18,20 

Apiaries,  Distance  Between  231 

"       Moving  to  New  Location   33 

Priori  ty  Rights  of  2 12 

"       Shadeboards  in   20 

A  piarist.  Definition  of   18 

Apis  Dorsata  46,  54 

^pis  Dorsata,  Nativ^e  Climbing  after  — •   55 

App  e-tree  Honey   167 

n  tific  al  Fertilization   33 

Artificial  Cell-cups  257,261 

Cell  cups,  Doolittle   see  Doollttle  CeU- 
cups'. 

Comb,  Weed  32 

Heat  34 

"  "   Much  Risk,  Experiments  34 

"         "   Often  Proves  a  Failure  35 

"      Pasturage,   Little  Encouragement  to 

such  Investments  35 

P.ll<-n.   248 

"       Ripening  of  Honey.   136 

Asters,  Description  of  35.  36 

Automatic  Hiving  of  Swarn  s  331 

Swarming,  Alley  Plan  for  321 

Pratt  Plan  for   322 

Bacillus  Alvei  (see  Foul  Brood'. 

Bacillus  Milii  161 

Balling  Queens  220 

Barbs  of  Bee-sting  308 

Bareheaded  Bees  57 

Bark  Louse  206 

Barnes  Bros.;  Criticisms,  Suggestions,  etc.,  on 

their  work  183 

"  "       Foot-power  Saws  176 

Barrels,  Coating  with  ParaflBne  38 

Cost  of  37 

Dadant  on  37 

Leaky  37,  38 

"      Material  for  37 

Muth  on  38 

Profitable  Size  37 

"      Removing  Candied  Honey  from  38 

Basswood,  or  Linden  38-40 


466 


INDEX. 


Basswood  Compared  with  White  Clover  ...  .38,  39,  200 

Cultivation  39 

"       Description  of  Tree  and  Blossom  39,  40 

"       Honey,  Taste  of  40 

"  "      Yield  of,  from  One  Hive  in  a 

Single  Day  40 

of  Great  Value  40 

Our  Plantation  of  4000    39 

Beating  Pans,  etc..  for  Swarms  to  Cluster   323 

Bee-bread  (see  Pollen)   40 

Bee-brushes     136 

Bee-disease,  Paralysis  Ill 

Bee-flress  (see  Introducing,  also  Veils). 

"    Coggshall's  337 

"    for  Ladies  337,  338 

"    Gloves,  etc  338 

"    Miss  Wilson  338 

"       "    Martin's  336 

"       "    of  Mrs.  Harj  ison    337 

Bee-escapes  27,  95,  96, 137 

Bee-glue,  or  Propolis  254,  255 

Bee-hats   333-338 

Bee-house  26-32 

Bee-h  u  ntiug  41-48 

Bee-moth  48 

"  Destroy! i3g  with  Bisulphide  of  Carbon. .  .51 

"      "  How  to  Keep  Combs  Secure  from   48 

"      "  How  the  Eggs  are  Deposited  49 

"      "   in  High  Altitudes  51 

"      "   in  New  South  Wales  51 

"      "  in  Section  Boxes  253 

"      "   Italians  a  Preventive  of  48 

"      "  Removing  Worms  from  the  Comb  51 

"      "   Summing  IJp  51 

"      "  Traps  for,  etc  48 

"      "    Unknown  in  Cuba  51 

"      "   Varieties  50-52 

Bee-keepers  (see  Apiarist)  18 

Bee  Paralysis  (see  Paralysis)  Ill 

"  Contagious  or  Not  Ill 

"  Quarantining  112 

"  Symptoms   Ill 

"  Treatment  and  Cure  Ill 

"  where  most  Destructive  Ill 

Bee-stings  (see  Stingi)   300 

Bees   52 

"  Advantages  to  Fruit-raising  167,  249 

"  Age  of   6 

"  Albino  53  56 

"  Amount  of  Nectar  can  (  arry   3.50 

"   Amount  to  Carry  a  Pound  350 

"   and  Grapes   41 

"  and  Other  Business  64 

"   Anger  of  15-17,  287,  288,  3f0.  3C4,  307 

*'  Apis  Dorsata   54 

"   a  Spe(  ialty  isee  Buying  Bees)  

"  Attachment  to  Home   1 

"  Attracted  by  Color  of  Flowers  251 

"   Black  52,224 

"  Breeding  in  Winter   247,  248 

"   Buying  (see  Bu\ing  Bees)  

"   Buying  and  Selling  63-65 

"   (.  arniolan   53 

"    Choosing  Location  1,323 

"   Common  Indian   54 

"   Cross  1.5-17,  287,  288,  300,  304,  3u7 

"   Cyprian  53,223 

"   Diseases  of.   110 

"  Disposition  to  Rob  (see  Robbing)   15,280 

"   East  Indian  54 

"   Egyptian   53 

"   Enemies  of   121 

"   First  Flight  of   58 

"   Five-banded  r28 

"   for  Business  2  3 

"   Getting  them  out  of  Sections  95,  96 

"    Growth  of   56 

"   Hanging  Out  123,  188,  313 

"   Holy  Land  53,223 

"   How  they  Build  Comb  201,  205,  206 

"   How  they  Grow  .56,57 

"     "      "        "    from  the  Egg  to  the  Time  of 

Hatching   56 

"   How  to  Dispose  of  Annoying  16,  3i  4 

"    How  Weighed   349 

"   Hunting   41 

"    Hybr.d  21.5,  216,  ::i21-2-'4 

"   Instinct  of,  vs.  Reason  251,  281,  282 

Intelligence  of  281,282 

"   In  Upper  Rooms  or  Garrets  322 

"   Italian  (see  Italians)  2:^:1 

"   Lack  of  Compassion  28'» 

"   Length  of  Flight  (see  Doolittle's  141st  com't)...  227 

' '  Manner  of  Ventilating  the  Hives   3  23 

"  Moving  227 


Bees,  Moving  in  Box  Hives   64 

"   Necessary  to  Fertilize  Plants  167-172,  249 

Need  of  Water  341 

"  Number  in  a  Quart  232 

"   Number  in  Pound  350 

"   Number  to  '  arry  Pound  of  Honey  350 

"   on  Shares,  Disputes  over   58 

"   on  Shares,  Dividing  the  Profits  58,  59 

"   on  Shares,  Form  of  contract  for   58 

"   on  Shares,  where  Kept   58 

"   on  a  Rampage  287 

"  Playspell  of  Young  288,  289 

"    Price  of   61 

"   Races  53-54,223 

"   Sagacity  of  28L,  28 

"   Size  of  Worker  Cell^  54,  204 

"      "   "   Drone  204 

"  Telescopic  Vision  of  251 

"  Time  of  Hatching  56,  57 

"   To  Buy  63,64 

"   To  Get  out  of  Sections  95,  96 

"   Uniting  in  Fall  333 

in  Spring  334 

"         "      New  Swarms  334 

"   V.  Birds  for  Grape-puncturing   41 

"   Weight  of  350 

"  What  Age  to  Have  (see  Age  of  Bees)   6 

"  Wonderful  Instinct  in  Building  Comb  202 

"   Wrongly  Blamed   41 

Bee-escapes  for  House-apiary   27 

Bee-hunter,  Green  Derrlngton  45,  46 

Bee-hunting,  Amount  of  Honey  in  Trees   44 

Box,  To  Use   42 

"       Burning  Smudge  for   44 

"       Climbers  for   44 

Does  it  Pay?   47 

"       Getting  a  Line  for  41,42 

Healthful  Exercise   47 

"        "       Locating  Bee-tree  in   43 

"        "       Mutilating  Bee-trees   47 

"        "       Opera-glass  for   44 

"        "       Quarrels  over  Bee-trees   47 

"        "       Season  for   41 

"        "       Scho()lchildren  around  Bee-tree. .46,  47 

"       To  t  limb  Trees   44,  45,  16 

Bee-keeping  as  a  Specialty   64 

"  and  Other  Business   64 

"         for  Professional  Men   64 

Profits  in  64,65 

Specialists  64 

ToMakeaStartin  63-65 

"  Uncertainties  in   64 

Bee-tent,  Folding  285 

'•       to  Stop  Robbing    284,  286 

Bee-trees,  Cutting   47 

Bee-trees,  Amount  of  H  ney  in   44 

Bee-trees  (see  Bee-hunting)  

Bee-yards  (see  Apiaries)       .      . . .18-26,  233,  241,  242 

Beeswax  (see  Wax)  343 

Bleaching  347 

Benzine  to  Remove  Wax  from  Utensils  349 

Bingham  &  Heth<  ringioti  Honey-knife  139 

Bingham  Bee-cellar  367 

Bingham  Hive  190 

Bingham  Smoker  393 

Birds  as  Enemies  of  Bees  121 

Birds  Eating  Bees  121 

Bisulphide  of  Carbon  for  Killing  Bee-moth   51 

Bisulphide  of  Carbon  to  Destroy  Ants  Nests   18 

Black  Bees  Inferior  to  Italians  52,  221 

"       "    Longevity  of  Compared  with  Italians .  6 

"       "    Two  Varieties  of   53 

"       "    Work  on  Buckwheat  Better  than  Ital- 
ians  53 

Black  Brood  I58 

"  Contagious   161 

"  Differential  Diagnosis   161 

"         Microscopic  Views  of  160 

Nature  of  159,161 

Symptoms  and  Treatment  159, 161 

Bleaching  Comb  iloney  101 

Bleaching  Wax  347 

B Leach ii  g  Wax  on  a  Large  Scale  347 

Blue  Thistle,  Value  as  a  Honey-plant   59 

"        "      A  Nuisance  —  59 

Boardman  on  Feeding  117 

Boardman  Solar  Wax-extractor  345 

Boomhower's  Sectiou-scraijing  Table  —  96 

Borage    60 

Box  Hives   59 

Box  Hives  a  Relic  of  the  Past   60 

Box  Hive.s,  How  (  onstructed   60 

Breeding  In  and  In  114 

Brood  (see  Bees)   56 

Black   158 


IKDEX. 


467 


Brood,  Difference  Between  Drone  and  Worker  112, 113  ' 

"     Diseases  Ill 

"     Need  of  Pollen  for  2+7 

''     Poisoned  see  Fruit-blossoms)  

'•  Spreading-  

Brood-en  amber,  Contractinsr  1C9,  19'^ 

Brood-chambers,  Large  or  Small.  .  .  190. 191.  194,  If  5 
Brood-chambers,  Shallow  v.  Full-depth  for 

Extracting-  138 

Brushes  for  Getting-  Bees  off  Combs  136 

Buckwheat  160 

"         and  Crimson  Clover,  Sowing  together  63  : 

^    "        Acieagesfor  60,61 

"        a  Rt  liable  Source  for  Honey   61  ; 

Best  Markets  for   61 

Honey...  -   61,200 

"        Irregular  Yield  of  Nectar   62 

"        Paving  Farm  (  rop   61 

Qualitv  of  Honev  of  •  61  ; 

"        To  Prepare  Soil  for   62  j 

"         A'arieties  of   61  ' 

"        where  Grown  Principally  60 

"        Yields  of  Grain  per  Acre   63 

Bumble-bees,  Use  of  in  Fertilizing  Red  -  clover 

Blossoms  167 

Buzz-saw,  Hand-power    176  : 

Table  176 

Buying  Bees    63 

"    Bargains  in  '   64 

"  "   Disasters  from   63 

"   How  Much  to  Pav   64 

"  To  Make  a  Start    64 

Making  a  Small  Beginning  aS.  64 

Cages,  Candy  for  66.  217 

"     for  Introducing   217-219 

Cakes  Containing  Honey  208-210 

California  White  Mountain  Sas-e  291  ! 

Candied  Comb  Honey,  What  to  do  with   70 

Candied  Honey   67  i 

*•  "      Aikin's   69  j 

"      General  Characteristics   67 

"         "      Putting  it  on  the  Market   69 

"  "      to  get  it  out  of  Brood-combs         70  I 

Candy,  Burnt   67  ' 

"    Feeding  66,67! 

' '    for  Bees  and  Queens  (see  Cages  for  Queens).  1 

 66,  217  ! 

"    Honey  Most  Liable  to   67  ; 

"     "Good"   66 

"    When  to  Feed   67  ! 

Candying  a  Test  of  Purity   67  i 

Freaks  of  69,  70  j 

"        of  Comb  Honey   67  ; 

of  Honey,  Cause  of  67,  68,  69  | 

"        of  Honey,  To  Prevent  67,  68  ; 

Science  of   70  , 

Progress  of  67 

Cape  May  Warbler   ill 

Carbolic  Acid  for  Foul  Brood  154,1.55  ; 

Carniolan   -'3 

Cartons  for  Comb  Honey  101 

Catnip  70 

Cellars  for  Wintering  361-368 

"     Advantages  of  Wintering  in  360,  361 

"     Carrying  Bees  into  363  i 

"     Dead  Bees  in  368 

Removing  from,  to  Old  Stands  368 

"      Sub-earth  Ventilators  369, 

"     Temperature  of  368  ' 

"     When  to  Put  i  .    .    362  i 

Cells,  Different  Kinds  of  204 

"   Forming  Nuclei  for  262 

"  for  Rearing  Queens  (see  Queen-rearing). 

"   Hatcher  for    261.262 

"   Not  Destrovedby  Reversing  279 

"   Nuclei  for  262 

"   Structure  of  201-204 

"   Supersedure  256,  2.59,  260 

"   West  Protector  261 

Cell-protectors  261.262 

CeU-rearing  see  Qiieen-rearing)  

Chaff  Hives,  Packing-material  for  357,  373 

"       "    Entrances  to  124 

"     HovstoMake  197,198 

"     PackiniT  toi-  Winter  35^3,  373 

"     What  Kind  to  Use  373 

Changing  Position  of  Colonies  to  Stop  Robbing. .  .2-5 

Choosing  Location,  Bees  1,323 

Circular  Saws,  Putting-  in  Order  183-185 

Clark  Smoker  295 

Cleaning  Wax  from  Utensils   -  349 

Cleats  vs.  Handholes  196 

Climbers  for  Bee-hunting   —  45 

Clip,  How  to  271 

Clipped  Queen,  Swarm  with  2,  271,  314 


Clipping  Device.  Monette  272 

Is  it  Advisable  ?  271.  314 

Queens  to  Control  Swarming. 271.  272,  313, 314 


Queens'  Wings. 


5,  271,  272,  314 

with  Jack-knife  272 

Closed-end  Frames  166,  190, 193 

Clover,  Alfalfa   T 

"      Alsike  (see  Clover)  72 

Crimson  76,  77 

"  "      Color  of  Bloom   76 

"  "      Honey  from   78 

"      in  the  Spring   76 

in  W^. eat  Stubble   78 

"  "      whea  Sown  76,77 

"      Peavine,  or  Mammoth   73 

Red   72 

Red.  for  Lone-tongued  Bees  327,  328 

"  Bumble-bees  Required  to  Fertilize 

Seed  of  167 

"      Sweet,  or  Melilot;  Its  Value   74 

White   71 

"    Dutch  71 

"         "    the  Best  Honey-producer   71 

"         "    Superiority  of  Honey  from   71 

Clustering,  Duration  of   1 

*'        Outside  Hive,  Indicative  of  Swarming.312 

"  "     How  to  Correct  313 

Coggshall's  Bee-brush  136 

Coggshall's  Tenement  Hive  361 

Colonies,  dumber  in  an  Apiary  64,  234.  241,  242 

Colorado  Honey  7,  200 

Color  of  Honeys  200 

Comb-building   82,  83,  100,  202-205 

Aikin' s  Law  of  100 

mb  Foundation,  Definition  of   78 

Used  in  Rearing  Workers  and 

Drones   78 

Use  of  Wires  in  84,  85 

 87 

Barber  Method  of  Producing  92, 93 

Cartons  for.. ,  101 

Candying   67 

Costing  More  to  Produce   87 

Doolittle  Single-tier  W.  Frame  for  88 

Escapes  for  95,  96 

Feeding  Back  Unfinished  Sections.  .97 

Four-beewav  Sections  for  99 

Glass  Sections  of  100 

Grading  of   1C2,  H  3 

How  to  Get  Bees  into  Supers  for, 92,  93 
How  to  get  the  Bees  out  of  Sections 

of  94-96 

in  Section  Honey-box    87 

Marketing  106-109 

Narrow  Sections  for   99 

Not  Counteifeited   87 

Packages  for  101, 105, 106 

Scraping  sections  of 


Co 


Comb  Honey. 


Section.  Unfinished.  To  Prevent ....  97 
Selling  at  Commission  Houses  .107.108 

Selling  for  Cash   108 

Selling  in  Local  Markets  107 

Separators  for   98 

Size  of  .-'ections  for  99 

Supers  for    88,  90-92 

Tall  vs  >  quare  Sections  for   99 

Tiering  Up  for   94 

to  Bleach  lOi.  105 

to  Ktep  109 

Untinished  Sections  of   97 

vs.  Extracted  78, 133 

when  to  I  ut  on  Supers  for   92 

Wide  Frames  for   88 

Combs.  Extracting.  To  get  to  Extractiug-house 

   1:34,  136 

Combs.  To  Clear  of  Bees   136,  137 

Commission  Houses,  Selling  Honey  at  107 

Tricks  of  I08 

Confectionery  Made  of  Candied  Honey   69 

Contract  for  Keeping  Bees  on  Shares   58 

Contraction,  Advantages  of  109 

How  Practiced  109 

"         Purpose  of   19 

Cook  on  Poisonous  Honev  245 

Corn  249 

"   W^hy  it  Contains  no  Honey  249 

Cornell  Smoker..  294 

Corner  Joint  of  Hive  179,  188 

(  over  for  Dovetailed  Hive..   189 

Cowan  on  Foul  Brood  155 

Cowan  Revei  sible  Extractor  132 

Cramps  of  Queens  112 

Crates  for  Shipping  108 

Crimson  Clover   76 

Crimson  Clover  and  Buckwheat  Sown  Together..  .63 


468 


I^DEX. 


Cross  Bees  15-17,  287,  288,  300,  3C4,  307 

Cultivation  of  Honey-producing  Plants   35 

Cure  of  Dysentery  120 

Foul  Brood  153 

Cyprian  Bees  53,  223 

Dadant's  Uncapping  can  137 

Daisy  Foundation-fastener   86 

Damp,  How  Hives  Become      356 

Danzenbaker  Bottom-board  123 

Frames  191,  279 

Hive  191 

Dandelion  as  a  Honey  and  Pollen  Producer  110 

Davis'  Transposition  Process  2fi6 

Decoy  Hives  323 

Deserting  Hives  in  Spring-   2 

Deserting,  Swarms   ..      1 

Destruction  of  Bees  by  Milkweed  225 

"     "   (see  Enemies  of  Bees)  . . .  .121, 122 

"         "  Drones  in  Fall  117 

Development  of  Bee   56 

Diarrhea  (see  Dysentery), 

Disasters  in  Bee-keeping  63,  64 

Diseases  of  Bees  (see  Foul  Brood)  

•'    Number  of  110 

Queens'  Cramps  112 

"     Spring  Dwindling  Ill 

"     To  Avoid  110 

Two  Classes  Ill 

Diseases,  Other  113 

Disease,  Black  Brood  158 

Distance  Traveled  by  Bees  (see  Doolittle's  141st 

comment,  also  footnote)  227 

Dividing  (also  see  Artificial  Swarming,  also  Nuclei) 

Dodecahedron,  Rhombic  203 

Doolittie  Feeder  146 

Cell-cups  257 

"       Method  of  Rearing  Queens  257-259 

"       Solar  Wax-extractor  344 

Dorsata,  Apis    f4 

Dovetailed  Hive  Covers  189 

Chaff  Hive  197 

Draper  Barn  196 

Dress  for  the  Apiarist  (see  Veils). 

^   "      "  Ladies  337,  338 

Drone-laying  Queens   271 

Drone  Eggs    113 

"      Excluder.   116 

Guard  116,117 

Meeting  Queen  113,114,270 

Drones,  Age  of   6 

"      Brood  Distinguished  from  Worker  112 

Cells  of  .....1 1 3,  204 

"     Destruction  of  in  Fall  117 

"     from  the  Egg  to  Hatching  113 

"     from  Workers  223 

"     Have  but  One  Parent  114 

"     Larvae  of,  in  Queen-cells   264 

Mating  with  Queens  33,  113,  114,  270 

"     Organs  of  113 

"     Rearing  Out  of  Season  117 

"     Restraining  Undesirable  115 

"     Trap  for  Getting  Rid  of  116,  117 

"     with  Colored  Heads  118 

Drumming  Out  for  Transferring  339 

Dwindling  in  Spring  (see  Spring  Dwindling). 

Dysentery  118, 123 

Agency  of  Aphides  in  Producing  119 

Cure  for  120 

Cure  of  120 

in  Indoor  Repositories  120 

Prevention  of  119 

Sealed  Combs  for  120 

Symptoms  of  119 

Eastern  Races  of  B;  es  53,  223 

Egg  of  Queen,  under  Microscope   56 

Eggs,  Fertilized  and  Unfertilized  114 

"    Queen  Laying  Two  Kinds  372 

Egyptian  Bees   53 

Electrical  Imbedding  of  Wires   85 

Empty  Combs,  How  to  Keep  51,  373 

Enemies  of  Bees,  Different  Kinds  130, 121 

"     Birds  121 

"    Mice  131 

"       "     "    Parasites  123 

"     "     Skunks  123 

"       "     "    Spiders  122 

"       "     "    Thieves  and  Patent-right  Ven- 
ders 122 

Entrances,  Clogging  of  26,122 

"         Contracted  to  Prevent  Robbing  384 

for  House-apiary   29 

for  Ventilation  123, 124,  338,  389 

"         for  Wintering  124,357 

"         Keeping  Grass  away  from   36 

Position  of  123 


Entrances,  Size  of  in  Winter  123,  124,  339,  357 

Evaporation  of  Honey  by  Bees  125,  339,  341 

Excluders,  Drone  and  Queen  ...116, 117,  321 

Extracted  Honey  134 

"  "     by  the  Carload  134 

"           "     Candying  of  (see  Candied  Hon- 
ey) 124,  135 

"  "     First  Ton  of  124 

"  "     Glass  Jars  for  Retailing  138, 129 

"     "Green".   124,  125,  341 

"     How  to  Keep  127 

"    "  Seal  Up  67,  68 

"    "  Sell  127-131 

"  "     How  to  Ship  69,  128-131 

More  than  Comb  133 

"  "     Prtils  for  Retailing  69,129 

"  "     Yield  of,  Compared  with  Comb 

Honey  133 

Extracting  to  Prevent  Swarming  330 

Extracting,  Comb-carts  for  136 

Extracting-combs.  Shall  they  be  Capped  before 

Extracting?  137 

Shallow  V.  Full-depth  138 

To  get  Bees  off  136,137 

"  To  get  to  Extracting-house 

 134,  136 

Extracting-house,  Where  to  Lor  ate  134 

Causing  Revolution  in  Bee-keeping. .  .131 

Extractor  Automatic  Reversible  132, 133 

Cowan  132,  133 

*'        Novice  131 

the  First  Advertised  in  this  Country..  131 

to  Use  131 

"        Two  or  Fovir  Frame  134 

"        Uncapping  for  137-139 

•'        when  and  by  whom  Invented  131 

"        where  to  Locate  134 

Extractors  131 

"         Hand  V.  Automatic  Reversible  133 

"  Reversing  132 

"         Right  and  Wrong  Principles  in  133 

"         Two  and  Four  Frame  Reversible  132,  133 

Perforated  Zinc  for  139 

Uncapping-knives  for  138,139 

Fairs  141 

"   Educational  Effect  of  141 

"  Honey-packages  for  Exhibit  at  128,  129,  141 

"  Model  Exhibits  at   141 

"  Thousand-dollar  Reward  at  141 

Feeder,  Doolittie  146 

Miller  Ii6 

Simplicity  145 

Feeders  for  Stimulating  Feeding  144,  145 

"      for  Winter  145,  146 

"      Boardman  :  145 

"      Pepperbox  145 

Feeding,  a  In  Boardman  147 

"       and  Feeders  142 

at  Night  117 

"       Caution  in  Regard  to  118 

Cold  Process  tor  Making  Syrup  for  144 

During  Robbing  Time  147 

Fast  or  Slowly  — 146 

'■       for  Two  Purposes  142 

in  Cold  Weather  147 

Sugar  Syrup  Better  than  Honey  143 

"       Syrup  for.  To  Make  144 

"       Syrup  more  Economical  for  than 

Honey  142 

•'       to  Avoid  Robbers  147 

'*       to  Force  Honey  into  Sections  147 

"       to  Stimulate  Brood-rearing  344 

What  to  Ill 

When  to  be  Avoided  142 

Fence  and  Plain  J^ection,  Advantages  of   90 

"  "  System  Discussed — 90,  92 

Honey  91.103 

Fence,  when  Introduced    90 

Fences,  Freer  Communication  Afforded     90 

Fe  ris  Wax-extractor  f^4",  346 

Fertile  Workers  (see  Laying  Workci  s). 

Fertilization  in  Open  Air    113,  114.  270 

of  Ants  114 

Figwort  148 

"      as  a  Honey-plant  148,149 

"      Cultivation  and  Soil  for  119 

"      Names  of  118 

not  a  Profitable  Honey-plant  149 

Filing  Saws,  Cross-cut  185 

"        "      Rip  184 

"       "      Waste  in.  How  to  Avoid  184 

Finding  Queens  162, 163,  219 

Fireweed     353 

Fixed  Frames  149,  16.5,  166,  181,  182, 190 

"        "      Advantages  of   149 


INDEX. 


rixed  Frame  s  Bee-killers  149 

"        "      Closed-end  Dauzeabaker  190,  379 

Heddon  192 

Quiut>y  149,  166 

Definition  of  149 

"         "      Handled  More  Rapidly  149,164 

"         "      Hoffman   150, 164,  165,  181 

"        "      Hoffman,  How  to  Make  181 

Propolized  150,  151,  165,  182 

"         "      Spaciugof  149,165 

Flight  of  Bees,  Distance  of  (see  Doolittle's  141st 

comment  I  237 

Flowers,  Colors  of  351 

Foldiug  Tent  for  Bees  out  of  Sections  284,  286 

II       "     for  Transferring,  etc  '.  330 

Food  for  Larvse  14,  265 

"      "   Queens  14,  365 

Foot-power  Saws,  Barnes,  How  to  Use  176 

Foul  Erood,  Koiliog  Honey  of   154 

"       "       Caution  155 

"       "       Communicated  to  OtherColonies  154,  Ico 

Compared  with  Black  Brood  153,161 

"       "      Description  of  152,  l."3 

"       "       Differential  Diagnosis  153,161 

Drug  Cures  for  154-lc6 

"       "      Importance  of  Disinfection  153-155 

"       "       Life  History  of  155 

"       "       ]NJc  -  TOY  Treatment  for  153 

"       "       Medicated  >yrup  for  154,155 

"       "      Remedies  for  -.154,155 

"       "       Symptoms  of  112 

Foundation  (see  Comb  Foundation) 

(  ause  of  Midrib  in  t  omb  Honey  80,  83-84 

"         Electrical  Imbedding  of  Wires  in   85 

1  astened  at  the  Top-bars  •-  86 

Fastening  into  erections  86,  87 

Flat-botiom   84 

in  t'laster  82,  83 

"  Introduction  of   78 

"         Its  Economic  Uses   89 

"  Machinery  78-81 

"         on  Hat  Plates  or  Dies   79 

"         Press   80 

RoUs   79,  81 

"         Rolls,  Machine  for  Engraving  78 

"         Sagging  of   84 

"         to  Wire     85 

"         \^■alls  vs.  Base   82 

"         Weed  New  Process  83-84 

"         Various  Orades  of   80 

Frames,  for  Hives   .149, 163,  180,  186, 190,  279 

Brood,  Various  Sizes  of   186 

"      Closed-end,  Two  (  lasses  J 90 

"      Discussion  of  Sizes   1-6 

"      Distance  from  Center  to  Center  149, 297 

Handling  162 

"      Hoffman  (see  Hoffman  Frame). 

"      Hoffman,  to  Manipulate  164 

"      Quinby,  \o  Manipulate  166 

"      Reversible   190-192,279 

"      Shallow  vs.  Deep  186,  L^7 

Spacing  of  149,  297 

Square,  Arguments  for  186 

"      Two  Positions  for  Loose  ]  63 

"      Wired    b5 

France,  E.,  on  Vinegar  340 

France's  Quadruple  Hive  360 

Fruit-blossoms  166 

Anti-spraying  Legislation  for  167 

"  Importance  of  for  Honey ....  166,  367 

Spraying  During  167 

"  Honey  from   166 

"  Importance  of  166, 167 

Fruit-Crop,  Do  Bees  Hinder?  167 

Fuel  for  Smokers  295 

Galvanized  Iron  'Not  Recommended  for  Honey 

or  Wax  Utensils  349 

Gasoline  to  Destroy  Ants-   17 

German  Bees  52,  315,  321,  334 

Gill-over-the-G  round,  as  a  Honey-producer  173 

Given  Press   80 

Glucose,  Adulteration  with  300,  201 

"       Its  Gen  ral  Characteristics  201 

Gobacks   97 

Goldenrod,  Fiftv-three  Varieties  173 

Quality  of  Honey   173 

"Good"  Candy  (Scholz)   66 

Grading  for  Comb  Honey  ;  103 

Grafting  Cells   359,-361 

Granulation  a  Test  of  Pu'ity   67 

Granulation  of  Honey,  Science  of   70 

Granulated  Honey  (see  Candied  Honev)  

Granulated  Honey,  Selling   69 

Grapes  and  Bees  41 

Grapes,  when  Visited  by  Bees   4i 


Grapevines  for  Apiaries   20 

Grass.  Keeping  away  from  Entrances   26 

Grass.  Mowing  down  in  Apiary   26 

Handling  Bees  (see  Frames,  Manipulating). 

Hanging  Out  133,  188,  313 

"  Indication  of  Swarming  313 

"  "  To  Prevent  133,188,313 

Hatch  Plan  for  Apiary   23 

Hatcher,  Queen  263 

Heartsease  m 

Heat,  Artificial   34,  348,  368 

Heddon  Brood-chamber  187,193 

"      Hive  191 

"        "    Advantages  of  193 

Heddon's  Method  to  Prevent  After-swarming   6 

Hilt's  Device  for  Wintering  358 

Hilton  T  Super   89 

Hive,  Bingham.  .   190 

"     Contracting  109,  192,  195,  354 

Chaff  or  Double-walled    .   197-199 

"    Cleats  or  Handholes  for  196 

"    Dadant     193,194 

"    Danzenbaker.  — 191 

"    Dovetailed  188, 189 

"     Eight-frame   188 

"     Frames  for  150, 151,  163, 164,  181,  182, 189 

Heddon   191 

"    Langstroth   ibl 

"    Large,  .-advantages  of  193-195 

"  Objections  to  195 

"         "     for  Lomb  Honey  195 

"         "     for  Extracted  Honey   193,194 

"     vs.  Small  193.194 

"    Requisites  of  174 

"     Simplicity   187 

Extra  Depth  196 

"    To  Saw  the  Koardsfor   174-180 

"     Various  Sizes  of ..  .186,  188, 190,  191,  193, 194, 196 

Hives,  Chaff  197 

"      Corners  of  179,  188 

"      Decoy,  for  Swarms  333 

"      Dovetailed  188-191 

"      Entrances  to  26,133,188,339 

Frames  for  149  162, 180.  186, 190,  379 

Grouping  in  an  Apiary  22,  24 

"      How  They  Become  Damp  356 

Jumbo  196 

"      Langstroth.  Extra  Depth  196 

Large,  to  Prevent  Swarms  194,  195 

"      Lumber  for  175 

"      Non-swarming  193-195,321 

"      Requisites  of  174 

"      Shade  boards  for   20 

Size  of  186,  191,  193-195 

"  "       Langstroth  187 

"      To  Keep  Boards  of  from  Warping  177 

To  Open  163,  305 

"      Tenement  358-361 

Hive-making,  All  about  174-186 

Hive-stand  133,  188 

Hiving  Apparatus,  Manum's.   316 

"      Swarms  with  Clipped  Queens  3,  271,  273 

Hoffman  Frames  150,  164, 181,  389 

"  "      Handling  in  Pairs  164 

"  "      How  to  Make  181 

To  Manipulate  164 

Holy-Land  Bees  .53,  323 

Honey   ;....199,  200 

Adulteration  of   200 

"      Amounr  Carried  by  one  Bee  349,  350 

"      Amount  Stored  by  Strong  Colony  in  Day 

 40,  350 

"      Annually  Consumed  307 

"      Apple  tree  167 

"      as  Food  207-310 

"      Basswood  38,  39,  125,  200 

"      Canada  Thistle  300 

"      Can,  58  pound  130 

"      Candied  67,124,127 

"      Candying.  Cause  of  67,  68,  69 

"      Candying,  Freaks  of  69,  70 

"      Cases  for  Storing  and  Shipping.. .  .105,  106, 

 128-130 

"      Chemical  Change  12, 199 

"      Clover  71,200 

"      Comb,  Cases  for  Shipping  105, 1C6 

"         "      Keeping   109 

"         "      Marketing  106 

"        "      Show-case  for   106 

"      Cooking-recipes  208-210 

"      Cuban  200 

Digested  Nectar   199 

"      Distinguished  from  Nectar  199 

"      Evaporation  of  125,339-341 

"      Extracted  (see  Extracted  Honey). 


470 


INDEX. 


Honey,  Extracted,  More  than  Comb   133 

"      Fed  Back   97 

"      Flavored  with  Onion  135 

"      tor  (  hildren  3ii8 

for  Invalids  207,  208 

tor  the  Grocery  Trade  106, 12S,  129,  212 

from  Rocky  Mountain  Bee-plant  20u,  289 

from  Foul-broody  Hives  154 

"      Horsemint    215 

"      House  Bee-escape   27 

How  Bees  Make  12, 199 

"      in  Barrels  37 

in  Hot  Drinks  208 

"      In  Medicine  208 

In  Tin  Cans  129.130 

"      in  Trade  for  Ducks  212 

Jars,  Muth's   138 

"      Jumble  Recipes  309 

*"      Keeping  Cakes  Moist  208 

"      Knives    13S 

Leaflets  310 

"      Mangrove  200 

Mesquite  200 

"      Most  Liable  to  Candy   67 

Mountain  Sage  300,  391 

of  Hymettus   3.^1 

"      on  Commission   ..107 

"      Orange  2(0 

Pails  69.  129 

Glass  138,129 

"      Peddled  on  vn  agon  211,  312 

Peddling  210 

"      Peddling,  Moore's  Method  313 

"      Poisonous   344 

"      Proportion  of  Extracted  to  Comb  133 

Raspberry  200,276 

"      Ripening  Artificially  126 

Sealing  Up  67,  68,  128 

"  (see  Comb  Honey).  1 
"      Show-case  for  106  j 

that  does  not  Candy  67, 292  ] 

"      To  Prevent  I  andying  67, 68 

Tumblers  12.S  I 

Unripe  124,  125  i 

"      Used  by  Bakers  318  j 

"      V.  Sugar  for  Feeding   . .  143  | 

Vinegar  for  lickles  310 

"  "       Quality  of  340  i 

To  Make  340  i 

"      Why  Better  than  Sugar  143,  207  i 

Why  more  Easily  Digested  207,  208  \ 

"      Why  Secreted  in  Flowers   351 

Honeys,  Dark  6L  200 

Flavors  of  61,  20i)  i 

"      and  Their  Colors   20  J  i 

Classified  30O  I 

Honey-comb,  Absolute  Perfection  of  301,  2u2 

Base  of  Cells  83-84,  303 

"      Different  Kinds  of  Cells   304 

How  Built  2^  3-305 

Mathematics  of  201,  302 

"        "      Size  of  Cells,  Drone  and  Worker  . .  .304 

Honey  -  dew  Produced  by  Bark-lice  306 

a  Secretion  from  Plant-lice  306,  207 

Bark-louse   206 

a  Bad  Winter  Food  119,307 

"        "      Cause  of  Dysentery  119 

"         "      Why  so  Named  306 

Product  of  Aphides  119.  206 

Honey-plants     35,  213 

"  Poisonous  344 

Principal  Plants.  36,  300,  312 

"  Simpson  148 

Horses  Stung  to  Death  ; .  .303 

House-apiary   36 

"         "    Cross  Colonies  in   33 

"  "     Entrances  for   39 

"         "     Bee-escapes  for  37 

"         "     How  to  Construct  37 

"         "     Morton's   31 

"    Original  38 

"     Our  Own   38 

"     Portable   31 

"    Salisbury's  29 

House-apiaries  where  Land  is  Valuable   36 

House-apiaries  for  Wintering   33 

Howard  on  Black  Brood  —  .159 

Howard  on  Pickled  Brood  157 

Hruschka's  Original  Extractor  .131 

Huber's  Experiment  266 

Hunting  Bees,  Bait  for  41,  43 

"  "     Box,  How  to  Use  43 

"  "     Climbers   45 

"         "    Cross  Lines   43 


Hunting  Bees,  Does  it  Pay?  

"         "    In  Vicinity  of  Large  Apiaries  

"         "     Smudge,  Use  of  

"         "    Spy-glass  for  

"         "    To  Determine  Distance  from 

Colony  

Hunting  of  Queen    163,  163, 

HulcLiiuson  on  the  Heddon  Hive.   

Hybrids,  Cross  Between  Blacks  and  Italians  

"       Equal  to  Italians  as  Honey-gatherers 

 316,321, 

"       Vindictive  Temper  of.  Extraordinary 

 316, 

Hymettus,  Honey  of  

Indian  Bees  

Indian  Pink  

Intelligence  of  Bee  281, 

Introducing,  Cardboard  Method  

Introducing  Queens   

Balling  

"  "       Benton  Cage  for  

Candy  for  66, 

"  "       Mclntyre's  Cage  for  

"  "       Miller's  Cage  for  

"  "       Queenless,  how  long  before. 

Sure  Way  of  

Introducing  Virgin  Queens  

Inverting  ^see  Reverting  . 

Irrigating  Alfalfa- fields  

Italianiziny    

Italians,  Color  of  Imported  

"      Docility  of  

"       Five  banded  

"       How  to  Tell  from  Hybrids  

"       Markings  of  221, 

"      Superiority  Compared  with  Hybrids  

Jelly,  Royal  IK  259,  261, 

Keeping  Bees  in  Upper  Rooms  or  Garrets  

Keeping  Comb  Honey  

Kegs  (see  Barrels). 

King  liirds  as  Enemies  of  Bees  

Knives.  Honey  

Ladies'  Bee-dress  (see  Veils)  337, 

Langstroth  Frame  (see  Hive-making). 

Why  Standard  

"         Hive  (see  Hive-making). 

on  Spiders  

Large  Hives  (see  Hives,  Large). 

Larvae  56, 

Laying  Workers      

"       To  detect  the  Presence  of  

To  get  Rid  of  

Leaky  Barrels  —  

Legislation,  Anti-spraying  

Linden  (see  Basswood). 

Locust,  a  Well-known  Tree  

"      Not  to  be  Depended  Upon  as  a  Honey-pro- 
ducer.   

Long-tongued  Bees  for  Red  Clover  

Luce  ne  

Lucerne  (see  Alfalfas 

Lumber,  To  Prevent  Warping  

"       White  wood  

"       for  Hives  

McEvoy  Treatment  for  Foul  Brood  

Mclntyre  Plan  for  Apiary  

Machine  Section-cleaners     yo 

Marketing  Comb  Honey  (see  Crate  for  Honey). 

Meal  Feeding  353 

Melilot  74 

Mice  121 

Microscopic  Examination  of  Brood  Pickled  160 

of  Foul  Brood  ..156 

•'  "  of  Pickled  Brood  158 

of  Stings  308 

Midrib  in  Foundation  80,  83,-84 

Milkweed  Destructive  to  Bees  227 

Miller  Feeder   146 

Miller  Tent  Escape   95 

Miller  l^lan  for  Apiary     33 

Moore  s  Method  of  Pedd  ing  Honey  312 

Morton's  House-apiary  31,  32 

Morton's  Swarming-pole   315 

Moth  and  Moth-worms  (see  Bee-moth). 

Moving  Apiaries  North  and  South   33 

Moving  Bees,  Caution  Against  Smothering  329 

"    Fastening  Frames  for  239,  230 

"         "    Fixed  Frames  for   230 

"        "    G  etting  All  into  the  Hi ve  330 

"         "    in  Spring  338 

"        "in  Wagon  or  Buggy  328,  329 

"    Killed!  230 

"        "    Long  Distances   339 

"        "    Northward  to  strike  Basswood  or 

Clover  Bloom   33 


.  47 
41 

44 
44 

43 
319 
192 
315 

334 

221 
391 
.54 
353 
383 
217 
317 
320 
317 
317 
218 
318 
319 
220 


7 

324 
221 
231 

333 
332 
223 

'421 

265 
323 
109 

131 

138 
338 

186 

133 

57 
335 
326 
335 

37 
167 


153 
177 
351 
175 
30 


IXDEX. 


471 


,166.  2: 


Moving-  B^e?  On  Closed  end  Frames  

"         ••    Securing- Conilis  'Jo  J 

"  Success  in  Moving-  Whole  Apiaries .  .  231 

"  To  Prepare  Carload  for  

"         ••    Ventilation  229 

Mustard  2^0 

"      Chinese  231 

Quality  of  Honey  231 

Naphthol  Beta  for  F.jul  Br.  od  1"5 

Xectar.  Dig-  stel  12,  199.  2ijS 

Xew  Swarms  see  Swarui'-  and  Swarming  . 
No-l)ee  way  Se.:"iions  see  Plain  Sections  * 

Non-s\varminy-  Hives  19  ;-19o,  3-il 

Xovice  Extractor  131, 132 

Novice  Honey  knife   138 

Xuelei  Absconding-   3 

cciei.  13 u Vina-  64 

for  Ct  lis   262 

for  Queen-rearino-  262 

How  Small  They  May  Be  232 

Xuclei.  Someiford  Mtt  o  i  ^33 

Number  of  Bees  in  a  Quart   232 

Number  t  f  Colonies  in  an  Apiary  — 6i.  2ol,  24:1.  242 

Odor  of  Laying  Queen  274 

Orchaid  for  -ipi-ary  1-.  20 

Ort  jn  Tenement  Hive   .c60 

Out-Apiaries  233 

Dadnnts  240 

Distance  Between  234 

"  Hauling  ior    23o 

"       "      Munum's  241 

"  Number  of  Colonies  in  an  Apiarv  for  :J34 

Prioritv  Rights  of  242 

Rent  for..:  235 

"       "      Scale  Hive  tor   241 

'■'      Tools  for  2^6 

Overstoctiiig  11.  234,  242 

and  Priority  Rights  242 

Dependent  on  Li_  ca  itv  242 

in  Alfalfa  Regions  . . .   7.  S.  242 

m  the  Alfalfa  I  ields  9  11 

in  Colorado  11,242 

Packag-es  for  Shipping  Extracted  Honev  128.  129 

Pails,  Honev  '  125. 129 

ParatEne  and  Ceresine   3S,  3t2 

for  Foundation  342 

"   Waxing  Ban-els   38 

Paralysis.  Bet-  Ill 

S\-mptoms  Ill 

Treatment  Ill 

Wiiere  most  Virulent  Ill 

Parasites  122 

Parker  Machine  for  Fastening  Starters   ...t>7 

Pastui-age,  Artificial  35 

How  to  Increase   35 

Peavine  or  Mammoth  Red  Clover   72 

Peabody  Extractor  131 

Peddling  by  Sample  212 

for  the  Grocerv  Trade  212 

Perforated  Zinc  116  ,  253.  321 

Perforated  Zinc  for  Extracting  139 

Pickled  Brood  156 

"  Characteristics  of   156,  i57 

"  3Iildiy  Contagious  1.56 

"  Microscopic  Views  of  lo-* 

"  "   Treatment  of  157 

Plain  Sections  Taking  Less  Room  in  Shipping- 
cases    90 

Plain-section  and  Fence  System  9o 

Plan  for  Apiary  '  20.  ^2.  21 

Plants.  Fertilization  of  167-172.  249 

Playspell  of  Young  Bees  2S8 

Poisoned  Brood  111.  167 

Poisoned  Brood.  Appearance  of  157 

Poison  of  Bee  as  Medical  Agent  307 

of  Bee-stings  3Ci7.  309 

Poisonous  Honey    244 

"  "  '  Cook  on  215 

"  "    How  it  Affects  Human  Beings 

 244.  -Zio 

"  Sources  of  241 

Pollen,  Agencv  of  Bees  in  Fertilizing  Plants 

 I'i7.  172.  219 

Animal  Food  Used  for  2.9 

"      Artificial  Substitutes  24S 

"      Bee's  Adaptations  for  Collecting  246 

"      Effect  of.  on  Confined  Bees  247.  248 

Excluded  by  Zinc  253 

"      fi'om  Maple  and  Corn  249 

"         "    Sawdust,  &c  248 

"      in  Section  Boxes  253 

"      Milkweed    227 

"      Method  of  Gathering  245.  246 

"      Setting  to  Work  on  Artificial  253 

Porter  Bee-escape  27,  95,  137 


Pratt  Self-hiver  322 

Propolis  ^  254 

do  Bees  ^eed  if?   Theorv  and  Practice. 2."-)5 

How  Gathered  2' 4 

Remo\~ing  by  Steam  2.:5 

'~y Hot  Water  2>i 

from  Sectiijns   96 

To  Keep  from  Surplus  Boxes  254 

To  Remove  from  Fingers   2-54 

Queens,  Age  of   6 

*'        on  Beginning  to  Lav  268 

Bulling   220 

cupping  Wings  of  2.  5,  2:i.  2:2.  314 

"  ■•  Danger  of  Loss  in   2 

"       Daily  Number  of  Eggs  Laid  by  257 

"       Drone-laying   '  271 

Eggs  of.  Fertilized  and  Unfertilized  114 

"       Feriil.zing  from  I'ppcr  Stories  2<'o 

"       Fertilization  of  c3.  113.  114,  270 

"  •■  in  Confinement    33 

"       Findiny-  ir2.  In-.  219 

"       How  Produced  fi-nm  Worker  Eggs  264 

"       Intro  iueti  J'U  of  Vii-o-in  7  263 

Loss  of  7  274 

"       Lonye\-ity  of   6 

Mailirjg   217 

"       Meeting  Drones  on  the  Wins- 

 .^.:>3.  113.  114.  270 

"       Mutilation  of  Drones  on  Meeting  113 

"       Occupation  of.  While  Sealed  up  2i>5 

"       Odor  of  274 

"       on  Lea^-ing  Cells  266 

"       Rearing   2.  271.  ■:7-J.  313.  314 

Rivalry  of  266 

Several  in  One  Swarm   5 

'*       To  Find  162 

To  Rear  ov  Hi;y   ■:56 

"       Ti-anspositiC'n  Process  266 

"       Two  in  One  Hive  267 

"         "   on  Same  Comb  267 

Virgin  268 

"       Vii-yin.  to  Inrroduce   263 

"       Voices  of  267 

"       W,i;;t  to  Do  when  tliey  P.y  Away  223 

"       Wedding-flight,  When  Taken  ,.'  26S 

"       What  to  Do  with  When  L'niting  333 

"       W  hy  each  should  Re;-.r  his  own  256 

"       M  hy  they  should  be  Reared  by  Honey- 
producers   !  !.2'6 

"       Wi::gs.  l  l:[:.ping  2.  5,  271.  272.  314 

Queen-cao-es  '-ee  lntrod.:cingi. 

Exeoid.  r   116.  253.  321 

ExeliidiTit.'-  Honey-board  139 

Lading  Two  Kinds  of  Eggs  272 

MeetiUiT  Drc.ne  c3.  113.  114.  270 

"     Noise  Made  by  in  S-\varming  324 

"     Stins- of  274 

Trap.  Alley's  117.  321 

Queen-cells  258.  260.  264.  265 

"  from  Drone  (  omb  261 

"  How  to  Insert  261 

"  Large  Number  of   223 

"        "   PiiOtograpbic  Representation  of  258 

"  Pro te 'tors  for  261 

To  Tell  When  They  Will  Hatch  264 

■■   isee  Queen-rearing). 

Queen  Cramps  112 

Queen-nurs-ry,  Alley's  262 

Queen-rearing  '.   256 

Queen-rearing,  -^lley  Meti.od  2d0 

Artificial  Cui  s  for   257.261 

I  ells  for  256 

"         "      Conditions  Favorable  for  257 

"         *'      Doo.ltt  e  Method  267 

"         "      Drone- comb  Method  261 

"         '■      Every  Bee-keeper  should  Practice. ';56 

"         "      Graf  ting  I'ells  for  259 

"         "      Nur-eivfor  -,"62 

Pridgeu  Method  -2^1 

"         "      Supersedure  Cells  for  -^Si'.  259.  260 

"         "      Supersedure  Colonies  for  2b6 

"         "      Sw arming-cells  for  256 

"         "      Various  31ethods  for.  Compared.  .261 

Quinby's  Hive  149.  166.  194 

Races  of  Bees  5.2.  223 

Rape  276 

Raspberry  276 

Rauchfuss  Solar  Extra ct.:a  344 

Rearing  Drones  117 

Rearing-  Queens  isee  Queen >. 

Recipes  for  Honey-^akes   208 

Record-keeping  of  Hives  276 

"  Books  for     276 

Code  for  Position  for  277 

"  "         Position  of  Slate  for  277 


472 


INDEX 


Record-keeping,  Reg'ister  Cards  for  .278 

Slate  Tablets  for  277 

Red  Clover  and  Long-  tongued  Bees  327,328 

Reese  Bee-escape   95 

Repositories  for  Wintering-  362 

"        "        (see  Wintering). 

Reversible  Extractors  132,  133 

Reversible  Frames  190,  191,279 

Danzenbaker  .  .•  191,279 

Heddoii  191,279 

"  "      Singly  or  Collectively  279 

Reversing  Not  Destroying  Cells  279 

Real  Advantage  of  279 

Rhombic  Dodecahedron  3.  2 

Ringing  Bells,  &c.,  to  Bring  Down  Swarms  333 

Ripening  Honey  Artiticiaily  136 

Robbei'S,  Cii  cumventing  by  Lamplight  288 

"       During  Robbing  Time  147 

How  to  Distinguish   383 

To  tell  where  they  Relong  383 

To  Know  283 

loTiap  286 

Robber  Bees  Remorseless  280 

Robber  Bees,  Their  Behavior  380,  283 

Robbing  a  Craze   380,  281 

Cnibolic  Acid  lor  284 

"       Caused  by  too  large  Entrances  284 

"       Caution  to  Beginners   288 

"       Close  Entrances  down  During  284 

Colonies  Cleaned  out  by  285 

Dr.  Millar  on  285 

Freight  Cars  281,283 

Incited  by  Canning  or  Putting  up  Sweet 

Pickles  283 

"       in  House-apiary— I nte;es1ing  Incident.  285 

"       Intelligence  of  Bees  During  281 

"       Mistaken  for  Burrowing  2^8 

Notes  of  Bees  382,283 

of  Nuclei   284 

"       Root  of  many  Evils  in  Bee-keeping  380 

"       Screen  Doors  for  381 

Tents  to  Prevent  384-386 

To  Stop  383,  384,385,  386 

Wet  Grass  To  Stop  284 

What  Happens  if  not  Stopped  15, 16,  387,  289 

Robbing-tent,  To  Make  285.  286 

Rocky  Mountain  Bee-plant  •  '489 

Rolls  for  Making  Comb  Foundation  ^9-81 

Royal  Cells  (see  Queen-cells). 

s"   

Salisbury's  House-apiary  39  30 

Saws,  Barnes  Bros'  •-,  «V  •  |Ao 

"    Circular  176,183 

Compared  with  Cutter-head.  183 

"    Cross-cut,  How  Filed  and  Set  18o 

"    Filing  1^"* 

"    Hand-power  Buzz  1J6 

"     How  to  Wabble  1-9 

"     Setting  Ic5 

"    Shape  and  Angle  of  Teeth  184 

"    Sharpening  Without  Set  18b 

"    S  peed  of  Circular  1^5 

"     Tables  for   I'O 

"    Working  Smooth  as  Planer  186 

Scouts  2^3 

Scraping  Sections  ■ 

Sections,  Crates  for  Holdmg  lOo,  106 

Fastening  Starters  m  Vnn  -.ro 

Filled  with  Honey   100-103 

"       Four-beeway    99 

Getting  Bees  Out  of   95 

Goback  ■  97 

How  to  Use  With  Separators  90,98 

"       Narrow  •••  99 

No-beeway  (see  Plain  Section). 

"       Open-corner...   91 

Pasteboard  Boxes  for. . .   101 

Plain   90 

"       Plain,  Easier  to  Clean   90 

"  "      P-conomizing  Room  in  Shippmg- 

cases   90 

Pollen  in  ••3o3 

Scraping   9 J,  9b 

Size  of   99 

Tall   99 

"       To  Induce  Working  in   93 

Unfinished  97 

Unfinished,  To  Prevent  97 

Various  Sizes   99 

"       when  Bees  Hefuse  to  Enter   93 

when  to  Take  off  the  Hive   94 

Section-holder   °9 


Section-holders,  Super  89,93 

Selling  Extracted  Houey  127,210,-213 

Comb  Honey  106-109,213 

Selser's  Honey-wagon  211 

Separators  or  None   98 

"         Tin  or  Wood   99 

Shade  Better  than  Holes  for  Ventilation  3S9 

Shade-boards  lor  Hivi  s  20 

Shade  for  Apiary   30 

Sheep  for  Keeping  Grass  down  in  Apiary   26 

Shipping  Bees,  Cages  for  66,  317-319 

Shipping-case  105,  106 

Show  case  for  Honey.  Sturwold's   ...1C6 

Simplicity  Feeder  (see  Feeders). 

Simplicity  Hive  187 

Simpson  Honey-plant  (see  Figwort), 

Skep,  Definition  (  f  393 

Skeps,  Straw,  Making  of  292 

Skeps.  Straw,  Where  Used  393 

Skunks  132 

Smoke  Not  Always  a  Preventive  of  Stings  316, 393, 307 

H  ow  to  Use  162,  3J5,  307 

Use  of ,  in  Uniting  Bees  333 

Smokers,  Bingham's  293 

"        (  lark  s  Cold-blast  3!  5 

Cornell  294 

Fuel  for  295 

Solar  Wax-extia(  tors  343,  345 

Somerford  s  Method  of  Forming  Nuclei  233 

So'irwood  296 

Spacing  Frames  (see  Fixed  Frames). 

Nature's  Sp  cing  149,297 

Results  of  Wider  297 

Right  Spacing  149,3^*7 

"          "       Two  Spaciiigs  Used  by  Bee- 
keepers 149,  397 

Spacina--sticks  for  Moving  Bees  330 

Spanish  Needle,  Amount  of  Honey  from  397,  398 

Honey  of    398 

"  "      Where  Grown  397 

Specialty  of  Bee-keeping   64 

Spiders   133 

Spiders,  Lsngstroth  on  Ii3 

Spores  of  Foul  Brood  154-136 

Spra\-pump  to  Control  Swarms  — 317 

Spraying  During  Fruit-bloom  Destructive  to 

Brood  and  Bees  167 

Spreading  Brood  299 

"  "     Largely  Abandoned  :^00 

"     Not  Advised  for  Beginners  300 

"    Object  cf  3(t0 

Spring  Dwindling  HI,  3'(0 

Care    of    Combs   from  Dead 

Swarms  373 

Cure  for  370 

"        What  Becomes  of  the  Bees  370 

Stanley  Automat  c  Extractor   133 

Starters  for  Sections   86 

"       "   Fastening  them  in   86 

Starting  Bees  at  Work  in  Sections   98 

Starting  in  Bee-keeping  (see  Buying  Bees) 

Swarms   3 

Stimulative  Feeding  143, 145 

Stings,  Cold  Applications  for  313 

Compared  with  Apparatus  Used  by  Other 

Insects  for  Boring  into  Bark,  etc  309 

"    Does  their  Loss  cause  Death  of  Bee  ?  3u7 

"    Effects  of  303 

Fowls' Experience  with   303 

"     Great  Number  of  at  Once  303 

"    Hardened  lo  the  Effects  of  30? 

Horses  Covered  w  th  303 

"    Hot  A ppl  cations  for   303 

"    How  to  Open  Hive  without  Receiving  —  305 

"    How  to  Remove  301 

"     Jerking-  the  Hands  Back  to  Avoid.  305 

"    Magnified  308 

"    Mechanical  Construction  of  308 

"    My  Remedy  303 

"     Odor  of  307 

"     Operation  of  Barbs  in  308,  309 

"     Poison  of  306 

"    Remedies  Discussed  303 

"    Severity  of    *  03 

"     Single  Bee  Following  About  304 

"    Smoke  not  Always  a  Preventive  . . .  163,  305,  307 

"     To  Avoid  303 

"     What  Bees  Give  Most  316,  305 

Stores  Needed  (see  Wintering). 

Straw  Hives  393 

Straw  Skep  2f;3 

Sturwold's  Show-case  for  Honey  1C6 

Sub-earth  Ventilation  366,  369 

Sugar  for  Candy  66,  317 

"       *'    Wintering  143 


INDEX. 


473 


Sugar  Syrup,  How  to  Feed  (see  Feeding). 

"        "    to  Make  U4 

"       vs.  Honey  for  Feed   Ii2 

"       (see    Candy,    Feeding,  Wintering). 

Sulphur  for  B^e-ii.oth   i9 

Sulphur  to  Bleacli  Comb  Houey  Itj4,  10"> 

Sulphur  to  Kill  Wax-worujs  -tvt,  51 

Sulphuric  Acid  forRefining  Wax  H46 

Sumac  310 

Sunflower  310 

Supersedure  Colonies   259 

Supersedure  Cells  256,  259,  260 

Supers  for  Comb  Honey  (see  ComlD  Honey). 
Surplus  Honey  (see  Comb  Honey,  Extracted 
Honey,  and  Section  Boxes). 

Swarms  Alley  Trap  for  Hiving  321 

"       Automatic  Hiving  of  321 

"       Decoy  Hives  for  323 

Do  Bees  Choose  a  location  for  ?  323 

"       Hi^-ing  under  Difficulties  318 

Led  off  by  Bees  or  Queen   310,  311 

"       Queen-CHge  to  Catch  Queen  of   313 

Kinging  Bells  for  323 

"       Selectiiig  Trees  before  Going,  out  323 

"       Spray-pump  for  Controlling  317 

To  Hive  Without  Tools  318 

"       Two  or  More  Coming  out  and  Uniting. .  .319 

Value  of,  Poetical  811,312 

with  Clipped  Queens   2,  272,  273,  313,  314 

Swarming,  After   5 

"        Automatic,  Not  Practicable   322 

"  Bees  Hanging  out  Preparatory  to . .  123,  313 
"        Bees  Hanging  out  an  Ind'cation  of  312,  313 

"        by  Preconcerted  Agreement  310 

Cause  of  310,  311 

"        Clipping  to  Control  2.  271,  272,  313,  314 

"        Con.  rolled  by  Perforated  Zinc  321 

"        Means  of  In L-r ease  310 

"        Morton'.s  Hiving-pole  for   .315 

"        Pn  parations  to  be  made  by  the  Bee- 
keeper for  313 

"        Prevented  by  Keeping  Bees  in  upper 

Rooms  and  Garrets  321,  322 

Prevented  by  Large  Hives  194,195 

"        Prevented  by  the  Extractor   S20 

Prevention  of  194,  195,  319 

Season  of  311 

"        Symptoms  of  312 

Swarm-catcher  318 

Swarm  catchers  314-316 

Swarming-cells  for  Queen-rearing  256 

Swarming-device,  Manum's  316 

Sw  irming-de vices  Variously  Constructed  —  311-318 

Swarm-hiving  Hook  316 

Swarm-hiving  Ladder  316 

Sweet  Clover   U 

Syrup  Better  than  Honf^y  for  Feeding  113 

"    Cold  Process  lor  Making  144 

*'    To  Make  f.jr  Keedina   144 

Temperature  of  Cellar  or  Bee-house  362,  365,  368 

Tenement  Hives   358-361 

Tent,  Folding  Bee  285,  286,  330 

Thieves  122 

Thistle.  Blue   59 

Tiering  Up   94 

Tin  Separators   99 

or  Wood  99 

Tongue  Composed  of  Combination  of  4  Tubes. .  .325 

"      Formal  ion  of  3::5 

"      Long,  Possibilities  of  328 

"      Most  Wonderful  of  any  Organ  325 

of  Bee  Enlarged   326 

of  Worker  Bee  325 

Sectional  Views  of  

Variation  iu  Length  327,  328 

Tools  for  Handlina-  Hives  and  Frames  163  164 

Touch-me-not,  Wild  251 

Transferring,  Heddon  Short  Way  of  330 

Howto  Proceed  328,329 

"  in  Fruit-bloom  330 

Short  Way  of  33i) 

^"  when  Bees  Rob  330 

Transposition  Process  266 

Tree  s  in  an  Apiary  20 

Ti-es  passing  for  Wild  Bees   47 

Tulip-tree  (see  Whitewood) . 

T  Super  88,  89 

Turnip,  Attractive  to  Bees  io-  ,qq 

Unc  ipping  1^'"|^^ 

Uncapping  cans  6-  00 

LTucappiiig-dev  ices  iITioq 

Uncapping-kiii  ves.    133, 139 

Uniting  in  Spring  •  •  •  -334 

NewS   .-^rms  ^i^' 

"      Two  Large  Colonies  333 


Uniting,  what  to  do  with  Queens 

when  Bees  Quan  el  

When  to  Unite  

Veils  


.333 
.333 
.334 
.335 


"    Brussels  Net  835 

"    Capehrtrt's  336 

"    Coggshall's   337 

"    Glo  e  Bee     337 

"    Harrison's.  Mrs  337 

"     Holmes',  Mrs   338 

"    How  to  Get  Along  without  338 

"    Injurious  to  Eyes  335 

"    Kuehne's  335 

"     Martin's  ....   386 

"    Necessary  or  Unnecessary  3.35 

Ventilation  835 

B  )itora.  for  Hives  340 

How  Produced  by  Bees  310 

"         in  Winter  889 

"         Its  Relation  to  Dampness  and  Frost . .  8.56 

of  Cellars  366,339 

Sub  earth  Ventilators  369 

when  Shipping  22S,  229 

Vinegar  a  Legitimate  Product  of  Honey  340 

"       from  Honey  the  Finest  in  the  World  ...  340 

Honey  for  Pickles  340 

"  "     Qualitvof  340 

"     to  Make  34J 

Virgin  Queens  (see  Queens). 

"         "        Introducing  263 

Voices  of  Queens    267 

Walls  V.  Base  in  Foundation  ,  .80-83 

Warping  of  Lumber,  to  Prevent  177,''178 

Water  for  Bees   341 

Expelling  from  Nectar    341 

"     from  the  Creek  or  Pump  341 

How  Bees  Need  .341 

"     to  Give  to  Bees  311 

Wax.  Adulteration  of.  To  Detect  348 

"    Bees,  for  Bee-keeper  842 

"    B' caching  by  the  Use  of  Acids  347 

"    Bleaching  in  the  Sun  347,348 

"    Chinese  342 

"    Cleansing  from  Utensils  349 

"    Ferris  Machine  for  345,  346 

"    from  Insects  342 

"    from  Vegetables  .342 

"    Galvanized  Utensils  for  349 

"    How  Bees  Make  342 

"    Japanese  342 

"    Melting-point  of  343 

"     Melting  with  Steam  345,  346 

"    Mineral  342 

"    Pure,  for  Catholic  Candles  348 

"    Solar  Extractors  for  343,  345 

"    Sulphuric  Acid  to  Refine  346 

"    Use  of  D  flferent  Kinds  342 

"    Various  Kinds  of  343 

Wax-extractors  343-346 

Wax-extracior.  Ferris  345,316 

Waxing  Barrels  against  Leaking  (see  Barrels). 
Wax-moth  (see  Bee-moth). 

Wax-moth   48 

Wax-press,  Ferris  345 

Weed  Artificial  Comb   83 

Weed  New-process  Foundation  83, 84 

Weiglit  of  Bees  349 

White  Clover  (see  Clover). 

Honey.'^  300 

"     Sage  (see  Sage). 

Whitewood.  or  Tulip  or  Poplar  '  350 

"        a  s  an  Ornamental  Tree  351 

Flower  of  350,  351 

Honey  of  351 

"        Lumber  for  Hives  and  Honey-boxes 

 3.51,  3.53 

Wild  Bees  (see  Bee-hunting). 

WiUow-herb  353,  354 

"         rirowth,  where  Confined  354 

"         Importance  of  354 

Quality  of  Honey  354 

Will  &  Baumer's  Wax-bleaching  Yard  347 

Windbreak  for  Apiary  (see  Introduction). 

Windbreaks  for  Apiary  18,  20 

Winter-cases  (see  Appendix). 
Winter  Feeding  isee  Feeding). 
Wintering,  Amount  of  Honey  Needed 

 146,  354,  357,  363 

Advantages  of  Outdoor  360 

•'  Indoor  361 

Artificial  Heat  in  Cellars  for  368 

Binsrham  Bc^  ■  eUar  367 

Boardman's  Repository  for..  .363,  .364,  366 

Bottom  Ventilation  tor  365 

Carrying  Bees  in  and  out  of  Cellar  for  363 


474 


INDEX. 


Wintering-,  Carrying-  for  Outdoor  Packing- . .     .  373 

"        Cellars  vs.  Repositories  365 

Dead  Bees  on  Cellar  Bottom  368  i 

Disturbing  Bees  in  Cellar  369  i 

Doolittle's  Cellar  for  365,366  | 

"        Early  Preparation   357! 

"        How  to  Examine  Colonies  in  Cellar  —  369 
in  Cellars,  Temperature  f  or . . .  362,  365,  368 

When  to  Put  in   363 

"  "       Take  out   368 

"        in  Tenement  Hives,  Advantages  and 

Disadv;intages  3f  8-360 

in  the  Southern  States   373 

"        Indoor  v.  Outdoor  369 

"        Main  Points   354,357,362 

"        Miller's  Bottom -board  for  365  , 

Putting  Bees  on  Old  Stand  or  Not  364  ' 

Short  of  Stores  for  358  ; 

Size  of  Entrance  for  124,  339,  3  7 

"        Spring  Dwindling  370 


Wintering,  Stores  Preferred  for  369 

Sub-earth  Ventilators  369 

Tenement  Hives  for  358-361 

"        Ventilation,  Its  Relation  to  Frost  and 

Dampness  356 

"        When  indoor  and  Outdoor  Method 

should  be  used  369 

Wintering-cellar  Wholly  under  Ground  368 

Wintering-cellars.  Imporiance  of  Uniform  Tem- 
perature 368 

Winter  Packing-cases  for  Hives  199,  358-362 

Wire,  Imbedding  by  Electricity   85 

Wired  Frames  for  Foundation   85 

Wood  Separators  vs.  Tin   99 

Worms,  Wax    48 

Yield  of  Honey  per  Acre  35 

"     "      "       "  Day   35 

Young  Bees    56 

Zinc  for  Extracting  139 

Zinc,  Perforated  116,321 


jIIo 


Wholesale 

Commission 

Department. 

Maple  Su^ar, 

Maple  Syrup, 

Beeswax, 

Honey. 

m  LiTi  A 


Our  statistics  show  an  ever  growing  demand  tor  honey  among  consumers,  and  we 
HONEY    antici  pate   a  period  when  honey  will  be  as  common  and  necessary  a  dish  upon  dining 
tables  as  butter  is  now.    Our  enormous  dealings  in   honey  have  constrained   us  to 
separate  this  product  from  our  general  stock  of  foods,  and  organize  a 

in  which  we  handle  honey  by  the  crate,  barrel  or  carload 
We  purchase  from  the  producer  only,  for  our  own  ac- 
count for  cash,  or  receive  honey  up  n  consignment,  under 
limitations  of  selling  prices,  with  liberal  cash  advances  when  requested.  Quotations  furnished  upon  ap- 
plication, f^r  any  variety  or  quantity  of  honey,  either  buying  or  selling.  We  are  represented  in  every  state 
of  the  union,  as  well  as  in  many  European  states  Over  one  hundred  of  our  men  are  constantly  travelling 
amongst  the  retailers  and  jobbers  of  groceries  in  the  United  States.  In  this  wny  we  find  an  outlet  for  all 
grades  of  honey.  We  would  say  to  shippers  that  the  market  at  present  is  in  good  shape  for  new  EXTI^ACTED 
or  COMB  HONEY.  We  can  also  market  your  MAPLE  SYRUP  and  MAPLE  SUGAR,  our  dealings  in  these  are  very 
heavy.  We  extend  thanks  to  our  shippers  for  favors  of  the  past,  and  hope  for  a  continuance  of  their 
.shipments. 


HONEY  DEPARTMENT 


^1- 


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4 
4 
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Gleanings 
in  Bee 
Culture. 


A  Semi-monthly  bee-  % 
journal  devoted  to  Mod-  % 
em  Apiculture,  and  to% 
the  general  interests  of  W 
the  Bee-keepers'  Home,  ^ 
%  including  High  -  pres-  % 
3  sure  Gardening.  p 


♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦^♦♦♦♦♦♦♦^ 


This  journal  was  started  January  1,  1873,  by  A.  I.  Root,  as  a 
monthly,  but  has  appeared  twice  a  month  since  1882.  It  contains 
36  pages  the  size  of  those  in  this  book.  Much  oi  the  year  it  has 
a  supplement  of  8  extra  pages  of  reading-matter.  Its  corps  of 
regular  contributors  embraces  the  most  successful  English- 
speaking  bee-keepers,  and  some  French  and  German.  Dr.  C.  C. 
Miller  and  G.  M.  Doolittle  are  the  special  editors  of  two  depart- 
ments. Although  the  general  editorship  is  still  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  founder  of  this  house  (the  author  of  this  book),  his 
special  line  of  work  is  Gardening  and  Home  Talks.  His  son, 
E.  R.  Root,  is  the  actual  editor  of  the  apicultural  part ;  and  as 
he  in  one  sense  "stands  on  the  shoulders"  of  his  father,  his 
department  will  be  found  to  have  lost  none  of  its  original  vigor. 


ILLUSTRATIONS.; 


Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  is  the  only  fully  illustrated  bee- 
journal  in  the  world.  Whenever  a  cut  can  be  used  to  illustrate 
apicultural  implements  to  better  advantage  it  is  used ;  while  the 
half-tone  views  of  apiaries,  bee-men,  etc.,  in  every  number,  ren- 
der the  cost  of  the  journal  practically  nothing  compared  with  the 
service  rendered.    Price  11.00  a  year.    Sample  copies  sent  free. 


The  A.  I.  Root  Company, 

Medina,  Ohio. 


.1^ 


iW.  A.  BANKS  CO., 


HONEY 


2i  t  Population  of  City,  400,000.  t 

(t>  t         ^         t  v*/ 

(fl  X    P'rm  Established  1886.    %  (J/ 

(fl  ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦  ii/ 

(1/ 

!Jv       Jobbers  &  Commission  Merchants.  jjj 

m  \i/ 

9\  ii/ 

m  Hi 

(♦>  I    I  vto 

IS  I — I  t    f  I  M  Y  \»/ 

/f*    Also    Vt/ 

(fi  ii/ 

S  Qreen    Dried  Fruits  and  Produce.  !t 

(»>  f    ^«  \i/ 

viz 

1 84=86  Br'dway,  Cleveland,  0.  | 

f  iii 

•J-  References:  Mercantile  Agencies, 

ffV  Any  Cleveland  Bank,  \^ 

Cleveland  Chamber  of  Commerce.  Mj- 


>1V  O  >1>  ?f  O  @  &V  »^  O  ®  >1>  &  >1V  &  ®  &  t>,  &  ®  ®  ®  ® 
f  id 

I  The  A.  I.  Root  Co.  | 

%  MEDINA,  OHIO,  t 



^  Makes  a  Specialty  of  Manufacturing 

I  BEE-KEEPERS'  SUPPLIES  I 
5  OF  ALL  KINDS.  g 

  Vr 

§r  «  Including  Bee-hives  and  Frames,  & 

Section  Honey -boxes,  Shipping-  ® 
cases.  Honey  and  Wax  Extractors, 

ai  Bee-smokers,  Bee-comb  Founda- 


XXI  ±C*V/U,    Oi  Xtixx  xxxiv^  wx  v^vv^xj     ..io-xxx^    x  v.v^  ulxx  v.vx  K^y^y.  xx^v^j^^xo.        J.  XXC 

^  superior  excellence  of  these  goods  is  such  that  1  hey  have  a  world- 
wide  reputation,  and  dealers  handling  them  generally  say  :  ^ 

®  Roofs  Coeds  at  Root's  Prices/'  & 

For  the  convenience  of  bee-keepers  in  obtaining  their  supplies 
without  sending  direct  to  the  factory  and  paying  high  freight  ^''^ 
®  charges,  as  well  as  suffering  long  delays  in  transit,  a  number  of  ® 
§^  dealers  have  established  distributing- points  at  many  large  centers,  © 
where  the  goods  are  shipped  from  the  factory  in  carload  lots.  ig^ 

In  a  notice  of  this  kind  in  a  book  of  reference  that  is  preserved 
for  years,  it  is  impossible  to  give  a  list  of  such  dealers  that  will  be 
accurate  year  after  year.    If  you  do  not  find  their  card  in  the  ^ 
5r  advertising  columns  of  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture  or  other  bee-  ^'^ 
©  journals,  send  to  us  and  we  will  give  you  the  name  of  the  dealer 

located  nearest  you.    In  addition  to  some  twenty-five  such  distrib-  §^ 
^4  uting  houses  in  the  United  States  there  are  wholesale  dealers  in  0 
^  Kingston,  Jamaica  ;  Havana,  Cardenas,  and  Cienfuegos,  Cuba  ;  at 
various  points  in  Great  Britain  ;  also  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 
An  illustrated  catalog  of  our 
full  line,  with  prices,  will  be 
cheerfully  mailed  free  on  ap- 
plication.   In  buying  your  sup- 
^4        ■  ■  plies  you  will  do  well  to  see 

that  they  bear  this  Irade  mark. 

<i  «lV    &V  >lWiWi^  iT^WxWi^  iTi^  4V  ®  iTi^ 


§•  tion,  Comb-foundation  Machines, 

§r  Comb-foundation  Fasteners,  Per-  ® 

forated  Queen-excluders,  etc.  ^> 

«^   & 

& 

In  fact,  a  full  line  of  every  thing  required  by  bee-keepers.   The  *4. 


^                         :  Established  1889.  J  ^ 

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 

^  f 

1  Walter  S.  Pouder,  I 

I  Indianapolis,  Ind.  | 
^♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦^ 

^                 Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealer  in  % 

t  Pure  HONEY    BEESWAX,  t 

^                         ...^^^^^^  * 

m                  J     I  am  in  the  honey  business  on  ♦  ^ 

0                    ♦  a  cash  basis.   If  you  have  secur-  ♦  ^ 

0                    J  ed  a  crop  of  extracted  send  me  a  J  ^ 

♦  small  sample  and  state  price  ex-  t 

^                     ♦  pected.  If  you  have  comb  honey  ♦  ^ 

^                    1  describe  it  accurately,  state  how  t  ^ 

^                    I  put  up,  and  price  expected.   For  J  0 

^                    ♦  pure  beeswax  I  pay  highest  mar-  ♦  ^ 

^                    t  ket  price  at  all  times.    On  the  ♦  ^ 

^                    J  other  hand,  should  your  demand  J  ^ 

^                    ♦  exceed  your  supply  write  me  for  ♦  ^ 

^                    X  prices,  stating  just  what  is  want-  i  -0: 

0  X  ed,  and  usually  I  can  supply  you  J  '  ^ 
^                    f  at  satisfactory  rates.                    ♦  ^ 

^                                                      ADDRESS  ^ 

1  Walters. Pouder, 512  Mass. Ay, Indianapolis, M.  | 


BOOKS  ON  RURAL  SUBJECTS 


Rural  industries  are  so  closely  connected  with  bee-keeping 
that  we  include  here  a  few  books  of  our  own  publication. 


ing  potatoes, 


^    The  A  B  C  of  Potato  Culture. 


Paper;  220  pages;  4x5;  illustrated.  This 
is  T.  B  Terry's  first  and  most  masterly 
work.  The  book  has  had  a  large  sale, 
and  has  been  rej  rinted  in  foreign  lan- 
guages. The  second  edition,  reset  and 
almost  entirely  rewritten,  has  been  is- 
sued. When  we  are  thoroughly  conver- 
sant with  friend  Terry's  system  of  rais- 
we  shall  be  ready  to  handle  almost  any 


farm  crop  successfully.    Price  40  cts  ,  postpaid. 

The  A  B  C  of  Strawberry  Culture. 

Paper;  150  pages;  fully  illustrated. 
This  is  Terry's  latest  small  book,  and 
has  received  some  very  high  words  of 
praise.  Who  among  rural  people  does 
not  have  a  little  garden  patch?  If  vou 
•would  learn  to  raise  in  it  that  most  lus- 
cious of  all  fruit,  the  strawberry,  with 
the  best  results,  you  can  not  be  without 
this  little  book.  Even  if  you  don't  grow  .strawberries 
you  will  be  the  better  for  reading  it.  Price  40c,  prepaid 

Maple  Sugar  and  the  Sugar-bush. 

Paper;  by  A.  J,  Cook:  44  pages,  7x10; 
illustrated.  This  is  most  valuable  to  all 
who  are  interested  in  the  product  of  our 
sugar  maples.  No  one  who  makes  ma- 
ple sugar  or  syrup  should  be  without  it. 
If  you  don't  make  maple  syrup  you 
may  want  to  know  how  it  is  mc-de.  and 
how  to  judge  of  a  good  article  when  you 
buy  it.    Price  30c,  postpaid. 

Tomato  Culture. 

Paper  ;  by  J.  W.  Day,  D.  Cummins, 
and  A.I.  Root;  150  pages;  illustrated. 
A  most  valuable  treatise  emlj racing  field 
culture,  forcing  under  glass,  and  raising 
plants  for  market.  Valuable  to  any  one 
raising  garden  stuff  of  any  kind,  aside 
from  tomatoes.    Price  40  cts.  postpaid. 

Winter  Care  of  Horses  and  Cattle. 

Paper;  44  pages,  7x10;  illustrated. 
This  is  friend  Terry's  second  book  in 
regard  to  farm  matters;  but  it  is  so  in- 
timately connected  with  his  potato  book 
that  it  reads  almost  like  a  sequel  to  it. 
If  you-  have  only  a  horse  or  a  cow,  I 
think  it  will  pay  you  to  invest  in  the 
book.    Price  40c,  postpaid. 


Tile  Drainage. 

Paper ;  by  W.  I.  Chamberlain.  This 
is  a  valuable  companion  to  our  other  ru- 
ral books.  It  embraces  the  experience 
of  40  years  of  one  of  our  foremost  prac- 
tical agriculturists,  who  has  laid  with 
his  own  hands  over  15  miles  of  tile. 
150  pages  illustrated.  Price  40  cts.  post- 
paid. 


A  B  C  of  Carp  Culture. 

Paper  ;  by  Geo.  Finley  and  A.  I.  Root ; 
illustrated.  This  is  a  work  of  70  pages. 
7X10,  and  the  best  authority  on  the  sub- 
ject of  carp  culture  yet  in  print.  The 
rearing  of  carp  is  a  pleasant  and  profit 
able  amusement.  The  book  will  tell  you 
all  about  it.    Price  30  cts. 


What  to  Do,  and  how  to  be  Happy  while  Do= 
ing  it. 

Paper  ;  by  A.  I.  Root.  The  above  book  is  a  compila- 
tion of  papers  published  in  Gleanings  in  Bee  Cul- 
ture in  1886-7-8.  It  is  intended  to  solve  the  problem 
of  finding  employment  for  those  scattered  over  our 
land  out  of  employment.  The  suggestions  are  princi- 
pally about  finding  employment  around  your  own 
homes.  The  bo  ^k  is  mainly  upon  market  gardening, 
fruit  culture,  poultry-raising,  etc.  Price  in  paper 
covers,  50  cts.;  cloth,  75  cts.  If  ordered  by  freight  or 
express,  deduct  8  and  10  cts.  respectively. 


Merrybanks  and  His  Neighbor. 

Paper;  by  A.  I.  Root.  This  is  the  title  of  a  little 
book  of  210  pages  and  68  cuts.  It  narrates  the  alter- 
nate failure  and  success  of  a  beginner  who  ultimate- 
ly, through  much  tribulation,  becomes  a  successful 
bee-man  and  a  power  for  good  in  Onionville.  Appro- 
priate original  cuts,  many  of  them  humorous,  are  in- 
terspersed here  and  there,  representing  some  of  the 
droll  experiences  which  a  beginner  with  bees  some- 
times passes  through.  Besides  bees,  it  talks  of  other 
rural  pursuits,  such  as  gardening,  maple-sugar  mak- 
ing, etc.  Price  15  cts;  3  cts.  less  when  sent  with  other 
goods  by  freight  or  express. 


The  A.  I.  Root  Co 


Medina,  Ohio.